What to Look for in a Broker When Buying a Business

By Jenny Hill

 

When you want to buy a business, it is highly recommended that you use a professional broker. The broker will inform you about the various businesses that are available for sale. They will also help you to gather information about the prospective business for buying. Getting an online broker will entitle you to a long list of available companies. The online platform is also fast and highly efficient. You will be assured of a convenient buying process. It is possible to browse for different categories as well as purchase prices for the prospective businesses. Here, is what you should look for in a broker while buying a business.

Experience
The broker should be experienced in selling businesses. The brokering agency should have been in the business for a considerable duration. This ensures that it has adequate skills and expertise to negotiate for the best deals. An experienced broker will also have links with various companies in the country. The broker will also inform you about the most opportune time to buy a business. The agent will direct you on the purchase prices. You will also be informed on the various requirements that are needed in order to make the purchase.

Professionalism
It is also essential that you buy a business through a broker who is professional. The brokerage firm should always conduct its affairs in a professional manner. It should handle all the clients with uttermost care and concern. The agency should also be focused on providing the best services to the clients. This will ensure that the purchase process is fast and convenient. The broker should also assist you with as much information as needed about the purchase process. The agent should also be courteous and highly respectful to the clients buying a business.

Authenticity
You should always ensure that you get an authentic broker while you want to buy a business. The broker should be licensed and registered by the government agencies to conduct these services. The agent should also be well reputed in the industry. This can only be achieved if the broker is willing to offer high quality and professional services. The previous clients should always have good sentiments about the services offered. The broker should also have adequate skills and expertise to assist you while buying a business. The agency should be willing to conduct research about the business on your behalf.

Quality of services
When you want to buy a business, you should also get a broker who is willing to offer high quality customer services. The broker should always be available whenever you require them. They should also respond promptly to your email messages. The broker should be willing to assist you in the entire process of buying a business. The broker should also assure you of the authenticity of the business. The brokering firm should conduct thorough research on the business before placing it on its site.

For a complimentary consultation:
Contact  Cecil Williams (cecil@bizbrokerflorida.com) or call  at 888-925-5055 ext.206.  Visit my personal website to search for business for sale in Florida www.bizbrokerflorida.com  Also, visit our Florida Business Exchange website at www.fbxbrokers.com

How does the business valuation process work?, Buying a Business or Franchise Article | Inc.com

How does the business valuation process work?: 

This article is a response to the question "how does the business valuation process work?" The response is from Tom West who is considered by most as one of the knowledgeable expert in the field of business transfers.

Read: How does the business valuation process work?

 

For a complimentary consultation:
Contact  Cecil Williams (cecil@bizbrokerflorida.com) or call  at 888-925-5055 ext.206.  Visit my personal website to search for business for sale in Florida www.bizbrokerflorida.com  Also, visit our Florida Business Exchange website at www.fbxbrokers.com

Buying a Business Rather Than Start One Can Be Smart Business

Buying a Business Can Be Smart Business (If You Don’t Mess Up)

An entrepreneur’s blood pumps through your veins. But starting out on your own takes time and effort you don’t have. Giving up your day job isn’t an option since dreams don’t buy milk.


Rather than starting a business and working from the ground up, you can take the shorter route by buying an already established business. Be careful, though. Even a business with positive cash flow can be a risky opportunity.

Read:  Buying a Business Can Be Smart Business (If You Don’t Mess Up)

For a complimentary consultation:
Contact  Cecil Williams (cecil@bizbrokerflorida.com) or call  at 888-925-5055 ext.206.  Visit my personal website to search for business for sale in Florida www.bizbrokerflorida.com  Also, visit our Florida Business Exchange website at www.fbxbrokers.com

Understanding Why The Business Is For Sale - Critical For The Buyer

Being able to determine the validity of a seller’s answer to the question why a business is for sale is crucial to a buyer’s return on their investment of capital and time in the transaction.

Whatever answers the seller provides to this key question, a buyer should continually validate that answer with direct and indirect probing questions during interactions with the seller, until a complete comfort level is reached.

Here are some of the most common reasons business owners sell their businesses, and some of these are never honestly disclosed to the buyer. Remember, it’s the buyer's responsible to ensure an understanding of the “why” question, whether disclosed or not by the seller.

