How Do I Identify a Professional Business Broker To Buy or Sell A Business?

Choosing a professional business broker can be challenging.  When you first meet someone sometimes red flags go off and you think to yourself hmm, this person is not on the up and up.  It’s that gut feeling, the intuition speaking to you saying, “I do not trust this individual”.  Have you ever felt that way?

Now working with a qualified, professional business broker can mean the difference between selling your business at a great value or never selling your business at all. Your next question to ask yourself is this,

“How do I identify a professional business broker to begin with?”

To begin your search, our quest in the following discussion is to outline a few of the qualifications a professional business broker will have to ensure they are the correct broker for selling your business or purchasing a company.

• Are they a member of industry associations?  A professional business broker takes pride in their work. When a broker is a member of the International Business Brokers Association (IBBA), this means that they are ethical, reputable business brokers, who is committed to gaining knowledge about their industry.  There are valuable tools and resources the broker may use to help evaluate the business to be sold as well as for an investor to grow his portfolio in the purchase of an existing business.
• Does the business broker hold a commercial real estate license?  There is no business broker license required in the state of Texas, however because most of the sales and transfers of business include the outright sale of real estate or a transfer of a lease, securing a broker with a real estate license is highly recommended.  This is where the broker can excel with the confidence of executing contracts.  Making sure all the real estate documents are in order as it pertains to the complete transaction.
• Understanding what a professional business broker does.  Serving a business owner or potential business owner with the transfer of ownership of a company is a complex process.  They not only manage and determine a fair valuation, ensuring all the company finances and accounting records are accurately presented, packaging the business for marketing, screening all potential buyers, negotiating the price and working with buyer and seller through the closing of escrow.  All these steps require extreme confidentiality. Interested buyers agree Not to disclose the details of the potential sale to any party not involved in the transaction.

These are a few key qualities a professional business broker will posses that will help them best serve business owners looking to exit their business quickly and confidently.

Other resources are available for those that are wishing to buy a company from a broker would be accountants, tax attorneys, financial advisors, value advisors, and other business owners.

Bill Nicholson with Sunbelt Business Brokers Metro Dallas invite you to schedule a confidential consultation today!

Bill Nicholson is the owner of Sunbelt Business Brokers of Dallas Metro. He has over 20 years of experience as a business owner and managing business transactions. As a seasoned intermediary, Bill has successfully represented companies in a broad range of industries helping business owners achieve their desired exit strategy or growth initiative.

Bill is also owner of Exit Strategy Advisors, LLC, a middle-market focused, M&A advisory and investment banking firm.  Finally, he is the owner of Blueprint Realty, LLC, a commercial real estate (CRE) brokerage firm serving clients in Dallas/Fort Worth for almost 20 years.

Previously Bill has been involved in several entrepreneurial ventures as well as having held corporate roles including chief operating officer (COO) for a boutique law firm in Dallas.

Bill is a graduate of the University of Arkansas with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, a graduate of Stanford University with a master’s in Mechanical Engineering and has earned his MBA from UCLA. He has received the Certified Main Street Business Broker (CMSBB) certification, has received the Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) designation, and is a licensed Real Estate Broker in the state of Texas. He has been affiliated with several organizations including a board member of the Texas Association of Business Brokers (TABB), a member of the International Business Brokers Association (IBBA), membership in the M&A Source, and membership in the North Texas Chapter of the Exit Planning Institute.