GABB 2013 Year in Review
Hello GABB Members!
I wanted to send you an e-mail to follow up on the year’s activities and the results of our “annual meeting” on Tuesday, Nov. 26.
- The new www.gabb.org website that was rolled out at the beginning of 2013 appears to be well received by both the public and the membership. We are constantly making some changes to the site (mostly behind the scenes) and are always open to feedback from our members.
- Diane Loupe has agreed to fulfill Membership Director responsibilities along with her communications and marketing responsibilities. The Board of Directors sees this as a critical point to have year-over-year consistency, and we are excited to have Diane perform this role for the association.
- The GABB officers elected for 2014 are as follows:
President-Dave Chambless
Vice President- Mike Kelly
Secretary- Kent Reed
Treasurer-Jon Merry
Past President-Matt Slappey
- There was a proposed change to the By-Laws that required membership approval and the following motion was passed by the general membership: “Proposal to amend Article 3.1 of the by-laws of the GABB to create only two distinct membership types (reduced from three). There would be a “Business Broker Member” and an “Affiliate Member” (any member who isn’t a business broker). This change would eliminate the “associate member” title in the organization. This change was made to make it clearer for those who are searching for business brokers and to prevent confusing the public with the “Broker” and “Associate” member designations.
- The Board of Directors voted unanimously, through Article 20 of the GABB By Laws, to amend the requirement that all Broker members maintain an active account with the BBMS system to make this optional for members to keep an active account with BBMS. The decision was based on a culmination of a 2013 review of member utilization of the system, member feedback, and listings available via this system and other web-based systems. When we compared current BBMS(BizMLS) listings of 153 to the BizBuySell listings on the GABB site of 272, it is apparent that not all members are fully utilizing the BBMS system. While the system is not designed to be a “listing service” as a single service, the reduced utilization led the board to remove this as a REQUIREMENT of membership.
- The GABB Holiday Party will be held on Thursday December 5th starting at 6 p.m. Maggiano’s in Buckhead. As always, members and their guest (1), can attend at no charge as long as they RSVP on or before 5 p.m. Monday December 2nd. Each attendee should bring at least one unwrapped gift which will be presented to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. They said they particularly need gifts for very small children and teenaged boys.
- Membership for 2014 should be completed no later than February 28th because Diane Loupe will begin working on a 2014 printed directory for our broker and affiliate members. Ensure that your dues are paid by February 28th and that your correct information is listed on our website to ensure that you are represented in the new directory. Contact Diane at georgiabusinessbrokers@gmail.com or 404-374-3990 if you have any questions.
Thank you for allowing me to serve you during 2013 and I look forward to seeing everyone on December 5th!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Matt Slappey
2013 President Georgia Association of Business Brokers
Read More
GABB October 2013 Meeting Minutes
GABB General Membership Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, October 29, 2013 – 10:30 a.m.
South Terraces Conference Center
44 Members and Affiliates in AttendanceCall to Order- Matt Slappey, President Introduction of Members & Guests
Minutes of August General Meeting, Kent Reed, Secretary
Sponsors Mention
- Platinum sponsors spoke briefly about their services
Membership Updates, Paul Cushman, Director
- None
Ethics Minute – David Chambless
- None
Announced Proposed Board Members for 2014
- Dave Chambless-President; Matt Slappey – Past President; Mike Kelly – Vice President, Jon Merry – Treasurer; Kent Reed – Secretary;
Introduction of Guest Speaker:
· Guest speakers were Karl Kirsch, CAE, Executive Director of the International Business Brokers Association, and Maggie Nicholson, the IBBA education & certification manager. They spoke about the current business climate, the IBBA and members benefits as well as the CBI designation.
Upcoming Events, Matt Slappey, President
- Holiday Gala – December 5th at Maggianos in Buckhead
Meeting Adjournment
Matt Slappey, President adjourned the meeting
Respectfully submitted,
Kent B. Reed
Kent B. Reed – GABB Secretary
2013 Board Members______________________________________________________
President: Matt Slappey
Vice President: Jeff Merry
Secretary: Kent Reed
Treasurer: Gareth Young
Director: Mike Kelly
Director: TBD
Director: Dave Chambless*
*Immediate Past President
GABB Today: Nov. Meeting, New Board members, Holiday Gala
Send Proxy for Nov. 26 Meeting:
We look forward to seeing everyone next Tuesday at the November 26, 2013 meeting, when business and tax attorney Germaine Curtin, Chris Fonzi of Logic Environmental and Cheryl Beer of Cornerstone Bank will discuss legal, environmental and lending issues related to buying or selling a business. We are especially pleased to note that Germaine, Chris and Cheryl are Platinum Sponsors of the GABB this year.
