Start up brainstorm (outside the box thinking exercise)

[healthstatus]

Start earlier in the game than the other people and help the seller target the likely buyers (thinking of mergers & acquisitions mainly), then help the seller adjust their business model to mesh better with the potential buyer(s). That should boost the sales price and get you a bigger commission.

 

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[enlightening]

For the person buying the business, there going to need necessary things to run the business / spend money every month on certain items. EX: Restaurants are going to need to buy X amount of dishes every month. We can profit by influencing where they buy it. Not to mention if you have a buyer, there's no reason you can't partner with a company and sell him "x" package to help his new business grow.

Specialize in an industry like restaurants. There is so much turnover, so many inexperienced people who want to get in, and probably a lot of people who want to get out but don't know how. What kind of fool would go to a general business broker when they could work with THE restaurant business broker? Wineries might be another good one since they often seem to involve non-economic reasoning and you could sell the high end. If that's too small for you, hire people to specialize in various areas and really own them.

Otherwise it seems like a tough deal... I'm sure a lot of brokers are bad but I can only imagine how many buyers there are who just don't understand what their business is really worth. Might even be worse than residential real-estate

As others alluded to the best time to get involved with someone is a few years before they want to sell. But that's a long time to keep a lead warm. You might have to partner with or replicate CEO development programs and helpers such as coaches, accountants, or Vistage/EO/YPO. If you can deliver a customized plan, personalized guidance to execute it correctly, and other ideas to improve the business, you can get it sold at a higher price. This could go anywhere from individual consultation to group workshops. That's kind of getting far away from the idea of a business broker though. I guess if you're eventually known for selling good businesses, you can be the person buyers go to. Then one day you are the market.

Or just use it to find new opportunities for yourself. The really good clients are probably good enough for you to invest/partner with and may not come around that frequently. Why live at the risk of someone else's actions and let others enjoy all the rewards?

Or if you really want to focus on just this aspect, contract your services to companies that want to do multiple acquisitions. They need someone to manage that area and get to know the market. By building up a reputation, you can have sellers coming to you.

 

[enlightening]

Most people that I know are not in the mental mode of buying an existing business. I hear more talk about starting a business and work for oneself rather than buying a business. Seems effecting a mind shift for potential customers would be in order. That would be through marketing and advertising.

1) Get access to people who want to own a business but are overwhelmed by the startup stuff; do education/support to help them understand how it can be better to buy a business
2) Get partners who can help with outside financing / vendor financing since the buyers probably don't have a lot of assets
3) Get sellers because you can access a wider untapped market of buyers
4) BONUS: help with employee buy-outs. Again they are often inexperienced and not wealthy. It's easier because the buyer and seller know each other.

What about instead of having business for sale constantly to sell them more like an auction house. Have a preview period for each business with a day and time that the bidding will take place.

Make it a reality TV show

 

[pickeringmt]

Hey, I know this is an old thread but as I read through it I had an idea.

You should create a business broker site that is modeled on a dating site.

Sellers list businesses based on a bunch of different metrics, and buyers are matched to their "ideal" businesses based on a good match.

This personalizes the process, while at the same time automating it. It would probably also convert better as you could send out automatic "match" emails to members that aren't even active.

The more i write, the more i like this idea. Could this work?

I have some research to do.....

You freaking rock Billy, love all of your stuff

 

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