• Retirement
• Need funds to finance another venture
• Tension between management and/or staff
• Sick of dealing with bureaucracy
• Not generating enough income 
• In anticipation of impending changes likely to make the industry more challenging (e.g., exiting DVD rental sector might have been shrewd move in recent years as online download market accelerated)
• Economic downturn
• Fulfillment of a long-term exit; hit profit and revenue targets 
• Ideal juncture in the economic cycle
• Perception that business is at its peak; value will never be higher

For a complimentary consultation:
Contact  Cecil Williams (cecil@bizbrokerflorida.com) or call  at 888-925-5055 ext.206.  Visit my personal website to search for business for sale in Florida www.bizbrokerflorida.com  Also, visit our Florida Business Exchange website at www.fbxbrokers.com

To Start or Buy A Business - Advise For Those Leaving the Corporate World

To Start or Buy A Business? One Entrepreneur’s Story

For individual that have left the corporate world and are considering starting or buying a business, this story is for you.

Read:To Start or Buy A Business? One Entrepreneur’s Story… | SCORE Success Blog

For a complimentary consultation:
Contact Cecil Williams (cecil@bizbrokerflorida.com) or call  at 888-925-5055 ext.206.  Visit my personal website to search for business for sale in Florida www.bizbrokerflorida.com  Also, visit our Florida Business Exchange website at www.fbxbrokers.com

Things to Consider when Buying a Business

Things to Consider when Buying a Business:

 An attorney offer 6 key (and basic) considerations everyone buying a business needed to cover. 

Read: Things to Consider when Buying a Business

For a complimentary consultation:
Contact Cecil Williams (cecil@bizbrokerflorida.com) or call  at 888-925-5055 ext.206.  Visit my personal website to search for business for sale in Florida www.bizbrokerflorida.com  Also, visit our Florida Business Exchange website at www.fbxbrokers.com

Buying a Business: Common Dangers and Pitfalls

Buying a Business: Common Dangers and Pitfalls:

Very often the business purchase agreements presented by brokers to potential buyers are designed to protect the broker and not the parties to the agreement. By contrast, the Business Brokers of Florida (BBF) has an excellent standard form that is a good starting point for negotiations.

Read:  Buying a Business: Common Dangers and Pitfalls

For a complimentary consultation:
Contact Cecil Williams (cecil@bizbrokerflorida.com) or call  at 888-925-5055 ext.206.  Visit my personal website to search for business for sale in Florida www.bizbrokerflorida.com  Also, visit our Florida Business Exchange website at www.fbxbrokers.com

What Is the Most Important Number For Buyers

When doing a valuation for making a SBA 7a loan, the lender is going to utilize methods that analysis income. The most common evaluation methods are 1) Multiple of Seller's Discretionary Earning (SDE), Discounted Future Cash Flow, Capitalization of Earnings (EBITDA), and Excess Earnings Method. While I can run an spreadsheet model for all these methods for individuals selling or buying a business in Florida, I find that most businesses are valued and sell within the range of the values generated utilizing the Capitalization of Earning (EDITDA) and Multiple of Seller's Discretionary Earning (SDE) methods.

The reasons that these two methods provide the optimum valuation and selling range are:

• They both evaluate cash flowing through the business

• They provide the lender and buyer with enough information to know if the business generates cash to pay down debt, pay the buyer a salary after closing, and to determine ROI.

Which of these two methods is most useful? It depends.

Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) is the figure that offers a fairly reliable estimate of the kind of cash a business generates to pay down debt, pay taxes and offer a return to investors.

Sellers' Discretionary Earning (SDE) or Seller's Discretionary Cash Flow (SDCF), on the other hand, is a figure used more often in smaller businesses because it accounts for the salary that the company's owner pays himself, along with any other benefits or perks like a company car or life insurance policy.

In other words, SDE = EBITDA + owner's salary + perks and benefits.

For a complimentary consultation:
Contact Cecil Williams (cecil@bizbrokerflorida.com) or call  at 888-925-5055 ext.206.  Visit my personal website to search for business for sale in Florida www.bizbrokerflorida.com  Also, visit our Florida Business Exchange website at www.fbxbrokers.com

Why Buy An Existing Business?

