Joe’s individual position statement, written privately with Mediator.ai. See the full example for context.
What’s happening
I’ve run Joe’s Auto Body for thirty years. My wife has wanted me to retire for the last five. I’m sixty-two and I’m tired. Marcus has been my head mechanic for twelve years; he does probably half the work in the shop now, and he wants to buy me out. He should. He’s the right guy.
But the money has to work.
- Revenue is about $800k a year. Net profit, after my salary, is around $120k.
- I’m asking $350k for the business (goodwill, equipment, customer list). I own the building separately; it’s worth about $220k.
- Marcus has $40k saved. His bank will probably lend him $150k. His in-laws might throw in $30k. He’s nowhere near $350k, let alone $570k.
So we have to talk about seller financing. I understand that. I’d rather sell to Marcus on payments than to a stranger in cash.
Where I’m at
I want to retire. I don’t want to end up the guy who sold his shop on terms and then watched it collapse and had his “retirement income” dry up halfway through. I’d be broke at 68, and I’d be angry.
My son is a lawyer. He keeps telling me to get a five-year non-compete across the whole state, because his whole worry is that I walk back into the shop a year later in an advisory role and Marcus loses the big fleet accounts because they only stayed for me. I don’t want a fight over this. But my son has a point: those accounts are loyal to me, not to the building.
And the name. “Joe’s Auto Body” is on the sign. It’s on the trucks. If Marcus changes it to “Marcus Auto Body” the week after I sign, some of those customers are going to Google around for where Joe went. If he keeps it, he’s paying in installments for my name forever, which doesn’t sit right either.
What I want
- A price Marcus can actually pay. I’d take $280k for the business, structured as $80k at signing (what he and his in-laws can put together up front) and the remaining $200k over eight years, with interest. I’d rather get market price over time than a discounted lump sum.
- A separate arrangement for the building. I’ll rent it to Marcus at a fair number for five years, with an option for him to buy it at a fixed price at any point. Keeps my retirement cushion intact if his payments slip.
- A real transition. Twelve months where I’m at the shop two days a week, specifically introducing the fleet accounts, training Marcus on the commercial side (which he hasn’t handled), and making sure nothing breaks. Paid, but modest.
- A non-compete I can live with. Not five years statewide. But something. I’m not trying to open “Joe’s 2” and poach my own customers; I want to actually retire. But my son will make me put it in writing.
What I’m not willing to do
- Hand over the keys for $80k and hope. I worked thirty years for this.
- Fight my son on the non-compete question for the next six months. If there’s a version that makes both Marcus and my son sign off, I want to find it.
- Keep working past sixty-four. That’s the deadline. My wife has already booked a trip.
What I’m afraid of
- That I’ll agree to payments over eight years, Marcus runs into trouble in year three, and I’m trying to take the shop back at 65.
- That we’ll have a handshake that feels good in the office and falls apart the minute something unexpected happens.
- That Marcus is underestimating the commercial side. Those four fleet accounts are 40% of the revenue. If he loses two of them in the first year, the whole deal math breaks.
What a good outcome looks like
I sign a deal I’m comfortable with. I collect payments I can count on. I show up two days a week for a year, hand off the customers properly, and then I actually leave. Marcus owns the business, the building is mine to rent out (or sell to him down the road), and my wife gets the retirement she’s been waiting for. Marcus runs the shop for the next thirty years and my name stays on the sign as long as he wants it there.