Baby Boomers: Incredible Numbers are Buying and Selling Businesses (Part 2 of 2)

Baby Boomers: Incredible Numbers are Buying and Selling Businesses (Part 2 of 2)

This article is a continuation of Part 1 which outlined several facts related to the baby boomer wave of business transaction activity.

NOW’S THE TIME FOR  HARD WORKING BUSINESS BROKERS, AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS EXCITING WAVE OF BOOMER BUYING AND SELLING, TO BE ENERGETIC, ENGAGED, FOCUSED, AND “TALKING TO THE PEOPLE”…

  • Even in a troubled economy, or even in a recession, or a “recovery”, these dynamics  will happen, no matter who’s elected President; no matter which party controls congress; no matter what changes are imposed on the tax system; whether or not we are at war. As in the past, the American Dream(entrepreneurialism) continues to evolve and grow.
  • Now is the time for business brokers to be aggressively advertising for listings…doing all the valuations (pricings) possible…positioning to be the broker of choice when America’s present business owners decide to sell their assets, now or next year or years from now, and when business buyers are serious about buying.
  • Developing “seller lead banking” relationships with present business owners, for future listing, is ultra smart brokering. Planting those seeds now will produce a harvest that will sustain a broker on into the future.
  • Now is the time for business brokers to also aggressively advertise for buyers, and  find out each buyer’s “ideal deal”, whether your agency has that kind of business “in stock” now, or not. Sell the buyers who want a business that is listed now, and “bank” the buyers who want something not presently listed, so that, as  listings are found in the future, the broker can call back the buyers that were banked.

THIS MAY BE THE MOST EXCITING TIME IN HISTORY TO BE A BUSINESS BROKER.

  • Building a listing inventory of businesses that a buyer can see will easily service the contemplated acquisition debt, is exactly the inventory that’s most likely to sell in any economy, but especially in a  “credit tight” economy.
  • The brokers who price listings realistically, will find those listings to be the ones most Boomer buyers and their bankers will want to make a deal on.
  • Baby Boomers, particularly, are usually very well educated, well informed, sophisticated financially (they are probably the most knowledgeable generation, ever), and this generation of buyers is more likely than ever to have a competent team of advisors. So, the typical listing must be obviously a “great deal” for them, compared to “business for sale” listings they find at other brokerages that won’t service the debt, and/or won’t support their families after debt service, and/or won’t deliver an attractive “return on investment”, and/or are riskier than the attractively priced listings.
  • THESE WELL INFORMED BABY BOOMER BUYERS, LIKE MOST BUYERS WE’VE MET OVER THE YEARS, ARE LIKELY TO BUY A “GOOD BUSINESS, WITH GOOD RECORDS, WITH GOOD CASH FLOW”, WHICH WE HAVE SPECIALIZED IN LISTING FOR OVER 32  YEARS. NOW, MORE THAN EVER, THAT’S WHAT WILL SELL, AND IS MOST LIKELY TO BE EASILY FINANCED.
  • The good news? For those brokers who maintain a generous selection of well priced, well packaged listings, these knowledgeable, highly qualified buyers will beat a path to your door. As it’s been in the past, buyers will continue to gravitate toward the best deals.

BUSINESS BROKERS SHOULD TRY TO BE POSITIONED PERFECTLY FOR THE MAXIMUM BENEFIT OFFERED BY THESE OPPORTUNITIES.

  • It’s still a numbers game, after all. If a business broker has a high enough number of listing leads available at all times, you can then work through them to discover plenty of sellers who will list their business at a reasonable price. If you only have a “trickle” of listing leads, it’s tempting to list whatever business will sign a listing agreement, rather than list primarily the highly sell-able.
  • Smart business brokers will work hard, and work smart, and capitalize on the wonderful opportunities available, now and on into the future, for decades to come, by engaging all the Baby Boomer buyers and sellers we can find (and continuing to also develop other prospects, as well).
  • Smart, too, is to be “students of the game”, and seek training, gladly, and review the abundant educational/training materials available to each of us, and follow high levels of service guidelines that, now, more than ever before, will prove to be the path that leads to high closing ratios, and ultra successful accomplishments.
  • Let’s fill our brokerage lives with plenty of leads, and work those leads with high levels of energy, competence and enthusiasm.