SUCCESS STORY
Selling a family business
The Hopkins Funeral Home, located in Washington, Georgia, was founded in 1952 by Carl S. Hopkins who had worked at another local funeral home until he could save enough money to start his own business. Billy Hopkins, Carl's son, was raised in the business and started working for his father when he turned 16 years old. In 2002, Billy decided that there was "more to life than running a funeral home" and decided to call NewBridge Group to explore selling the business. Billy felt that as he had served his community for more than 40 years, he was ready to pass that responsibility on to someone else.
NewBridge worked with Billy to first determine what his personal goals were in a possible sale. Then we analyzed his business and presented him with a valuation range and a few possible structures that would help to minimize income taxes. In communication with Billy's accountant, everyone agreed on one of the structures and then NewBridge set out to find a buyer that could deliver that structure. After a few months of discussion with Greg Rollings, a funeral director based in Georgia, a deal was struck and the closing was completed in July, 2005.
We followed up on Billy two years after the sale and he said he's enjoying life like he never has before. He "gets to fish when he wants to, travels when he wants to – without being worried about being called back earlier for a funeral". He still goes into the funeral home when he wants, but "gets to sleep all night" since he's no longer on call. The funeral home keeps Billy's license paid, and Billy serves as the county coroner and owns a monument service, both of which keep him involved in the industry.
Billy commented that "Jeff Boutwell is a very easy person to work with. He's very likeable, and stays with you during the entire process, keeping you informed and not letting you get stressed out."