Why Buy an Existing Business?

To start a business or buy an existing business - this is the key question to answer before embarking into business ownership.

Read: Why Buy an Existing Business? « Cosmic Adviser

For a complimentary consultation:
Contact Cecil Williams (cecil@bizbrokerflorida.com) or call  at 888-925-5055 ext.206.  Visit my personal website to search for business for sale in Florida www.bizbrokerflorida.com  Also, visit our Florida Business Exchange website at www.fbxbrokers.com

Useful Tips on Buying a Business for Sale

 Useful Tips on Buying a Business for Sale

It’s a well known fact that buying a business will always be popular than starting up a new business exclusively for a simple reason called risk. Each and every entrepreneur in the business industry would like to invest in a business in which the risk factor will be low or practically negligible. That’s the reason why investing industry is currently putting out flowers with more and more organizations being sold and purchased on daily basis.
There are not many things which you should always remember before your commence searching for an existing organization for sale.

1. Make a decision on which sort of company you want to buy. In no way buy a business for profits only, because buying a business where you are interested in or have got past experience would give you sufficient moral to bypass any hurdle that comes while running the company.

2. List all the little details about yourself, it might be a better idea to make a list of your skills, your current experience, your qualifications, what your great at or how you need to run your business. In addition how much time and money you would want to invest in that company. It is really important to very first decide what type of business you want to buy, have you been okay with building a commercial, office primarily based or industrial kind of business? Decide what hours you would like to work, your desired net income and the level of capital you have readily available for the down payment.

3. A business valuation can also be important to verify the proper amount of the business you want to purchase. Business value is a vital tool in buying and selling of an organization and it also helps you spend the money for correct amount of the organization in which you are interested in in lieu of over paying.

Four. You should also pay attention to your current expenses, how much you can manage? How is the business’s tools which you’re planning to purchase, always check these things and make note of them. Furthermore, one of the most important things to test whether the profits are growing yearly or minimizing. You wouldn’t want to buy an enterprise for sale which is going under loss, even if you even now want to buy the business you ought to be sure in your expertise for that business’s improvement, as they can be very hard to get the enterprise back up again in the market.

Constantly while buying a business for sale be ready to negotiate always, have great persuasion skills try to remember to stay within your budget.

Author: Kimberly Parker 

 Useful Tips on Buying a Business for Sale

For a complimentary consultation:
Contact  Cecil Williams (cecil@bizbrokerflorida.com) or call  at 888-925-5055 ext.206.  Visit my personal website to search for business for sale in Florida www.bizbrokerflorida.com  Also, visit our Florida Business Exchange website at www.fbxbrokers.com

Find Out if You Got What it Takes to Own a Business

Take This Test to See if the Shoe Fits.

According to Fortune Magazine, nearly 80% of the 400 richest Americans have earned their wealth through business ownership. This may help to explain the tremendous interest in entrepreneurial pursuits today.

Another explanation may lie in the way corporate America works. When corporate America downsizes, a key strategy involves the discharge of middle-aged managers at the peak of their earning power. These high-priced executives are generally replaced by younger counterparts hungry for promotions. They are willing to work long hours for less money in order to achieve that goal.

In any event, more and more people are looking to themselves for the answer to future employment these days. There is an emergence of a new breed of entrepreneur -- the "modified risk taker." The dictionary defines "Entrepreneur" as "a person who organizes, operates and assumes the risk for a business venture." This definition implies that the "classic entrepreneur" starts a business from scratch. Starting a business from scratch is a risky venture considering that nearly two thirds fail during their first three years of operation. The "modified risk taker" coming out of corporate America typically buys an existing business or franchise to bypass most of the start-up risk.

In order to further mitigate risk, all aspiring entrepreneurs should examine their strengths and weaknesses. Because not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur, see if your future includes walking the path to business ownership.

