Tips & Suggestions for Searching
To View All Listings
Simply leave all the filter fields blank, with the exception of the "Price" amount. Add a couple of zeros if you want to see offerings priced in excess of the default of R 10 million. The results will always be displayed in descending price order.
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Keywords:
The description field, the short title field, the industry/sector field and a listing of supplied keywords will be searched for a match against the word or phrase that you enter into the "first keyword" search box. If you enter a word or phrase into the "Second Keyword" search box then each of the two keywords would need to be found in at least one of the four fields that are searched. Note that the search criteria supplied need only to be found within (ie be sub-strings of) the text in the database.
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Industrial Sector:
Not all businesses fit comfortably into a particular industry and sector and care should be taken about restricting your search by industrial sector and thereby missing a likely prospect. We would suggest that this search criterion is used with caution.
If you are looking for offerings in the general Food industry then rather use the word Food as a keyword search in the first option as this field is also searched for keywords. For example, you would have positive finds for Food - Retail as well as for Food - Catering.
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City/Town:
The City/Town field and Physical location fields will be searched for the text entered. The location field is often used to describe industrial estates. Be aware that the City/Town could be listed as "Pinetown" and if you are searching on "Durban" you could miss this entry. For this reason it may be easier to use the Province search to cast your net wider over "KwaZulu-Natal".
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Maximum Price:
The default, as set, is at R100 million which effectively returns all listings. On the assumption that you are viewing listings subject to a budget, it is assumed that you would enter a maximum price figure that approximates what you are prepared to spend. Don't forget that pricing can be very flexible; for example, the price could be subject to turnover levels being maintained. Make the maximum price high enough to include these prospective purchases.
The results will be displayed in descending price order.
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Minimum/Maximum Profit:
A buyer might prefer to search for businesses that will return a monthly profit within a certain range and these criteria provide for just that. Leaving the defaults of zero and R10 million per month should return all listings and ensure that you are not filtering out on profit by mistake. If you are looking for, say, listings providing R30 000 to R40 000 per month, then set your limits at 25000 and 45000 to pick up the fringe performers.
You can also set the bottom range to 25000 and leave the top range open (ie. at the R10m default) but place a limit on Maximum Price of R900 000. So you are saying that you want any business that returns a monthly profit of at least R25 000 but you will not pay more than R900 000 for that. In so doing you are not excluding any business that retrns R50 000 or R60 000 per month.
The results will be displayed in descending price order.
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Legal Structure:
While you may have a preference for a particular legal persona, it should be accepted that most existing businesses have evolved towards a form of incorporation most suitable for the current owners and the extent of liability. These legal structures are not easily changed.
Choices should be restricted subject to this field only if the issue is of primary importance.
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