Sell a Business in Union City, Tennessee

Selling a business in Union City, Tennessee means pricing it on a normal January week, not on a Saturday when Discovery Park of America is full of field trips. Union City is in Obion County. Downtown is First Street. US-51 runs south toward Dyersburg, and US-45W runs north toward Paducah. Goodyear is the tire plant. Baptist Union City is the hospital people use on a weekday. A field-trip Saturday can fill a restaurant, and a weekend at Reelfoot Lake can be busy too. Those weekends are not the whole year. Use a quiet week in January, when the museum is thin, as the week that has to cover payroll. If that week cannot cover a manager's wage, do not let the field-trip Saturdays raise the price. Do not treat Union City as a cheaper Dyersburg, as a Paducah river town, or as a Jackson hospital.

An owner-operated business in Union City, Tennessee often sells for about 2x to 3.5x seller's discretionary earnings after a real manager wage. If a lead already runs the day, the price is often 2.5x to 4.5x SDE. A managed company is often priced on adjusted EBITDA, commonly about 3x to 6x near a $10 million price. Those ranges are not a quote. Call (352) 515-0226.

This page is not legal, tax, or lending advice. Bridge Point Advisors is a national firm, not a Florida-only practice. The firm works from Spring Hill, Florida.

What the local economy looks like

The work that repeats in Union City is tire-plant work, hospital traffic, and the shops on First Street that open when no bus is parked. Dyer County, to the south, has the mill and I-155. That mill is not this plant.

Manufacturing here means suppliers and small plants, including vendors whose bills name Goodyear tire work. Ask whether the shop sells to more than one account. One purchase order, or one tire grade, is a concentration problem. A hope that Dyersburg industry is moving north on US-51 is not last year's sales. Staffing desks that place people at the plant and at other floors need a second lead and more than one contract year.

Trucking companies sit on US-51 or US-45W because those roads run toward Dyersburg and toward Paducah. Ask which shippers send the freight and whether the contracts can move. Warehouse space that already serves an Obion County program can change hands when more than one year of that work is visible.

Restaurants and retail on First Street sell to people who live here and to people who work at the plant or at Baptist Union City. Keep those weekday tickets apart from a Saturday when Discovery Park of America puts buses on the curb. Baptist Union City is weekday medical demand. It is not a Jackson hospital group, and a drive into Madison County does not put that group on First Street.

HVAC and construction crews cross town lines. A call on First Street is a different job from a roof in South Fulton or Woodland Mills. Include Kenton or Martin only when the bills name them. Kenton has a thinner tire mix and a different pattern on US-45W. Martin is not a second tire plant. A one-time remodel at the plant is not a maintenance agreement. Reelfoot Lake sits on the west edge. A weekend there is not a First Street receipt.

Tennessee licenses follow their own rules. A Dyer County license is not an Obion County license. A McCracken County license is not a Union City receipt. A Madison County license is not a record of Goodyear work. Plant access, a lease near the museum, and a county trade license are three different permissions. Buyers who already know Dyersburg, Paducah, or Jackson still have to price this rent and these customers on their own.

What is seasonal and what holds all year

The busy stretch is a Saturday at Discovery Park of America, a field-trip week, a packed visitor month, and a weekend at Reelfoot Lake. Those days can fill First Street. The quiet stretch is a week in January, when the museum is thin and the tire floor may be between programs. Put those weeks on their own lines in two years of weekly sales. Name the Goodyear share, the hospital share, the visitor share, the Reelfoot share, and the person who opens when First Street is thin.

The weeks that repeat do not wait on a museum bus. A tire vendor with more than one customer can change hands. So can a staffing desk with a second lead, a trucking company that already runs a week without overtime, and a First Street room that opens in January. HVAC and construction in Union City, South Fulton, and Woodland Mills can trade when a second person already runs the work. A year of roofs in South Fulton is not a museum Saturday. Read the restaurant guide for a dining room and the service-business guide for a route.

Who buys a business here

A local owner who already staffs a shop in Obion County is often the cleanest buyer. That person has seen a Discovery Park Saturday fill a room and has made payroll on First Street the next week.

A search fund or an independent sponsor fits when a second person already runs the day. That can be a multi-crew trade shop, a staffing floor, a warehouse with a manager, or a manufacturing or trucking company with a lead and more than one ordinary month of sales. A shop tied to one purchase order is a poor fit. So is a room that only works in museum season. If that second person is not yet named on the schedule, say that before the meeting.

A strategic buyer fits when the route adds South Fulton or Woodland Mills stops the buyer does not already serve, and only when those bills exist. Buying a shop so you can claim coverage of Obion County does not create customers. A carrier that already runs US-51 may want a dispatch desk here. Ask which contracts move, and which customers would still call the old owner.

Private equity belongs only when the company is large enough to price on adjusted EBITDA and the founder is not required at every First Street door, plant gate, and license. Most shops here are smaller than that. The management test is why a large buyer walks when the work still follows one person. M&A advisory fits a managed group. It is the wrong tool for a single counter that still needs the owner on the floor.

Leave the deal if you priced Union City as cheaper Dyer County, if you wanted Paducah's rivers, or if you wanted a Madison County hospital and never walked First Street. Read how to sell your company confidentially before the first tour. In a small Obion city, a rumor moves fast, and a tour on a museum Saturday is public. Read what to tell employees and customers before that tour becomes talk on First Street.

