PROFITABLE BUSINESS FOR SALE

Description

I have been involved in this business for 6 years and owned it for over a year.
I originally bought it to do part time, for some extra money in the summer, but demand has been much higher than expected.
This year I have increased turnover by around 500%. Last year it did around 6 events, this year we will have done 50 events, over 70 days. Turnover has increased significantly also, going from £8k last year to around £60k this year.

At this time last year we had no bookings. We already have 6 confirmed for next year with a total value of £11,000. We are budgeting over £100k for the 2016 season. Took 2 bookings this week and 6 email enquiries yesterday.

Overheads are minimal. Insurance, accounts, equipment servicing, admin support and repair and storage come to well under £10k. Direct costs depend on how you run it. At the moment the average costs for a job is £350 inc fuel and technician. The average job fee is around £1,600 so the direct profit is around 70-80%. So next year we budget to make a profit of £60+k. This year profit is £32k.

I only do a few jobs myself and do all the enquiries. We get over 1,000 emails enquiries a year and this is increasing at around 25-35% pa as outdoor cinema gets more popular. I would say it takes me about an hour a day in the spring/summer when the phones and emails are busiest to do the quotes. And half an hour a day in the winter. We do 90% of our events May - Oct with a sprinkling of other jobs in the winter.

My main job is marketing consultancy, with a focus on digital. When I bought the business we rebuilt the website and did a load of SEO work. We also do ongoing SEO which means we are top in Google for all our main key phrases and this is where 95% of the bookings come from. That said we are getting more repeat bookings now as well. This is a significant part of the value of the business. On the website we have also written a free guide to putting on an outdoor cinema event that around 500 people a year download, they have to enter their email to download and we then follow this up with a call or email, some then result in a booking. We also have a big email list of customers and people that have enquired and we send regular email newsletters that always result in a couple of bookings.
We have an impressive client list and glowing testimonials, all on the website. 100% safety record and for 2 years we have not had to cancel an event because of bad weather.

Operationally I have self taught myself everything, and over time we have refined out set up and equipment. Once on site we take under two hours to set up and an hour to pack down. The main set up is built into the back of a luton van. The other set up goes in a normal short wheel base van. We will probably have a second Luton and bigger screen for next year. We carry a back up of everything including spare projectors, amps etc. So this way we can give 100% reassurance to the event organiser that (with some act of god) we will be able to put on the event.

The reason I am selling is three reasons 1) I have just had a baby and having to go away, at all, in the summer is not ideal for family life. 2) We are based in Cornwall and 95% of the work is up county, so we have to travel for at least 3/4 hours just to get out of the South West. It is logical the business is based anywhere but here, most work in the south and midlands, but increasing number of requests from the north and Scotland. 3) My other work is really busy
At the moment I am in no rush, we are booking up for next year and I have a good team to deliver the events. We are servicing all the kit and refining our set up and procedures. I am also in the process of some marketing campaigns which are bringing in more enquiries. But thinking long term I need to consider a sale, it is crazy being based in Cornwall and my wife will get tired of me being away.

Delivery notes

Mobile, but currently based in Cornwall.

This item is now sold