Every November the association takes a few minutes to elect the leadership for the next calendar year. Nominees for 2014 are C. David Chambless, President; Mike Kelly, Vice President; Jon Merry, Treasurer; Kent Reed, Secretary and Matt Slappey, Past President.
If you are not going to be at the meeting (which is the Tuesday before Thanksgiving) and you are an active member of the association, please e-mail a “Proxy” notification to either Matt Slappey (mslappey@murphybusiness.com) or to Jeff Merry (jem@thebusinesshouseinc.com) and either designate one of them as your proxy, or notify them of the GABB member to which you assign your voting rights for this meeting. We recommend that this be a person who will be present at the November 26th meeting. This will help us ensure that we have enough votes (a quorum) to complete this annual requirement. GABB’s monthly meetings are free and open to the public. Networking begins at 9:45 a.m. with a free light breakfast before the group’s 10:30 a.m. meeting.
Sign up for the GABB Holiday Party:
GABB’s annual Holiday Gala is set for Maggiano’s at 7 p.m. on the evening of Thursday, December 5. All GABB members and affiliates may bring one guest to this festive evening of fellowship and wonderful food. We ask that each guest bring one, new, unwrapped toy to be donated to Children’s Hospital of Atlanta. There will be no other charge unless a person not signed up attends, or someone signs up and doesn’t show, in which case we will charge $25 per head for those not compliant. The deadline to sign up will be Monday, Dec. 2. GABB does this to insure an accurate head count.
GABB Past President to speak to IBBA Convention:
Restaurant brokers Eric and Robin Gagnon of We Sell Restaurants will headline a workshop on franchising at the International Business Brokers Association (IBBA) Convention in Savannah. The 2013 IBBA national conference theme is “Ready, Set, Grow!” and features a lineup of experts across the country presenting educational workshops for business brokers. The Restaurant Brokers are presenting a seminar entitled Franchise Opportunities: 2013 and Beyond on November 22.
The International Business Brokers Association (IBBA) is the largest international non-profit association operating exclusively for people and firms engaged in business brokerage and mergers and acquisitions. This association provides business brokers education, conferences, professional designations, and networking opportunities. Restaurant brokers Eric and Robin Gagnon chose to spotlight franchises in their workshop based on the conference theme. According to Robin Gagnon, “Franchise re-sales are poised to explode in the coming years. This area represents a huge growth opportunity and untapped revenue stream for business brokers.” Eric Gagnon agrees saying, “Research indicates that third-generation owners coming of age are seeking new opportunities and spinning legacy franchise brands into the marketplace. That creates an untapped sales funnel for business brokers.”
Find out more about Robin and Eric’s secrets for specializing in this sales model as a business broker.
Surprises CEOs Face When Selling Their Companies
Surprise #1: Substantial Time Commitment: In the real estate business, once the owner engages the broker there is very little for the owner to do until the broker presents the various offers from the potential buyers. In the M&A business, there is a substantial time commitment required of the CEO/Owner in order to complete the sale properly, professionally and thoroughly. Find out more at https://gabb.org/surprises-ceos-face-when-selling-their-companies/
Five Top Tactics for Negotiating a Business Purchase
Numbers, industry statistics, forecasts and profit margins offer a defined picture of businesses that are available for sale but the majority of today’s entrepreneurial shoppers lack the knowledge needed to interpret this data into something that can push forward their own futures as business buyers. Half of Americans want to become business owners, yet figures and projections do little to establish a meaningful interaction when those attempting to assess them lack the experience needed to interpret them. Find out more about the negotiating process.
Contact Diane Loupe at georgiabusinessbrokers@gmail.com or 404-374-3990 for more information about GABB, membership, sponsorships, or other matters.
You are receiving this email because you have expressed an interest in the GABB. If you do not wish to receive future emails from the GABB, please contact Diane Loupe at georgiabusinessbrokers@gmail.com to be removed from our e-mailing lists.
Read More
Growth in Jobs, GDP Not Yet Accompanied by Rise in Purchasing Power
ATLANTA – On the surface, the news is good. October non-farm numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show 204,000 total job gains, and job revisions were revised upward by 60,000 for the two prior months. The third-quarter GDP report showed 2.8% growth, a marked contrast to the paltry 0.1% growth in the fourth quarter of 2012.
