Are Business Brokers a Waste of Space
Why Use an Intermediary Anyway?
Using an intermediary is often regarded as unnecessary and costly, hence the question – why use one?
Here are a few pertinent points worth considering:
- Effective intermediaries are bridge builders to help provide solutions to assist their clients to go where they want to go.
- Selling a business is a major undertaking which requires very specific skills.
Some of those skills required include:
- Identifying what is being sold.
- What is it worth? A key skill of an intermediary is to assist in determining what is the likely sale price range.
- Information Presentation – Collection of data in order to prepare an Information Memorandum that provides the necessary information required.
- Buyers Buyers Buyers – Undertaking a search and find marketing strategy and implementing it. Remember, a business broker spends his entire business life doing nothing but matching people, negotiating and resolving issues. A part timer’s chances of doing an equally effective job is lower.
- Team Work improves the chances of a positive result. An effective intermediary also acts as an advisor and sounding board in a team environment with the owners accountant and other advisors and acts in the best interest of his client.
- Negotiation – Without this developed skill an intermediary is next to useless. We all know how valuable a third party can be in negotiations, particularly to solve seemingly unsolvable impasses.
- The ability to follow through and pilot all events to a successful conclusion. Issue need to be identified and resolved. This is rarely easy as Murphy’s Law invariably seems to intervene!
- Time is Money – By allowing the intermediary to do what he does best, that often allows the business owner to get on and do what he does best.
- Smoothing the way – Isn’t it funny how very few things go according to plan. An intermediary has a vested interest in overcoming the inevitable obstacles in the way to achieve the objective of his principal – the seller.
We heard only recently at a conference that successful people in business provide solutions and good feelings for their clients. This is our intent in serving our clients.