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While we're discussing this: I've written some software that generates approximately $200k/year in passive income (and growing), with almost no ongoing maintena

While we're discussing this: I've written some software that generates approximately $200k/year in passive income (and growing), with almost no ongoing maintenance or support required. Anyone working on it full time could double it quite quickly, I think. (I'm working on some other projects.) At that level, how should I go about selling it?

lftl 16y ago
$200k/year is probably pushing the amount that would be worth trying somewhere like flippa.com, but I have seen a few businesses in that range there. Bizbuysell.com has a lot of businesses more in that ballpark, and if you want to be a little more proactive in selling it you could talk to a business broker about selling it.
- jacquesm 16y ago
  Better read the fine print really good, business brokers worth their money are very hard to find and it's easy to get locked in with some shyster that will bank on you selling your business eventually and him pocketing a part of the sale. They're worse than real estate agents.
- jacquesm 16y ago
  I've looked through 'bizbuysell.com' a bit, there are lots of real businesses there but also quite a few that look like the online equivalent of 'pump-and-dump'. If you go there as a buyer looking for an online business better do your homework real well.
honopu 16y ago
if it is truly passive why in the hell would you want to sell it? There's passive(stock dividends) and passive(almost no ongoing maintenance), those are two entirely different things, one doesn't require any thought, one does.
- weaksauce 16y ago
  The reason for selling businesses that are passive income is threefold from my point of view: 1. Without maintaining the website/business you run the risk of being overtaken by a newcomer and lose your passive income. 2. Even passive businesses take some amount of work. For example you need to file your paperwork / sales tax / taxes / everything else related to the boring side of things. Even if you have people to do those things you still need to talk to them to make sure it is getting done. 3. If you want to turn that 200k income stream into some other business with more potential you can get 200k * X where X is the multiplier that you get for selling now. you can then take the 200k * X and invest that into some new thing.
  - honopu 16y ago
    Yeah I totally understand what you are saying. 1.) Definitely. This will be a slow burn unless someone wants to blow you out of the water and totally undercut you in every way/shape/form. 2.) You are right. That was the idea of my comment, there probably isn't such a thing as passive income without buying an object(not asset) that pays a royalty/dividend, I just thought you were using the word in a way in which it isn't intended. 3.) Totally, i think you need to build the support systems around the business. People will want to buy a money machine, not a hassle. Having as much of that handled before you go to sell it will make it at least at first glance a way better investment. if they are looking at buying a business, aside from them being a competitor, they are basically saying, "You know, I don't trust TNK, and i'm really tired of buying stocks, maybe i'll sink some money here" then they look at your recipe for making money and decide if they want to buy the whole lot. I just think if you are making 200k you can probably find someone that would be happy as hell to manage most of it and you dabble in it a few hours per week. So mathwise (rounding a week to 50) 4k a week..you can certainly find someone that wants to take some equity and try to build upon that, figure out some sort of metrics for gain aside from salary handled things(what you don't ever want to see, q/a etc) and go from there.
    - weaksauce 16y ago
      Good additional points. I do want to say that I am not the original poster. I was speaking from the benefits I would see if I was in that situation.

lftl 16y ago

$200k/year is probably pushing the amount that would be worth trying somewhere like flippa.com, but I have seen a few businesses in that range there. Bizbuysell.com has a lot of businesses more in that ballpark, and if you want to be a little more proactive in selling it you could talk to a business broker about selling it.

jacquesm 16y ago
Better read the fine print really good, business brokers worth their money are very hard to find and it's easy to get locked in with some shyster that will bank on you selling your business eventually and him pocketing a part of the sale. They're worse than real estate agents.
jacquesm 16y ago
I've looked through 'bizbuysell.com' a bit, there are lots of real businesses there but also quite a few that look like the online equivalent of 'pump-and-dump'. If you go there as a buyer looking for an online business better do your homework real well.

honopu 16y ago

if it is truly passive why in the hell would you want to sell it? There's passive(stock dividends) and passive(almost no ongoing maintenance), those are two entirely different things, one doesn't require any thought, one does.

weaksauce 16y ago
The reason for selling businesses that are passive income is threefold from my point of view: 1. Without maintaining the website/business you run the risk of being overtaken by a newcomer and lose your passive income. 2. Even passive businesses take some amount of work. For example you need to file your paperwork / sales tax / taxes / everything else related to the boring side of things. Even if you have people to do those things you still need to talk to them to make sure it is getting done. 3. If you want to turn that 200k income stream into some other business with more potential you can get 200k * X where X is the multiplier that you get for selling now. you can then take the 200k * X and invest that into some new thing.
- honopu 16y ago
  Yeah I totally understand what you are saying. 1.) Definitely. This will be a slow burn unless someone wants to blow you out of the water and totally undercut you in every way/shape/form. 2.) You are right. That was the idea of my comment, there probably isn't such a thing as passive income without buying an object(not asset) that pays a royalty/dividend, I just thought you were using the word in a way in which it isn't intended. 3.) Totally, i think you need to build the support systems around the business. People will want to buy a money machine, not a hassle. Having as much of that handled before you go to sell it will make it at least at first glance a way better investment. if they are looking at buying a business, aside from them being a competitor, they are basically saying, "You know, I don't trust TNK, and i'm really tired of buying stocks, maybe i'll sink some money here" then they look at your recipe for making money and decide if they want to buy the whole lot. I just think if you are making 200k you can probably find someone that would be happy as hell to manage most of it and you dabble in it a few hours per week. So mathwise (rounding a week to 50) 4k a week..you can certainly find someone that wants to take some equity and try to build upon that, figure out some sort of metrics for gain aside from salary handled things(what you don't ever want to see, q/a etc) and go from there.
  - weaksauce 16y ago
    Good additional points. I do want to say that I am not the original poster. I was speaking from the benefits I would see if I was in that situation.