Is it time to pop open a bottle of bubbly? Not quite, according to Rajeev Dhawan of the Economic Forecasting Center at Georgia State University’s Robinson College of Business. “Although such numbers are welcome signs that the underlying growth trend is still positive, the trend is not yet strong enough for us or for the Federal Reserve to breathe a sigh of relief.”
In his Forecast of the Nation, released Wednedsay, Nov. 20, 2013, Dhawan writes that factors including the quality of the jobs created, combined with wounds inflicted on corporate and consumer confidence by the government shutdown and worries about the potential for another stoppage in the new year, along with continuing global malaise depressing manufacturing, will dampen the GDP, weaken business investment, and lead to a decrease in job creation in coming quarters and through much of 2014.
Regarding the quality of jobs created, Dhawan points to the 60,000 new jobs reported in upward revisions for September-October. Ninety percent of the revisions came from the low-paying leisure and hospitality category, with the rest from retail trade, also low-paying. The bottom line, says the forecaster, “It doesn’t matter what the headline number is. What matters is the purchasing power of the jobs.”
The potential for more shenanigans when Congress opens in 2014 has introduced an element of uncertainty to corporate and consumer confidence which has implications for retail hiring and spending, household decisions, corporate investments and capital spending, and more.
Dhawan expects that the Fed will start a taper for “non-economic reasons” by spring 2014. He foresees consumption and overall GDP staying around 2.0% in 2014, moving towards 3.0% by late 2015. “A new Congress will be a factor in that change, ushering in the possibility of less partisanship and bickering.
Highlights from the Economic Forecasting Center’s National Report
- Real GDP grew 2.8% in the third quarter of 2013 after a 2.5% growth rate in the second quarter. Fourth quarter growth is expected to be 2.0% concluding the year with an annual growth rate of 1.7%. Real GDP will expand at 2.1% in 2014 and at a stronger rate of 2.5% in 2015.
- Business fixed investment will grow by a weak 2.2% in 2013, expand by 4.1% in 2014 and increase by 4.5% in 2015. In the final quarter of 2013, the economy will add jobs at a monthly rate of 138,000, then decrease to 130,000 new jobs per month in 2014, and return growth to normalcy with 175,000 jobs per month in 2015. Unemployment will finally drop below 7.0% in late 2015.
- Housing starts will average 0.887 million units in 2013, rising to 0.901 million units in 2014 and 1.102 million units in 2015. Auto sales will average 15.4 million units in 2013, then decrease slightly to 14.9 million units in 2014 and decrease again to 14.8 million units in 2015.
- The 10-year bond rate will rise to 3.3% by mid-2014. It will not cross the 4.0% threshold during the forecast period (end of 2015).
Peach State Poised for Takeoff, But Facing Roadblocks on the Runway
Georgia’s year-over-year job growth rate in August outperformed the national job growth rate for the same period (2.3% vs. 1.7%). and the Atlanta metro area is closing the gap on returning to its pre-recession job peak, according to Rajeev Dhawan of the Economic Forecasting Center at Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business.
“We could be poised for a takeoff in growth,” Dhawan writes in his Forecast of Georgia and Atlanta, released today. Just be prepared to sit on the runway for a while. “There are national and global roadblocks over which we have no state control.”
Among those roadblocks: uncertainty over the potential for a second government shutdown – which hurts corporate morale that will delay capital expenditures and affect job growth in 2014, thereby impacting consumer spending on retail goods – along with mixed news from the global arena, will be dragging forces in 2014. In its latest quarterly, Delta reported revenue growth in transatlantic and Latin American operations but not in the Pacific region, where China’s economy remains stalled. Consequently, Dhawan says, “We should not expect the foreign sector to act as a release valve for our lack of growth at home.”
Dhawan reports that some sectors – professional and business services, transportation and hospitality –have recovered all the jobs lost during the Great Recession. But others, most of which are high-paying –manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, finance, information, and state and local government – are still lagging. Two sectors, healthcare and education, never stopped growing.
According to the forecaster, “The quality of the jobs gained, as measured by personal income or wage growth, has been less than stellar.”
Commercial projects already in the pipeline as well as expected ones (apart from the new Falcons stadium) due to a rebound in housing values will add to the demand for construction workers. This rebound has lifted property tax collections and offered municipalities the ability to undertake much needed infrastructure improvement and repairs.
Dhawan anticipates that the roadblocks inhibiting takeoff will be off the runaway by 2015. “Perhaps it is naïveté, but I believe that one way or another, we will have a palatable budget deal by then.”