The following questions from the American Small Business Institute can help you see if you possess some of the more vital entrepreneurial traits:

1. Do you want to own a business bad enough to work long hours with no promise of immediate compensation?
2. Have you worked in a business similar to the one you want to buy or start?
3. Have you had any entrepreneurial training (formal or informal)?
4. Are you a self-starter?
5. Do you have the patience to work with and energize people, i.e., customers, employees, vendors, landlord, etc.?
6. Are you a leader?
7. Can you accept total responsibility for a job's success or failure?
8. Are you able to withstand stress?
9. Do you have a credible team of advisors?
10. Do you have a business, marketing, & budget plan?
11. Has the plan been critiqued by your team of advisors?
12. Can you make decisions quickly?
13. Do people consider you both trustworthy and creditworthy?
14. Can you stick with a task until completion?
15. Are you in good health?
16. Can you access additional capital beyond the initial start-up or acquisition costs (most businesses fail due to lack of capital).
17. Are you prepared to lower your standard of living while your business gets on its feet?
18. Have you done any research to determine the marketability of your product and/or service?
19. Have you shopped your competition to determined your competitive advantages?
20. Have you researched the availability of personnel and the skills necessary to staff your business?
21. Do you have a suitable location lined up?
22. Did you check to see if there were any laws (local, state or federal) that may hamper your ability to do business?
23. If you could make the same (anticipated) amount of money working for another business owner would you still proceed?
24. Do you have the support of your spouse or "significant other?"
25. Are you able to comprehend financial statements?

Score Yourself:

If you answered "yes" to 20 or more questions, you likely possess the proper mindset to be a "classic entrepreneur" and start a new business.

If you answered "yes" to at least 15 questions, you seem to fit the profile of a "modified risk taker" suggesting that you focus on the purchase of an existing business or franchise.

And, if you answered "yes" to much fewer than 15 questions, you may want to reconsider business ownership, keep your money in safe investments, and keep your day job.

  
Written by Certified Business Brokers (CBB) 

For a complimentary consultation:
Contact  Cecil Williams (cecil@bizbrokerflorida.com) or call  at 888-925-5055 ext.206.  Visit my personal website to search for business for sale in Florida www.bizbrokerflorida.com  Also, visit our Florida Business Exchange website at www.fbxbrokers.com

Five Basic Considerations for Business Buyers

When buying a business, you are buying its future based on its past performance. Your decision to purchase a business will probably be one of most risky decisions you’ll ever make, and will affect your family, life style and finances. Here are five basic areas of consideration that can minimize your risks and uncertainties.

1. Which business opportunity matches your knowledge, experience and passion? Is the business for sale profitable? Is there room for growth? Consider products or services that generate sales and attract repeat customers. What are the recurring expenses associated with running the business? Can you lower costs to increase your profit margin? How is the business compared to the competition?

2. How much does the business cost? How much of this can you raise on your own? What are your borrowing requirements? Choose a company with a healthy cash flow so you will not be in debt for long. Only borrow the amount that you can afford to pay.

3. Investigate the business for sale. Make sure there are no problems in the transfer of existing contracts with suppliers, landlord, etc. to you.

4. Study how you will structure your company. Will you invite partners or go solo?

5. How much time will you spend in running the business? Do you know enough about this business to run it? How will your family life be affected?

I stronger encourage buyers to develop a firm business plan as a road map to their financial goals.

Did you have any questions?

For a complimentary consultation:
Contact  Cecil Williams (cecil@bizbrokerflorida.com) or call  at 888-925-5055 ext.206.  Visit my personal website to search for business for sale in Florida www.bizbrokerflorida.com  Also, visit our Florida Business Exchange website at www.fbxbrokers.com

So You Want to be Your Own Boss – Buy an Existing Business

The boomer generation spans many years creating a unique situation in the business world. Aging boomers are looking toward retirement, while many younger boomers find they’re ready to be their own boss. For those younger boomers, and others looking to be a business owner, buying an existing business is a great option.

But be aware that buying a business is a timely process. Some buyers never find the right opportunity, while others spend too much time exploring too many options.

Consider a step-by-step approach to get you where you want to be – owning your own business.

