Hiring Brokers or Advisors for the Business Buying Process
Hiring Brokers or Advisors for the Business Buying Process
Does every buyer necessarily need help from a Broker or Business Advisor?
If you have already bought a business before then maybe you dont need help. Although it wouldnt hurt to get a second opinion on businesses you are seriously considering purchasing, especially when determining a fair market price. If you have never bought a business before, it really is a good idea. Once you buy the business, a Business Advisor will really come in handy to help you settle into your new venture quicker and with better success. Be smart and do not buy a business and expect to know everything and do everything. Plan on sticking to what you know best and get help with everything else until you either learn it, or permanently hire someone to take over the work. Taking on too much will quickly put your new venture into a hole.
Where do I find these professionals?
I would start with asking other business owners you know if they could recommend someone. If this is not possible, ask attorneys or accountants. I would also recommend doing a strong internet search specifically for the following key words broker help in buying a business or business advisor help in buying a business. From the search results, look for one in your local area. You can technically hire this kind of help from anywhere as long as you dont need them to physically look at the businesses with you. Be prepared to get in touch with a few. You really need to feel comfortable with this person. Keep in mind that using a Broker that came directly from a listing is OK, but they are really representing the seller more than anything else. With that said, some of the larger Brokerages will actually assign a Broker to you that is really there to help you out but you need to ask how this works on a case by case basis.
Which one is better to go with?
The answer to this question often comes down to plain experience. Obviously a Broker has experience in Buying/Selling a business so this would always be a good idea. Better yet, a Broker that also has business owning/operations experience would really be ideal as far as Brokers go. If you are looking more long term, then finding a Business Advisor that has a background in business buying and selling is the ultimate way to go.
When should I hire one?
Thats very simple. As soon as you have performed your prep work, you should look for the proper Broker or Advisor to help you out. Services should be used through the due diligence period. They really arent needed following that unless you are looking for help with the business after the purchase from an Advisor.
What will they do for me?
Either one can fine tune your business buying criteria from your prep but a Broker is more adept in actually helping you on the hunt or actually performing this service for you. They can also help you search for the right business including soliciting businesses that fit your criteria that are not actually listed as for sale at the time. For the right price, almost any business is for sale so this may be a route you would want to take although it will be a much longer process.
These professional can make sure that a particular business that interests you fits all of your criteria well enough to get more information on it. Remember that you will initially get very little data on the business you are looking at. Once you sign a non-disclosure, you will get additional information and these professionals will really be able to tell you whether to pursue it or not. If that is the next step, they will be a big help in giving you the right questions to ask the Seller/Broker about the business since this information will be limited financial data and an expanded description in most cases.
Their help in determining a fair market price for the business is the next crucial point. This is where you really cant go wrong with getting help and taking purely personal opinions out of the loop. Before you get all of the company financial history and dig deep into the operations of the business during the due diligence process, you will need to make an offer on the business, which is why this valuation is needed. This offer is made using a Letter of Intent, which is a non-binding agreement to pay the offered price if the business passes your test of contingencies. A Broker or Advisor can make sure you have a reasonable set of contingency criteria to prove that the business is worth what you are offering. They will assist you in the due diligence process, along with your accountant, to verify that this is the case. Once the business passes muster, the Advisor or Broker has finished their job as far as the purchase is concerned.
How much will it cost?
Well, there are no set prices for this kind of work. Some may work hourly and others on a flat fee with some limitations on length of the contract term or the number of businesses they will look at with you. It shouldnt surprise you to see prices in the range of $125-$200 an hour or flat rates of $2000 to $4000. Again, if you find a broker directly through a listing, this will be free help. You may get lucky and find a gem but you might end up getting what you pay for. This is a big decision you are making here so this help really is necessary and worth the money if you are serious about purchasing a business. If this seems like too much money to make sure you do things right, then maybe you arent really ready at this point in time.
One final point about who you choose to help you find the right business and ultimately purchase one. Do yourself a huge favor and do not employ an accountant or attorney as your advisor. Everyone has their place in this process and this is not the one for either of these professions. Although these professionals are needed in the process and should have experience in business buying/selling procedures, the majority are not qualified, nor do they have the time, to be a business advisor to you. If that was the thought process you had, forget about it right now. I promise you it will not be money well spent.
Please keep in mind that any advice you get from a Broker or Advisor is just that: advice. This is your money, time and effort going into the business you want to find and purchase. All final decisions are yours to make.
Being prepared before even starting your hunt is essential. Getting help doing anything you have not done before is just as important.
Hiring Brokers or Advisors for the Business Buying Process - To learn more about this author, visit George J Sierchio's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
The start of the hunt for a business to purchase is a very important time in the process. I would strongly recommend getting help to make your decisions much easier. Business Buying Brokers and Business Advisors are very useful when you are on the hunt and when you find a viable business fitting the criteria model you have made in your prep work before starting the hunt (for more info on preparing yourself to buy a business, see my article entitled Buying a Business- Prepare Yourself).
Does every buyer necessarily need help from a Broker or Business Advisor?
If you have already bought a business before then maybe you dont need help. Although it wouldnt hurt to get a second opinion on businesses you are seriously considering purchasing, especially when determining a fair market price. If you have never bought a business before, it really is a good idea. Once you buy the business, a Business Advisor will really come in handy to help you settle into your new venture quicker and with better success. Be smart and do not buy a business and expect to know everything and do everything. Plan on sticking to what you know best and get help with everything else until you either learn it, or permanently hire someone to take over the work. Taking on too much will quickly put your new venture into a hole.