Highlights from the Economic Forecasting Center’s Report for Georgia and Atlanta
- Georgia employment grew by 63,400 in calendar year 2012. In calendar year 2013, jobs will grow by 84,900, of which 13,000 will be premium jobs. In 2014, the state will add 77,700 jobs (14,700 premium jobs) and in 2015, job numbers will be even stronger at 96,700 (21,300 premium jobs).
- State unemployment will average 8.5% in 2013, drop to 8.2% in 2014 and to 7.3% in 2015. Nominal personal income will rise 2.6% in 2013, increase 4.8% in 2014 and 5.0% in 2015.
- In calendar year 2013, Atlanta will gain 63,600 jobs, including 10,500 premium jobs. In 2014, Atlanta will add 55,700 jobs, including 12,700 premium jobs. Atlanta employment will grow strongly in calendar year 2015, gaining 67,700 jobs of which 17,300 will be premium jobs.
- Atlanta’s housing permits in 2013 will increase 50.7%, and multifamily permits moderate to 53.6%. Permitting activity will grow by 6.0% in 2014 as multifamily activity moderates to 0.8%. Permit activity picks up in 2015 to 20.2% — higher than the level seen in 2008.
Contact:
Jenifer Shockley, Communications , Robinson College of Business
O: (404) 413-7078 / M: (404) 644-0251
Rajeev Dhawan, Director
Economic Forecasting Center
M: (404) 867-2286
Read MoreGABB Restaurant Brokers Eric and Robin Gagnon to Speak at National IBBA Convention
Restaurant brokers Eric and Robin Gagnon of We Sell Restaurants will headline a workshop on franchising at the International Business Brokers Association (IBBA) Convention in Savannah.
The 2013 IBBA national conference theme is “Ready, Set, Grow!” and features a lineup of experts across the country presenting educational workshops for business brokers. The Restaurant Brokers are presenting a seminar entitled Franchise Opportunities: 2013 and Beyond on November 22.
The International Business Brokers Association (IBBA) is the largest international non-profit association operating exclusively for people and firms engaged in business brokerage and mergers and acquisitions. This association provides business brokers education, conferences, professional designations, and networking opportunities. Formed in 1983, the IBBA has almost 1,000 business intermediaries across the world.
Restaurant brokers Eric and Robin Gagnon chose to spotlight franchises in their workshop based on the conference theme. According to Robin Gagnon, “Franchise re-sales are poised to explode in the coming years. This area represents a huge growth opportunity and untapped revenue stream for business brokers.” Eric Gagnon agrees saying, “Research indicates that third-generation owners coming of age are seeking new opportunities and spinning legacy franchise brands into the marketplace. That creates an untapped sales funnel for business brokers.”
During the 90 minute interactive session, the duo will share their secrets for specializing in this sales model as a business broker. They will discuss the expertise and skills needed for re-sales and negotiations along with ideas for positioning your firm with franchisors as their re-seller of choice. The pair will also answer the question of whether or not operators should specialize.
A long term member of the IBBA and past President of the Georgia Association of Business Brokers (GABB), Eric Gagnon has seen many changes in the business brokerage landscape. “Business brokerage has evolved dramatically over the past decade since we launched our firm. Specialization, advanced skills, and heavy reliance on technology are just some of the differences between this job in the nineties and today. I believe we can all continue to learn and keep improving which is why we welcome the chance to speak at this year’s national event. We are dedicated to this industry and want to see continued growth for all brokers.”
Specialists in franchising, We Sell Restaurants began licensing their own unique brand of success in 2012. They are members of the International Franchise Association and will be serving on a panel at that group’s annual convention in 2014. Franchisees of the We Sell Restaurants brand operate units in Florida, Tennessee and Colorado. Corporate operations and sales take place around the country from their headquarters in Atlanta Georgia.
Eric and Robin Gagnon are the founders of We Sell Restaurants and experts in the industry. In addition to speaking engagements, they are the authors of Appetite for Acquisition, a guidebook to buying restaurants that was named Best of 2012 by Small Business Book Awards. They also host a national radio show broadcast from Atlanta and rebroadcast via iTunes weekly.
About We Sell Restaurants
We Sell Restaurants is the undisputed leader in the sale of privately held restaurants. Our name says it all! We Sell Restaurants. Found online at wesellrestaurants.com, the restaurant brokerage firm focuses on powerhouse marketing, a systemic sales approach, their proprietary Broker’s Operating and Sales System (B.O.S.S. ©) and unmatched professionalism.
Read More