12 examples of business deals that I couldn’t close

12 examples of business deals that I couldn’t close

1. I seen a double unit for sale, (lease for sale) it was a shit hole but the rent was very very attractive, (no key money just an annual lump sum) as we got closer to the deal the landlord said that the current tenant will need to leave his name on the contract. I wanted to figure out a way around this but we couldn’t do anything. That made the business unsaleable and the tenant has to find someone stupid to buy, or he stays trapped running the bar or walk away.

2. My friend was trying to buy a large business until the landlord said no more contracts to new tenants, the landlord will keep the current tenant as long as he wants to stay, but after he will sell the building/land. This means the business owner cannot retire, he has to keep going or walk away

3. I went to look at a quest house for sale, I was happy with it and the location. I was told the landlord was a Thai police guy. The leaseholder says I need to prove I have enough funds, as there are so many time wasters in town, I explained about who I am (I have many bars and not a timewaster) and what I have done. (which is usually enough because my reputation helps things go more smoothly) anyway I walked from his guesthouse to nearest atm, printed out a balance statement and came back and shown him. I came in again asking to see the contract, he says he thinks I am not serious and I need to bring the money in and put it on the table. I smelt a rat so I went to all his neighbouring bars, (most neighbours here seem to hate each other so they will tell all} One of them told me he has no contract and hes been trying to find a victim for a while, I am guessing he would run off with the money once it hits the table. I checked on the landlord and it was an Indian dude.

4. Someone asked us to invest 8 million in a business of his, it was a clean mid sized scalable business, I was very interested. We had many many meetings and I was happy with him and it all seemed right. But a few things didn’t match up, then he started pushing me and I knew he was desperate, then he said he has another offer to take, then he disappeared in the middle of the night, taking 1.5 m with him. (he was owed that money but he took it back unlawfully) fair play to him, but it had me thinking, maybe he would have ran off with our investment. Nice guy but you never know with people.

5. Someone tried to sell me a bar which had its alcohol license banned for 5 years from those premises, prospective buyers need to check for that.

6. One double unit was so cheap, we were very happy with location and the size, but when my wife asked for paperwork to prove they own the building and can rent it to us, they went quiet. We think the landlord died and they are still trying to collect. I may go back to them soon, as I want to open a business soon that is delivery only, so if we lose the lease, we just move!

7. Some places we almost finish the deal but the Thai girl they used to sign the lease, refuses to!

8. One bar I wanted to buy because I knew the leaseholder was ripping people off, I didn’t buy it because of moral grounds as I didn’t want to be seen involved, the person that brought it got no grief at all, I missed out on that.

9. We were going to buy some retail space near tuk com, everything worked out ok profit wise but the owners excuse for selling was very poor, he kept on talking about its potential etc. Anyway we spoke to the landlord and she wanted more rent. With that rent increase we couldn’t make money so we walked away. The leaseholder had subletted out space to people selling food, she increased all their rent so that it catered for the increase from landlord. All the tenants left, then she walked away from the business, now its an empty unit.

10. One business unit couldn’t upgrade the electric for its needs without buying a 200-300k transformer to upgrade the streets transformer.

11. A bonus one from a friend of mine, she brought a business unit and brought many electric washing machines, she found out after they are too expensive to run and they use gas at bigger laundries. Anyway there was no pipe into the main sewage and there was only a few septic tanks which often cant get rid of that volume of water!

12. I have turned down businesses before where the landlord only rents the bottom floor, this is a very bad deal for the tenant because you can’t save money by living upstairs. And there is no room for the staff to stay.