How the price is set

Owner-operated shops are priced on seller's discretionary earnings. That fits a dining room, a retail counter, a staffing desk, a warehouse, and most trade crews. Add back owner pay and personal costs that are truly personal. Then subtract a real wage for the person who will run the shop after the owner leaves.

After that wage, an owner-operated shop often sits around 2x to 3.5x SDE. If a lead already runs the day, the range is often 2.5x to 4.5x SDE. The person who opens, schedules, and deals with the landlord is what moves a deal up the range. A Discovery Park Saturday is not an add-back. A busy weekend at Reelfoot Lake stays in the year's sales. A Forked Deer mill wage from Dyersburg is not the wage this shop can hire.

Adjusted EBITDA fits a multi-crew manufacturing company, a staffing floor that already shows staff wages, or a trucking company with more than one ordinary January. Near a $10 million price, that conversation commonly lands around 3x to 6x. Most businesses in Union City, Tennessee are smaller than that. Keep a First Street counter on SDE.

The valuation guide is the national frame. A valuation here follows Obion County customers, First Street rent, and a manager the shop can hire. Compare offers that are not all cash in the offer comparison guide. Holdbacks belong on receivable quality, an open plant item, and a license that lists one person.

How the buyer writes the check

An SBA 7(a) loan commonly caps at $5 million. It can fit a documented route, a restaurant, or a shop with more than one customer when the manager wage is real and a quiet January week shows on the profit and loss. A book tied to one tire purchase order usually needs more buyer equity. The SBA financing guide explains the national structure. It is not a loan approval, and it is not a promise that an Obion County shop will clear.

A seller note fits when the hard part is the First Street lease, a license, a plant pass, or a key customer. The note shares the risk that the transfer happens and the customers stay. It does not repair a lease that cannot be assigned. If an ordinary January week cannot pay the note, the note is too large.

An earn-out fits when one tire account, one field-trip month, or one Reelfoot weekend is a large share of the year. Pay the extra money only if that revenue continues. Write the measure in plain numbers, such as revenue from a named customer or sales in named weeks.

A handshake does not move a plant badge, a First Street lease, or a Tennessee license. Have local counsel review those three before you set a closing date. Ask the landlord in writing whether the lease assigns and whether the rent changes. Ask what the buyer must do before the state will treat them as the qualifier.

Working capital is the cash, parts, inventory, and receivables a normal January week needs. Set the target on a midweek when Discovery Park is thin, and leave the owner's draw out of that target. Parts for a US-51 route, food for a dining room that opens in January, and receivables from more than one account belong in it.

Mistakes buyers make in this town

Diligence often stalls because the buyer priced Obion County as a cheaper Dyer County mill town, as a souvenir stop for the museum, as Paducah's river, or as Jackson's hospital group. Rent, wages, and customers do not match those places.

The First Street lease may not assign, or the landlord may want a new term and a higher rent. One plant account or one logistics contract may be most of the year, and that customer may refuse consent. The license may stay in the seller's name. The plant may refuse the buyer's name on the gate list. Use the sale-prep roadmap to separate ordinary weeks, museum weeks, Reelfoot weekends, and the towns you actually bill before a summary goes to buyers.

The person who can run a quiet January week may already have taken work in Dyersburg, South Fulton, or Jackson. Say so if that happens. A seller stay can cover customer introductions. It does not replace a manager. A related-party lease, inventory left out of working capital, and one plant order treated as a customer list will reopen the price. So will a founder who is the only name the landlord or the plant gate will accept.

Sellers can start at the sell-side overview, the industry index, or contact. Buyers can start at buyers, review listings, and sign an NDA before they see which customers make up the year. The blog holds the longer guides on valuation, financing, and diligence.

What to look at in a manufacturing shop, a restaurant, and an HVAC route

Start a manufacturing, staffing, or trucking review with the Goodyear share, but only when the bills name that work. Ask how many accounts paid last year, and whether one purchase order was the whole book. Ask who runs the floor when the plant is between programs. A second contract year should already be on the books. For a warehouse, separate a quiet January from a visitor weekend.

Walk a First Street restaurant or retail shop on an ordinary weekday. Ask who eats or shops there when the plant and Baptist Union City are why people are downtown, whether the lease assigns, and what is on hand for a normal January week. Check that the same crew can open when no museum bus is on the curb. If field trips carry a normal month, the price is too high.

For an HVAC or construction route, read the tickets in South Fulton, Woodland Mills, and Kenton. Separate a First Street call from a roof in those towns, and include Martin only when the invoices name it. Repeat winter calls are the business. One plant remodel is not a year. Check the Tennessee license and the parts a normal week needs on the truck. If the owner is the only qualifier, name who can qualify after closing.

Separate local customers from museum traffic and from a Reelfoot weekend. If one account is a large share of the year, show the contract. If the building is the business, say whether the rent changes when the seller is no longer the tenant.

What to bring when you call

Bring two years of weekly sales, with a Discovery Park week and a quiet January week both visible. Bring the First Street lease, the customer list, and the name of the person who already runs an ordinary day. If a plant pass lists one person, bring that paper. If a license lists the owner, bring it and the steps required to change it. If South Fulton, Woodland Mills, Kenton, or Martin are inside the asking price, bring the invoices that name them.

Start with a valuation, your industry page, or contact. Call (352) 515-0226. The ranges at the top of this page are a direction, not a quote. Bring the week that has to cover a manager's wage, and the name of the person who already runs that week.