My husband has been working for a sign franchise for the past 4 years and now wants to purchase it from the owners. We have given them a letter of intent, but the owners are still getting all the numbers and paper work together. We are aware of several items on their inventory that are "repairable" and of course want a fair deal, so how is the value of a business that's already been developed with a good clientele get its value and/or who could we go to to get this answered? I believe that to purchase this franchise and start ground up is around $100K.

[Edit] Also, what are the pros/cons of having a silent partner versus an investor to help us with the down payment of the purchase?

Any help would be appreciated.

(Posts merged and edit added from second question that was asked today.)

One way that I know of as far as obtaining the valuation of a business would be to use people who do that professionally for a living. There are some links on the following search where the information may be helpful to you. I hope that it is.

Placing a Value On a Business - Google Search (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=Placing+a+Value+On+a+Business)

Hopefully, others will come along with ideas that they have also.