If there is a more appropriate sub for this let me know but wasn't sure where to post. I'm not very business minded so my terms and explanations may not be accurate but doing my best. TLDR questions at the bottom.
I work for an ecommerce company and have been here 12+ years. It's a very small company with 4 employees located in Indiana outside of Indianapolis. We are a reseller of small "widget" parts. We keep inventory of everything we sell and then ship out from our location. According to the owner the company generates 1 million per year in profit.
The owner has been looking for a buyer for the last year and a half. His promise is that we will all get a "bonus" from whoever buys the company. This bonus will be the equivalent of 3 years avg salary. Now, I believe that he wants that to happen but that's kind of up to the buyer isn't it? They might agree to it or they might not. Would a buyer actually pay more in bonuses to current employees on top of what they are buying the company for? I don't think so but could be wrong. Even if a buyer agrees there could be so much red tape involved it may not even be a good deal in the end. My thinking anyway.
If he wanted us to be guaranteed these bonuses wouldn't it be him paying it out after the sale?
Another thing I find odd is that we were recently told we need to start generating more sales revenue to get a buyer interested. If the company is profiting one million per year isn't that good enough for a buyer to be interested? Why do we need more sales to have someone interested is what my concern is. I understand if you want a certain amount for the company it may need to be doing more in sales but 1m in profit should still generate some interest right?
The owner lives at another home in South Carolina 6-8 months of the year so my thinking is that the profits are paying for that. I'm unaware of any other income the owner has. He pays rent on this home so it's not an asset and he's not renting it to others
He talks like we could be a few years out from having a deal. There have been no raises in over 6 years and each year we are promised one but something always happens to prevent that. So how can we believe a promise of a bonus? If this bonus that he always talks about is such a guarantee is there anything that other companies ever put in writing for it's employees to at least promise them something if the sale happens. Or even doesn't happen after a certain time?
We're not allowed a "side hustle" or a part time job or anything that involves us making extra income. I'm talking on our own personal time of course. He's afraid it will show we aren't committed and a buyer will not be interested or some bullshit like that. I'm currently looking for something anyway and if an opportunity presents itself I'll likely leave. Just looking for opinions on rather this employer is actually full of empty promises or if this is just how it is? Obviously we don't have both sides of the story but I don't know his side other than what he gives us. I don't dislike the guy even though it may sound like that but just getting tired of promise after promise year after year and nothing. I'm sure as hell not getting younger here
TLDR questions:
1.If a company is looking to sell and promises/guarantees the employees will get a large bonus after the sale does this bonus usually come from the buyer or the current owner?
2.Do companies ever put anything in writing to guarantee a bonus if a sale does happen? Or offer some sort of bonus at the end of a certain time? E.g. If the company sells we will pay you x amount. If the company doesn't sell after 3 years time we will pay you a bonus of x.
3.If a company is profiting 1 million per year shouldn't that be enough to have potential buyers interested?
4.The owner stays at another home in South Carolina 6-8 months of the year. My belief is that all of the profits are paying for that. If the company has no or very little cash available that would look bad for a potential buyer wouldn't it? Or is a potential sale just based on profit generated?
Thanks!
I work for an ecommerce company and have been here 12+ years. It's a very small company with 4 employees located in Indiana outside of Indianapolis. We are a reseller of small "widget" parts. We keep inventory of everything we sell and then ship out from our location. According to the owner the company generates 1 million per year in profit.
The owner has been looking for a buyer for the last year and a half. His promise is that we will all get a "bonus" from whoever buys the company. This bonus will be the equivalent of 3 years avg salary. Now, I believe that he wants that to happen but that's kind of up to the buyer isn't it? They might agree to it or they might not. Would a buyer actually pay more in bonuses to current employees on top of what they are buying the company for? I don't think so but could be wrong. Even if a buyer agrees there could be so much red tape involved it may not even be a good deal in the end. My thinking anyway.
If he wanted us to be guaranteed these bonuses wouldn't it be him paying it out after the sale?
Another thing I find odd is that we were recently told we need to start generating more sales revenue to get a buyer interested. If the company is profiting one million per year isn't that good enough for a buyer to be interested? Why do we need more sales to have someone interested is what my concern is. I understand if you want a certain amount for the company it may need to be doing more in sales but 1m in profit should still generate some interest right?
The owner lives at another home in South Carolina 6-8 months of the year so my thinking is that the profits are paying for that. I'm unaware of any other income the owner has. He pays rent on this home so it's not an asset and he's not renting it to others
He talks like we could be a few years out from having a deal. There have been no raises in over 6 years and each year we are promised one but something always happens to prevent that. So how can we believe a promise of a bonus? If this bonus that he always talks about is such a guarantee is there anything that other companies ever put in writing for it's employees to at least promise them something if the sale happens. Or even doesn't happen after a certain time?
We're not allowed a "side hustle" or a part time job or anything that involves us making extra income. I'm talking on our own personal time of course. He's afraid it will show we aren't committed and a buyer will not be interested or some bullshit like that. I'm currently looking for something anyway and if an opportunity presents itself I'll likely leave. Just looking for opinions on rather this employer is actually full of empty promises or if this is just how it is? Obviously we don't have both sides of the story but I don't know his side other than what he gives us. I don't dislike the guy even though it may sound like that but just getting tired of promise after promise year after year and nothing. I'm sure as hell not getting younger here
TLDR questions:
1.If a company is looking to sell and promises/guarantees the employees will get a large bonus after the sale does this bonus usually come from the buyer or the current owner?
2.Do companies ever put anything in writing to guarantee a bonus if a sale does happen? Or offer some sort of bonus at the end of a certain time? E.g. If the company sells we will pay you x amount. If the company doesn't sell after 3 years time we will pay you a bonus of x.
3.If a company is profiting 1 million per year shouldn't that be enough to have potential buyers interested?
4.The owner stays at another home in South Carolina 6-8 months of the year. My belief is that all of the profits are paying for that. If the company has no or very little cash available that would look bad for a potential buyer wouldn't it? Or is a potential sale just based on profit generated?
Thanks!