The Iowa Small Business Development Center at Indian Hills Community College provided Scott Jackson with business advice on determining a good purchase price for an existing business and then helped him find financing so he and his family could purchase it.
Scott Jackson and his family considered several businesses before deciding to purchase the Mitchell Floor Covering business located in Centerville on the town square. Their process on which business to buy was a lengthy one because they weren’t certain about exactly what they wanted, nor did they have any idea on whether the prices they were seeing were inflated or good deals. Looking back on the process, they realized that their early attempts to do everything by themselves were the dry runs for the final deal they made with the help of SBDC Regional Director Bryan Ziegler of the Indian Hills Small Business Development Center.
Bryan helped Scott establish a fair market value purchase price for the business and then helped him find the appropriate commercial financing from a local bank to buy the business and the building. Bryan also helped Scott develop cash flow projections based on what the previous business had done and what the proposed changes, like selling home furnishings, would bring.
The business is located on the north side of the Centerville town square and had been in Centerville for a long time. Scott purchased the building that the business is located in and considered how best to use the unique parts of the facility. The building has a basement and a ground floor and was originally a buggy manufacturing facility; it’s freight elevator used to take buggies up to the second floor and now is used to move furniture and floor coverings to different floors.
Jackson Home Center opened in July 2013. It sells all types of floor coverings and uses contract labor to do the installation. The business is family-operated. Scott’s two daughters, Bethany and Bailey, and his wife, Kelly, are often the ones waiting on customers because Scott retained his job with the local water utility for right now. His son, Brent, also helps out with the business. The company has already improved its services by adding a corner of furniture in the store, which enables customers to visualize how floor coverings will look with furniture on them.
Scott praises the help he received from the SBDC saying, “Bryan Ziegler at the SBDC connected with us for the duration of our investigation and final purchase. It is good to be able to verify what you are thinking is going the right direction.”
Jackson Home Center has had excellent support from the Centerville community. You can find more information about Jackson Home Center on its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/JacksonHomeCenter.