• Ask yourself some important questions – Why do I want to be an owner? What types of activities do I like? What lifestyle is important for me? You’ll also want to be sure to include your family as part of the assessment.
• Line up a team of professional advisors – Alert your attorney, accountant and financial advisors that you are looking for a business. Be sure to contact business intermediaries who represent businesses within your targeted market. They’ll work with you to let you know about available companies that meet your criteria and qualifications.
• Consider your financial situation – Be sure to carefully consider how much money you need and how much you want to earn. Your expectations need to be realistic and something that can be achieved by the type of business you are searching for.
• Develop a personal financial statement – The personal financial statement should show your assets and liabilities and possibly include a supporting statement from your banker or accountant. Be prepared to share this document with the business intermediary who is working with the seller. If you are planning to work with other investors, identify them and create a group financial statement.
• Create a profile – Sellers want to be sure their business will continue to be successful. They want to find a buyer who has experience and will take care of the company’s employees. Really, you are selling yourself to the current business owner(s) and the professional team that represents the seller.
• Establish your criteria for acquisition – It’s important to define the parameters of your search. Include geographic requirements and criteria on the transaction size. Having set criteria will help you demonstrate your commitment to finding the right business for you.

If you are interested in buying an existing business, you want the business intermediary to be selling you to the seller. It’s important that you demonstrate that you’re a qualified, motivated buyer. Being prepared and serious about your search is an important initial step.

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The International Business Brokers Association is the largest international, non-profit association operating exclusively for the benefit of people and firms engaged in the various aspects of a business brokerage and mergers and acquisitions. IBBA has1,950 members worldwide, with corporate headquarters in Chicago, Illinois.
©2007 International Business Brokers Association (IBBA) all rights reserved Permission to reuse any or all of this material should be directed to the IBBA at 888-686-4442 and is restricted to IBBA members.

For a complimentary consultation:
Contact  Cecil Williams (cecil@bizbrokerflorida.com) or call  at 888-925-5055 ext.206.  Visit my personal website to search for business for sale in Florida www.bizbrokerflorida.com  Also, visit our Florida Business Exchange website at www.fbxbrokers.com

The Buyers For Privately-Held Companies And Why They Buy

Most owners of small and medium-sized businesses don't think about exiting their business nor do they plan for that inevitable day. They enjoy their work and their lifestyle. Many of them don't even realize that their business may be an attractive acquisition target.
With about 8,000 Americans turning 60 every day, about 20% of businesses owned by boomers will be looking for buyers within the next three years. We are now in the initial stages of what is expected to be the greatest wave of business transfer activity in U.S. history. This future large-scale baby boomer exit will make for a buyer's market for businesses rather than the seller's market that exists today.

If you have been thinking about selling, this article will help you see your company as a potential acquirer might see it. Understanding who the buyers are and their respective acquisition criteria equals better preparedness when the time comes to sell. Having realistic expectations and understanding the factors that drive value in the marketplace will further bolster an owner's readiness for a successful sale. Proper valuation and presentation to the most likely buyers is crucial to achieving a sale for the best price in the shortest time frame possible.

There are three main categories of buyers of privately-held small to midsize businesses: The Individual Buyer, The Investment Buyer, and The Strategic Buyer. Each category has distinctive characteristics and motives for making an acquisition. The price each is willing to pay is directly proportional to their motive.

THE INDIVIDUAL BUYER CATEGORY
The Individual Buyer represents the largest number of prospective buyers for small to midsize privately-held businesses. Target companies typically have gross revenues between $200,000 to $3 million. Enterprises with gross revenues under $200,000 do not provide sufficient net earnings and those with revenues over $3 million become difficult for individuals to obtain the level of financing required and to compete with the other categories of buyers.

Most Individual Buyers seek enterprises that have full-time employees or management in place, documented operating procedures, a diversified customer base, verifiable financial records, and net earnings at least similar to their most recent salary with an upside potential for growth. These qualifiers give Individuals confidence in the business' continuity and stability. Employees who can run daily operations is more appealing than a business that is highly reliant on the owner's presence or is dependent on the owner's personal relationships with customers.

While Individual Buyers may not always know the latest techniques for valuing businesses, they are capable of determining if the business makes enough money to earn a livable salary, pay the debt service on the new loan to purchase the business, and provide a reasonable return on their investment. These factors are the ultimate test to see if the price and terms of the deal make sense.

