Hello everyone,
This is Dawn. I hope you are all having a great weekend.
I would like to start by thanking all of you who send us awesome emails of appreciation and gratitude. We definitely do our best to keep up, and we enjoy working with so many of you. I know Joel is fond of the "hater emails," but I personally enjoy your kind messages of appreciation. We are pleased to help in making a difference for many of you.
The reason for this message is because we continue to get inundated by more and more providers who are looking to either sell or buy an existing business, so in an effort to help both you and us, I would like to share some important administrative points and most common questions. - First and foremost, please be realistic in your expectations. If you are an independent operator, maybe you own 1 or 2 vehicles, there really isn't much to sell other than the assets. Especially if you only perform Medicaid broker trips, you will be hard pressed to sell as a viable business. Rather, you are pretty much looking at an asset sale, and if you don't already know of someone to purchase your vehicles, you might want to consider selling them online.
- If you are interested in selling your business, please contact us only if you are serious. If we send you a follow up email with detailed questions, please respond in detail. If you are going to be selective in responding, we are going to assume you are less than serious, and I know Joel especially is not going to waste his time.
- I do not know the formulas or valuation process that Joel uses in determining the value of a business, but I do know there are many, many variables and considerations, so when people ask "what is the going rate for an NEMT business," it is not even possible to answer that question. It is analogous to asking "how much money can I make?" There to too many variables such as location, market size, fleet size, capacity, number of employees, times of operation, sources of revenue, possible contracts, and more.
- Joel will not work with everyone. If the only source of revenue is Medicaid brokers, he typically will not assist selling the business because of the weakness and volatility of the business. There have been multiple instances where Joel has declined working with seven-figure businesses because their sole source of revenue is Medicaid broker. Joel is more inclined to work with a buyer who is considering a heavy Medicaid broker business, but less inclined to assist the seller of such a business.
- In regards to assisting buyers and sellers, Joel does not operate as a broker. We work with providers all over the country and it is just not realistic or advantageous to license in the many states. Especially when Joel assists bringing both buyers and sellers together, he charges a referral fee that can be split by both sellers and buyers. This amount will vary based on the size of the business, but it is dramatically cheaper than paying 12-20% to a broker.
- Whether you are a seller or buyer, Joel will absolutely need to conduct a valuation on the prospective business which makes your response to emails and questions all the more important. As Joel says, he is not going to "co-sign your asking price if your business is not worth the asking price." In going back to my first point, please be realistic. If you are a new business only generating $100,000 in revenue, please do not insist your business is worth a million dollars. We encounter these types of scenarios frequently and they are not realistic. Especially when Joel works with both buyers and sellers, he prefaces everything by saying you needs to create a win-win solution for both parties.
Another quick topic I would like to touch on are the custom market analysis. Please know that we are running long on those projects as we continue to work with more and more providers, so please plan in advance and make your reservations as far in advance as possible. For example, if you are serious about starting your NEMT in early 2023, please make your reservation ASAP! I can't stress this enough.
In addition to answer many of your emails, the bulk of our work consists of market research, calling facilities, and working to put your market analysis projects together. In most instances, we have to call facilities back multiple times, sometimes in the evening hours to get targeted information. Especially with all of the staffing and labor shortages that nursing home are experiencing, it can be difficult to speak with someone who has relevant and credible information. If we speak with someone new, it's not uncommon for them to not even know who the Administrator is, how many beds are in the facility or more. This is why it can take multiple calls to the same facility.
Even if you plan on working one-on-one with Joel but are not yet ready to start work with him, please plan ahead and make your reservation as soon as possible so we can add your project to our queue and hold your place in line.
Please forgive me for making this email so long. That definitely wasn't my intention, and I am sure I am leaving many things out, but I will cut it off here. Again, thank you all of your awesome emails. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Dawn Velasquez Support Team |
