An Ohio Couple Shares How They Sold a Printing Business and Retired Comfortably
Retired Minuteman Press Owner Mike Geygan Shares Tips on How to Successfully Sell a Business
Mike and Karen Geygan owned the Minuteman Press franchise in Lebanon, Ohio, for over 31 years. As they approached retirement, they sold the business to new owners Frank and Melissa Hiti in November 2022. Mike says, “We went from 100K in yearly sales when we first started in 1991 to about $1.3 million per year. We got very comfortable and now it’s time to retire.”
New owner Frank Hiti says, “We are really excited to take over a business that has such an outstanding reputation in the community. As business buyers, we are blown away by the strong foundation that Mike and Karen Geygan built with Minuteman Press in Lebanon. This business is a well-oiled machine thanks to their hard work. Everyone has been so welcoming to us as new owners, and we will continue the path that Mike and Karen set by being a fixture in our community and make sure our business takes care of our customers.”
Building a Business that Serves the Community
Today, Minuteman Press in Lebanon is a digital print shop with six full-time and two part-time staff. Mike shares, “We specialize in digital printing and do a good amount of mailings. We are in a rural town and so we do a lot of saturation mail for local school districts and other clients, such as a large HVAC company and an addiction treatment facility. We also saw that during the pandemic, our community needed products such as large format printing, labels, posters, and signage.”
Speaking of the pandemic, Mike says, “We were fortunate enough to be cushioned from serious impacts in 2020. In 2021, we found ourselves back at 2019 levels, and in 2022, we were up 20% over 2021 sales.”
With new ownership coming in, Mike sees ripe opportunity for growth. “We have a nice foundation in place, but I also see room for growth in wide format, apparel, and automation mailing. There are a lot of studies that show print is more effective than other forms of marketing. I think it’s important to mix in different ways of marketing and use print, internet, and social media channels.”
Selling the Printing Business
When asked what it was like to work with Minuteman Press International to sell the business and secure his exit strategy, Mike shares, “I first had the thought of selling in March 2022. I was turning 63 in July, and I mentioned to my Regional VP Gary Nowak that we were starting to think about when to sell the business. My original intent was to retire by 65, and conventional wisdom told me it would take some time to complete the sale. We were not intending to sell this year and weren’t ready to actually list the business for sale.”
Mike continues, “Gary informed me in early July that he had potential buyers who he was already in contact with, and I figured there was no harm in meeting with them. As it turned out, the meeting with the buyers went well, and we ended up getting an offer fairly quickly. By September, we had a signed agreement and closed the sale in November 2022.”
“Our attitude was that if we got a good offer for the business, we would sell, and if we didn’t get an offer we were comfortable with, we wouldn’t sell. We really liked the buyers Frank and Melissa Hiti. We sold the business at a good time for us at a price we were comfortable with before we needed to sell, and while things were going well.” -Mike Geygan
The 3 Keys to Selling a Business
1. Have clean financials. It’s important to be properly prepared for any questions and document requests, and to know your numbers.
2. Run a solid business and invest wisely. My dad was a financial planner, so in addition to running our business, we took care of ourselves on the personal investment side. That really adds up over the years, so be smart about how you invest and start early.
3. A business where the owner is doing everything is worthless to buyers. The company needs to be transferrable to new ownership and retaining key employees is critical. Delegate responsibilities to your team, and cross-train your employees. The more they know, the more valuable your business will be at the time of the sale.
Transitioning to Retirement
As Mike and Karen transition to retirement, he reflects on what he’ll miss most. “Everybody says it’s the people that make the business, and that’s so true. We love our customers and our employees; they are like family to us. I also love being involved in the community and served on many local boards. Because we deal with such a broad variety of customers and organizations in the printing business, I was one of the people who knew everyone and so everyone would come to me. I simply loved being able to help and connect others.”
He adds, “Our customers are happy for us, and I am very impressed with our local Minuteman Press field representative Ryan McIntyre, who is helping with the transition, as well as the new owners Frank and Melissa Hiti. I know the business is being left in great hands.” Selling a business can be a complex process, for more information, download the BizBuySell Guide To Selling a Small Business.