THE INVESTMENT BUYER CATEGORY
One of the major market shifts for privately-held companies has been the growth in the number of Private Equity Groups over the last decade, they number in the thousands. The Investment Buyer's primary goal is to acquire a company, grow it, and then cash out, usually within five years through either selling the business to a public company or taking the business public themselves. They are primarily influenced by return on investment and prefer to invest in companies with gross revenues in excess of $5 million with superior profit margins. Their targets usually have a unique business model with a sustainable and defensible market niche and position. Other traits that appeal to the Investment Buyer are strong growth opportunities, a compelling track record, a deep management team, low customer concentrations, and insulation from or a strategy to deal with import competition.

The relative sizes of acquisitions by category of buyer (compressed into their broader categories) is shown in the accompanying Table.

THE STRATEGIC BUYER CATEGORY
The Strategic Buyer is usually a public company or a larger privately-held company. Their targets are businesses that would compliment their own and that by combining the two would create a synergy of operations resulting in lower costs, new customers, and other advantages. Strategic Buyers are the most likely to pay more than other types of buyers because they gain a variety of financial benefits and quick business growth.

Synergy means that joining the two companies will produce more, or be worth more, than just the sum of their parts. Here's a simplified example: a large real estate company purchases a mortgage company. It can now use its existing customers (those who buy homes) and offer them the mortgage funds to finance their purchases. The benefits of this type of acquisition help both companies be more competitive and profitable.

Generally, Strategic Buyers target companies that have gross revenues in excess of $2-3 million, offer unique market share not readily available to their own company, such as opening in a new market not previously served or obtaining product lines and/or services not previously provided, but synergistic to their own customer base. Target companies will be especially attractive in industries where economies of scale are possible whereby the acquiring company can obtain significant post-deal expense savings, such as elimination of dual facilities, support staff, or other overhead expenses.

For a complimentary consultation:
Contact  Cecil Williams (cecil@bizbrokerflorida.com) or call  at 888-925-5055 ext.206.  Visit my personal website to search for business for sale in Florida www.bizbrokerflorida.com  Also, visit our Florida Business Exchange website at www.fbxbrokers.com

The Benefits of Buying Vs. Starting A Business

So you want to be your own boss. Consider the options – work as an independent contractor…start your own business…buy an existing company.

Certainly there are pros and cons to each option. If you do a careful analysis, you’ll learn what many seasoned entrepreneurs have discovered…the risk-to-reward ratio is tipped in your favor when you purchase an existing business.

Admittedly, as an independent contractor, your risk is minimal. The up front investment and overhead costs are limited. However, without the ability to leverage the work of an employee base, the returns are limited by your own personal capacity.

Starting a business of your own can pay great dividends, but it’s important to understand that the risks are significant. Most start-up businesses will falter and eventually die. According to Michael Gerber, author of The E-Myth Revisited, 40 percent of new businesses fail in the first year and 80 percent fail within five years.

On the other hand, purchasing an existing business reduces an entrepreneur’s risk while creating opportunities for tremendous profit.

There are a number of reasons to consider the purchase of an existing business rather that starting one:

• Proven Concept. Buying an established business is less risky – as a buyer you already know the process or concept works. Financing a purchase is often easier than securing funding for a start-up business for that very reason—the business has a track record. A bank will be able to look at the historical results for the business, not just rely on projections.


• Brand. You’re buying a brand name. The on-going benefits of any marketing or networking the prior owner has done will transfer to you. When you have an established name in the business community, it’s easier to place cold calls and attract new business than with an unproven start up. That’s an intangible benefit that’s difficult to put a price on.


• Relationships. With the purchase of an existing business, you will also be buying an existing customer base and vendor base that took years to build. It’s very common for the seller to stay on and transition with the business for a short time to transfer those relationships to the buyer.


• Focus. When you buy a business, you can start working immediately and focus on improving and growing the business immediately. The seller has already laid the foundation and taken care of the time-consuming, tedious start up work. Starting a new business means spending a lot of time and money on basic items like computers, telephones, furniture and policies that don’t directly generate cash flow.


• People. In an acquisition, one of the most valuable and important assets you’re buying is the people. It took the seller time to find those employees, develop them and assimilate them into the company culture. With the right team in place, just about anything is possible and you will have an easier time implementing growth strategies. Plus, with trained people in place you will have more liberty to take vacation, spend time with family, or work on other business ventures. When start-up owners and independent contractors go on vacation, the business goes too.


