After a botched deal, Ronald Gosens had to work on his business again with full devotion. A difficult time, but together with takeover advisor Adagium, a new buyer was quickly found for Showoff Imports. "I was already mentally saying goodbye to my business.
Photo: Kuppens Photography
Ronald Gosens started Showoff Imports, a business in exclusive car tuning and styling parts, in 1999 as a student from a hobby. He has always been interested in cars, especially personalizing Japanese cars. At the time, however, few products could be found in the Netherlands, upon which Gosens decided to import all kinds of exclusive car parts himself.
'At one point my parents' barn was full of car stuff,' Gosens explains. 'That went well for a long time, but when shipping containers come unloading in front of your house, you know the hobby has gotten a little out of hand.' With the rise of the Internet and the popular movie series The Fast & The Furious, my business gained momentum and the revenue model worked.'
Change of direction
From the start, Gosens - a 2004 graduate of business studies - focused on online sales, something his competitors failed to do. But in 2007, his parents' shed and all the other rented warehouses burst at the seams, whereupon he decided to buy a patch of land in Dongen, Brabant, and build his own premises. He also sharpens his business model; Showoff Imports becomes exclusive distributor of a number of niche brands in the car tuning and performance market, ten niche consumer web shops are started, and retail sales are added to the pallet. That move worked out well, as the B2B branch grew to become the main pillar in terms of revenue.
Around 2020, Gosens noticed that his personal motivation was waning. 'I didn't see many opportunities for expansion anymore, which for me is where the challenge lies. It became more of the same. Besides, I get more energy from being an entrepreneur than being an employer. And although the change in direction from B2C to B2B was great for the business, I personally felt like more of a professional email responder.
In short, it's time for Gosens to take the next step. But what that step should be, he does not know. His reasoning: when he stops, his business also automatically stops. Gosens: "Until an acquaintance of mine said to me on New Year's Day: why don't you sell your business? I had never thought about that before. I get everything sold, but had no idea how to sell my own business. Gosens went googling for information, and on the advice of his accountant, he signed up for Brookzs National Acquisition Day for an initial orientation.
Plug out
During that day, Gosens comes into contact with Jasper van Geffen of acquisition advisory firm Adagium. There is a personal click and Gosens decides to join Adagium as an adviser. This resulted in a deal with an investment company in the summer of 2022; only the signature needed to be made. Until the intended buyer of Showoff Imports suddenly pulls the plug on it, fearing the impending recession.
'That was the most difficult quarter of my entrepreneurial life,' Gosens looks back. 'I was already mentally saying goodbye to my business as well. And then suddenly you have to go at it again one hundred percent. Moreover, the for-sale sign had to go back in the front yard. And just like with a house that appears on Funda for the second time, as a buyer you think: what's up with that?'
In that second round, they looked beyond the Netherlands and Gosens and Adagium soon ended up with Britain's The Performance Company, which is one of Showoff Imports' larger customers. Because this business runs the distributorship of a Japanese brand that wants to gain a foothold in Europe, a strategic takeover proves to be an ideal step.
Gosens: 'In June 2023, they stopped by the showroom. That night we all went out for a bite to eat and then the British said they didn't want to get on a plane without a signature on that letter of intent. So the next day we negotiated the deal in a conference room at Airport Eindhoven.'
Stressful years
Because of the previous experience, Gosens was not comfortable that the deal would actually go through. It wasn't until they both put their scrawl under the final purchase contract at the notary on Aug. 1, 2023, that a burden fell from his shoulders. One condition Gosens made was that he did not have to stay attached to the business for months to come.
'The advantage is that the buyer is in the same industry, so the transfer could also go quickly,' Gosens said. 'That's how I got out completely as of November 1. Glad that the buyer is continuing the business in the same footsteps, which also allowed the staff to stay on. It was two stressful years. My challenge is to figure out what I want to do next. And I'll give myself a year to figure that out.'
