View all current blog posts, discussions and podcast sessions by ProIntermediaries and ProAdvisors on BizBen.com that are associated
with selling and buying Insurance Services small businesses throughout the USA. Thanks.
A business plan is a living document that should serve several purposes for your business. When you are buying a small business, a business plan will assist you in obtaining business purchase financing by showing lenders and investors how you plan to repay their loan by running a profitable company.
Selling a business online, while often effective for finding the right buyer, is a strategy sellers need to execute correctly in order to be successful. That means avoiding the six common mistakes made by sellers. Peter Siegel, BizBen Founder talks about what it takes to effectively sell a business.
Even without meaning to be dishonest, sellers or brokers talking to someone who wants to buy a small business often make statements that are not true. And sometimes what is said is known to be a lie. The buyer is smart to carefully evaluate what they hear - six untrue statements sometimes told.
Lee Petsas, a Southern California business broker addresses how he handles potential business buyers when they request information on a business for sale listing. He gives his strategies and tips for handling and directing business buyer inquiries.
Determining the right time to sell a private business is as much an art as a science, because there are so many factors at play and each business is unique. The timing of a business sale is critical. Christina Lazuric, CBI, Orange County Business Broker discusses this topic on this BizBen Blog post.
Knowing how to advertise a business for sale without revealing too much is an important skill for anyone who wants to find a buyer for a small or mid-sized California business at a good price. One caution about giving too much detail is that it might identify the company and ruin confidentiality.
In The New Economy that we are buying and selling and businesses in, finding funding can be the most challenging part of a sale. Many buyers will have limited funding and need to finance a good portion of the sale but what happens when a buyer has NO money? Peter Siegel with BizBen explains how.
Choosing a business broker to sell your business can be crucial to the success of it selling. A broker who you have an exclusive listing agreement with, which I recommend vs. open listing, will essentially be your partner during the listing term in getting your business sold. Joe Ranieri explains.
The idea to buy a business with seller financing is clearly understood by most people whose career move is to purchase their own company. But not everyone knows how to structure a deal with the seller carrying back part of the price. Be prepared for three situations when negotiating your purchase.
There are many myths associated with the process of selling a small business and some of them can actually cause deals to fall through. Don't let your sale be compromised, be aware of these common misconceptions related to the process of selling. Peter Siegel, MBA with BizBen explores this topic.
In dealing with business sales, often times the Seller or the Buyer will ask about the use of an escrow company. The seller may say, Why can't the buyer just pay me cash or give me a cashier's check? This blog post covers why utilizing an escrow service is so important in selling a small business.
What are actual adjusted net earnings (cash flow) of a small business being purchased with business acquisition SBA Loan financing? That's an important amount that lenders need to know. Peter Siegel, MBA (BizBen.com, SBALoanAdvisors.com Founder) reviews this important concept with BizBen Blog users.
When selling your small business, you'll be bombarded with questions - from the brilliant to the ridiculous. You need to be prepared. Here are some of the key questions you can expect to be asked. Tim Cunha (SF Bay Area Business Broker) reviews many of these possible questions from potential buyers.
Many times when buying a business there are reasons why buying stock or buying assets is the better business decision. We explore these options on the BizBen Blog Post of which option may be better depending on the circumstances of the buyer (and seller) involved in the transaction taking place.
Yes, there are ways to find businesses with growth potential that can be purchased with modest investments. But before offering any ideas about finding cheap businesses, it's important to review some of the risks involved. Peter Siegel (BizBen ProBuy Program) discusses this topic with others.
There can be many reasons why Brokers take awhile to get back to potential Buyer & to other Brokers and Agents if they are cooperating on the listing. Broker's reasons include: unprofessionalism, too busy, the listing is no longer available, the buyer doesn't sound viable, etc. We discuss them all.
Who really represents the buyer? The selling broker or agent through dual agency? Many brokers and agents weigh in on this Discussion on BizBen. Bottomline is all business buyers need to know who really represents them and has their best interest at heart when seeking and negotiating on deals.
What are some ways a broker can prevent a buyer and seller from doing a deal behind their back and what to do about it if it happens? Joe Ranieri (Orange County Business Broker) discusses ways a business broker or agent can protect themselves from buyers and sellers trying to circumvent them.
As the year winds down, it's tempting for business brokers to go through their old files and throw them out to make room for new client's folders, but that would be foolish. Joe Ranieri (Orange County Business broker) discusses strategies for saving files - a key annual strategy for brokers/agents.
Asking the seller straightforward questions and getting straightforward answers in return is an important part of the buying and due diligence process. In this Discussion, both ProIntermediaries and Advisors offer thorough questions you should be asking during your meeting with a business seller.
It's important to remember that selling a business takes time. Unlike selling a house, which can be sold relatively fast, a business can take up to six months to a year to sell. I discuss this topic with other advisors and intermediaries on this BizBen Discussion.
We're hearing more and more about "crowd funding" through sites like gofundme and kickstarter as a possible way to raise the cash needed to buy a small business. This method of collecting funds has proven successful in other kinds of situations. Could this strategy work when buying a small business?
A seller just posed this question to me in a BizBen ProSell session. Any feedback for this business owner, potential seller? I would like to hear some feedback from my fellow BBNers on this topic. Make sure you're comfortable with the person with whom you are dealing.
Buying a small business is hard enough when there is no competition, so how might a buyer navigate the process when there is additional competition from other buyers? Peter Siegel, MBA (BizBen ProBuy Program) and others explain a few of the ways that a buyer can beat out other buyers.
Was just asked the question from a business owner what the "typical commission" amount is for a broker and if upfront fees are common? Thought this might be a great Discussion topic on BizBen for both business owner/sellers and potentially for business buyers (buyer representation).
Valuing a small business is not guess work. It's not what some other businesses of the same type may have or may not have been sold for, it's not even what a business owner "feels" they want or deserve. It is a formula based on many factors. Peter Siegel, MBA from BizBen & others discuss this topic.
For those who don't know, a non-compete agreement is a contract between a buyer and seller of a business, which after the sale, prohibits the seller from engaging in direct competition with the business they previously sold. Joe Ranieri (Business Broker) adds this topic to a BizBen Discussion Post.
Every day I speak to business brokers, business owner/sellers and I hear some pretty amazing stories about potential buyers of small businesses. I tend to ask them what buyer traits do you listen for to see of a potential buyer is serious? What traits or buyer actions are "deal killers"?