• Cash flow. Typically, a sale is structured so you can cover the debt service, take a reasonable salary, and have some left over to take the business to the next level. Start up owners, on the other hand, often “starve” at first. Some experts say start-ups are not expected to make money for the first three years.


• Risk. Even with all these advantages, some entrepreneurs believe it is cheaper, and therefore less risky, to start a business than to buy one. But risk is relative. A buyer may pay $1 million, for example, for an established business with strong cash flows of approximately $200,000 to $300,000. A lending institution funds the transaction because historical revenues show the cash flow can support the purchase price. For many people, however, that is far less risky than taking out a $300,000 loan with an unproven concept and projections that may or may not be realized.

Becoming your own boss always involves a risk. When you buy a business, you take a calculated risk that eliminates a lot of the pitfalls and potential for failure that come with a start up.

Copyright International Business Brokers Association (IBBA)

For a complimentary consultation:
Contact  Cecil Williams (cecil@bizbrokerflorida.com) or call  at 888-925-5055 ext.206.  Visit my personal website to search for business for sale in Florida www.bizbrokerflorida.com  Also, visit our Florida Business Exchange website at www.fbxbrokers.com

Securing Loans To Acquire A Business Improving

Financing for Small Business Owners Continues to Improve

A strong indicator that third party lending for small business continues to improve is the recent report that Wells Fargo approved more than $548 million in SBA 7(a) loans nationwide so far this year. As reported by Market Watch and Business Wire, Wells Fargo has continued to issue the most SBA loan dollars to small business owners than any other lender in the country.

The announcement came as Wells Fargo started its annual Small Business Appreciation, which celebrates how important small businesses are to the U.S. economic recovery. Given that the company has helped meet the needs of thousands of entrepreneurs looking to finance buying a business, this is a positive sign for those that are seriously interested in small business ownership.

SBA 7(a) loans have continued to be a strong tool for those that are looking to buy an existing business in their local marketplace. Wells Fargo has long recognized the importance of assisting small business owners in the U.S., which is why they are the top SBA 7(a) lender in dollars or number of loans in several states such as Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas.

I can assist in securing financing, such as SBA 7(a) loans, for entrepreneurs looking to buy a business. Wells Fargo is just one of several lenders that I has had relationships with when facilitating a business transaction that requires financing.

Financing for Small Business Owners Continues to Improve

For a complimentary consultation:
Contact Cecil Williams (cecil@bizbrokerflorida.com) or call  at 888-925-5055 ext.206.  Visit my personal website to search for business for sale in Florida www.bizbrokerflorida.com  Also, visit our Florida Business Exchange website at www.fbxbrokers.com

What you need to know when buying a business

What you need to know when buying a business

Once a buyer expresses an initial interest in a business they will be asked to sign a confidentiality agreement – often referred to as the Non-Disclosure Agreement or simply "NDA". After this is signed and returned the buyer will receive a "BLI" or one page information sheet on the business. This sheet at a minimum should include the following key information. 

•Name and address of business

•Asking price

•Annual sales

•Cost of goods

•Total expenses

•Owner benefit, including salary and other benefits

•Corporate structure

•Reason for sale

•Lease payment and terms

•Number of employees

•Operating hours

•Is the business a franchise

•Years established

•Years owned by seller

•Licenses or specialized skills required

•Dollar value of inventory on hand

•Opportunity for seller financing

•Value of furniture, fixtures and equipment

•Brief description of the business

Once a buyer expresses an initial interest in a business they will be asked to sign a confidentiality agreement – often referred to as the Non-Disclosure Agreement or simply "NDA". After this is signed and returned the buyer will receive a "BLI" or one page information sheet on the business. This sheet at a minimum should include the following key information.

Upon review of the provided information, if the Buyer remains interested, he will have the opportunity to meet with the Seller by phone or in person.

For a complimentary consultation:
Contact Cecil Williams (cecil@bizbrokerflorida.com) or call  at 888-925-5055 ext.206.  Visit my personal website to search for business for sale in Florida www.bizbrokerflorida.com  Also, visit our Florida Business Exchange website at www.fbxbrokers.com