Where do I find these professionals?
I would start with asking other business owners you know if they could recommend someone. If this is not possible, ask attorneys or accountants. I would also recommend doing a strong internet search specifically for the following key words broker help in buying a business or business advisor help in buying a business. From the search results, look for one in your local area. You can technically hire this kind of help from anywhere as long as you dont need them to physically look at the businesses with you. Be prepared to get in touch with a few. You really need to feel comfortable with this person. Keep in mind that using a Broker that came directly from a listing is OK, but they are really representing the seller more than anything else. With that said, some of the larger Brokerages will actually assign a Broker to you that is really there to help you out but you need to ask how this works on a case by case basis.
Which one is better to go with?
The answer to this question often comes down to plain experience. Obviously a Broker has experience in Buying/Selling a business so this would always be a good idea. Better yet, a Broker that also has business owning/operations experience would really be ideal as far as Brokers go. If you are looking more long term, then finding a Business Advisor that has a background in business buying and selling is the ultimate way to go.
When should I hire one?
Thats very simple. As soon as you have performed your prep work, you should look for the proper Broker or Advisor to help you out. Services should be used through the due diligence period. They really arent needed following that unless you are looking for help with the business after the purchase from an Advisor.
What will they do for me?
Either one can fine tune your business buying criteria from your prep but a Broker is more adept in actually helping you on the hunt or actually performing this service for you. They can also help you search for the right business including soliciting businesses that fit your criteria that are not actually listed as for sale at the time. For the right price, almost any business is for sale so this may be a route you would want to take although it will be a much longer process.
These professional can make sure that a particular business that interests you fits all of your criteria well enough to get more information on it. Remember that you will initially get very little data on the business you are looking at. Once you sign a non-disclosure, you will get additional information and these professionals will really be able to tell you whether to pursue it or not. If that is the next step, they will be a big help in giving you the right questions to ask the Seller/Broker about the business since this information will be limited financial data and an expanded description in most cases.
Their help in determining a fair market price for the business is the next crucial point. This is where you really cant go wrong with getting help and taking purely personal opinions out of the loop. Before you get all of the company financial history and dig deep into the operations of the business during the due diligence process, you will need to make an offer on the business, which is why this valuation is needed. This offer is made using a Letter of Intent, which is a non-binding agreement to pay the offered price if the business passes your test of contingencies. A Broker or Advisor can make sure you have a reasonable set of contingency criteria to prove that the business is worth what you are offering. They will assist you in the due diligence process, along with your accountant, to verify that this is the case. Once the business passes muster, the Advisor or Broker has finished their job as far as the purchase is concerned.
How much will it cost?
Well, there are no set prices for this kind of work. Some may work hourly and others on a flat fee with some limitations on length of the contract term or the number of businesses they will look at with you. It shouldnt surprise you to see prices in the range of $125-$200 an hour or flat rates of $2000 to $4000. Again, if you find a broker directly through a listing, this will be free help. You may get lucky and find a gem but you might end up getting what you pay for. This is a big decision you are making here so this help really is necessary and worth the money if you are serious about purchasing a business. If this seems like too much money to make sure you do things right, then maybe you arent really ready at this point in time.
One final point about who you choose to help you find the right business and ultimately purchase one. Do yourself a huge favor and do not employ an accountant or attorney as your advisor. Everyone has their place in this process and this is not the one for either of these professions. Although these professionals are needed in the process and should have experience in business buying/selling procedures, the majority are not qualified, nor do they have the time, to be a business advisor to you. If that was the thought process you had, forget about it right now. I promise you it will not be money well spent.
Please keep in mind that any advice you get from a Broker or Advisor is just that: advice. This is your money, time and effort going into the business you want to find and purchase. All final decisions are yours to make.
Being prepared before even starting your hunt is essential. Getting help doing anything you have not done before is just as important.
Hiring Brokers or Advisors for the Business Buying Process - To learn more about this author, visit George J Sierchio's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
|||
Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
|||
David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
|||
Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
|||
Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
|||
Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
|||
Casey GollanCasey Gollan, Business Coaching & Mentoring Programs. Add $1 Million to $10 Million in the next 1 to 3 years. Since 1996 Casey has to added hundreds of millions of dollars to businesses. Watch a free video see client results Business Coaching website. - Visit Casey Gollan's Website |
|||
Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to George's articles
 |
|
Buy a Business and Run It Successfully - If you have made the decision to purchase a business, your goal should be to buy a business and run it successfully. This blog will provide you with tips and insights in achieving this life changing goal.
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
George J Sierchio Video - George J Sierchio - There are a few reliable sources of finding businesses for sale. There are also some awful sources. Take a look at my tips on how to best find a business to buy.
|
|
|
 | |||||||
|
 | ||
 |
||
 |
||
|
||
|
| ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
|
 Business Financing Why Business Owners Quit Trainning Template Universal Search Testing and Measuring |
|
 | ||
 |
Top 50 Productivity Blogs
Top Blogs To Watch In 2009 | |
 |
The Top 10 GTD Times Posts
Best Posts for Productivity | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
| ||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||