TeeLok’s acquisition of a previously family-owned printing company helped save a client base that was left to fend for themselves. The founders of the company, husband and wife, sold their business in hopes to retire. Upon selling the company they maintained the building as a rental property for the new owner and were kind enough to take back a rather large seller’s note to help with the purchase.

The new owner wasn’t prepared to handle the aptitude of the printing company and ended up digging a pit that was seemingly impossible to climb out of. He owed the sellers most of the original note and many months of rent. With creditors breathing down his neck he decided to load up the computers holding customer files into his car, locked the doors, and ran away from his problems. This left the original owners with a damaged business, missing customer artwork, an empty commercial building, broken equipment, and very limited options for how to move forward.

When our team was introduced to the owners we saw an opportunity to help them while also growing our business. The day we met we agreed to write them a check for assets and buy the building. They requested that instead of buying the building initially, we lease it for a few years to generate cash flow and close the purchase at a later date. We agreed because we strive to make deals structured for the success and benefit of both parties. This compromise was well worth it.

With the digital files gone we thought we may have little or nothing to work with, however we were fortunate enough to have the hard copy invoices and order history in the office’s wall of filing cabinets. The analog nature of only having physical files made this a bit of a project, but we succeeded through our normal process of contacting customers through direct mail, phone calls, and emailing to inform them of the transition taking place.

Due to the poor customer service of the previous owner who left abruptly, many clients took their printing business elsewhere. Ultimately we were able to still retain and grow many of those accounts. To make the transition smoother for our clients we recreated their art at no charge as they fell victim to it being stolen. This generated a lot of goodwill because most were very understanding that things can just go wrong sometimes. All they wanted was to be taken care of and for us to fix those problems. We were determined to do this for our acquired clients.

We have since closed on the building and the founders of the original company have said that they view the day they met our team as one of the best things that has happened since they sold the business to retire the first time.