How to Add Your Listings to the GABB Website
One benefit of GABB membership is the ability to add your business for sale listings to the GABB website.
To do that, a GABB member has two options:
Option 1: Link an Existing BrokerWorks account, or
Option 2: Create a BrokerWorks Limited account just for viewing on GABB’s site. (Note! Option 2 will NOT display your listings or profile on the BizBuySell site. This option will, however, let you publish your listings to the GABB site.)
Step 1: The Broker should visit the following site to connect a profile to GABB:
https://bizbuysell.com/syndication/brokerlogin.aspx?J=AP&syn_id=10
Step 2: The broker should log in on the left (Existing) or right (New). (See graphic below)
- If you, the broker, have an existing BizBuySell BrokerWorks account, you should log into their BizBuySell account on the LEFT.
- If you do not have an existing BizBuySell BrokerWorks account, you should contact Diane Loupe at georgiabusinessbrokers@gmail.com to create a GABB profile for you. Please allow a few days, as she is a part-time employee.
- If you experience any problems, you may contact BizBuySell Client Services at (888) 777-9892.
Step 3-N NEW users without a BizBuySell BrokerWorks account: (Existing BrokerWorks Users skip to Step 3-E, below)
- The broker now completes a brief registration form.
- All fields are required unless otherwise noted.
- Once all fields have been completed, click ‘Complete Purchase’ button. Don’t worry, there is no charge for a BrokerWorks Limited account.
Step 4-N NEW users without a BizBuySell BrokerWorks account:
- You will now be given three choices
- If you have existing listings, click the first option
- To manage existing listings, click the second option
- To update your Broker profile, click the third option
Step 5-N NEW users without a BizBuySell BrokerWorks account:
- Once within BizBuySell’s BrokerWorks Dashboard, the broker can update their broker profile, add listings, update listings, etc.
- However, with this BrokerWorks Limited account, the listings and profile will only appear on the GABB web site.
- Additionally, to edit the broker profile or listings, you can simply log directly into the Biz BuySell web site, bizbuysell.com, to manage this information.
- If you experience any problems, you may contact BizBuySell Client Services at (888) 777-9892, or Diane Loupe at georgiabusinessbrokers@gmail.com or 404-374-3990.
PROCESS for EXISTING BrokerWorks Users, such as those who already have a BizBuySell account.
Step 3-E Existing BrokerWorks users:
- After login, the broker will be automatically connected to their BrokerWorks Dashboard.
- In the left navigation, choose Networking Tools then Listing Distribution.
Step 4-E Existing BrokerWorks users:
- Scroll down until you see GABB and select Manage.
Step 5-E Existing BrokerWorks users:
- Click on the “LOGIN NOW” button or the GABB Login link (in the Red Box in the upper right hand corner).
Step 6-E Existing BrokerWorks users: In the pop-up, log in with the GABB credentials provided by the GABB admin.
Note! If successfully connected after log in, the red box that had appeared in the upper right hand corner becomes green and says your account is now linked!
Step 7 : Updating your profile information!
- Go to Account Setting in the left navigation of BrokerWorks Dashboard and select “My Profile” to add a photo or other information for your Broker Profile.
- Go to My Listings in the left navigation of BrokerWorks Dashboard and select Add a Listing to begin adding listings to the directory.
Family-Owned Businesses Do Have Choices
Family-owned businesses do have some options when it comes time to sell. Selling the entire business may not be the best choice when there are no other family members involved. Here are some choices to be considered:
Internal Transactions
- Hire a CEO – This approach is a management exit strategy in which the owner retires, lives off the company’s dividends and possibly sells the company many years later.
- Transition ownership within the family – Keeping the business in the family is a noble endeavor, but the parent seldom liquefies his investment in the short-term, and the son or daughter may run the company into the ground.
- Recapitalization – By recapitalizing the company by increasing the debt to as much as 70 percent of the capitalization, the owner(s) is/are able to liquefy most of their investment now with the intent to pay down the debt and sell the company later on.
- Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) – Many types of companies such as construction, engineering, and architectural are difficult to sell to a third party, because the employees are the major asset. ESOPs are a useful vehicle in this regard, but are usually sold in stages over a time period as long as ten years.
External Transactions
- Third party sale – The process could take six months to a year to complete. This method should produce a high valuation, sometimes all cash at closing and often the ability of the owner to walk away right after the closing.
- Complete sale over time – The owner can sell a minority interest now with the balance sold after maybe five years. Such an approach allows the owner to liquefy some of his investment now, continue to run the company, and hopefully receive a higher valuation for the company years later.
- Management buy-outs (MBOs) – Selling to the owners’ key employee(s) is an easy transaction and a way to reward them for years of hard work. Often the owner does not maximize the selling price, and usually the owner participates in the financing.
- Initial public offering (IPO) – In today’s marketplace, a company should have revenues of $100+ million to become a viable candidate. IPOs receive the highest valuation, but management must remain to run the company.
Source: “Buying & Selling Companies,” a presentation by Russ Robb, Editor, M&A Today
Copyright: Business Brokerage Press, Inc.
Read MoreWho Is Today’s Buyer?
It has always been the American Dream to be independent and in control of one’s own destiny. Owning your own business is the best way to meet that goal. Many people dream about owning their own business, but when it gets right down to it, they just can’t make that leap of faith that is necessary to actually own one’s own business. Business brokers know from their experience that out of fifteen or so people who inquire about buying a business, only one will become an owner of a business.
Today’s buyer is most likely from the corporate world and well-educated, but not experienced in the business-buying process. These buyers are very number-conscious and detail-oriented. They require supporting documents for almost everything and will either use outside advisors or will do the verification themselves, but verify they will. A person who is realistic and understands that he or she can’t buy a business with a profit of millions for $10 down is probably serious. They must be able to make decisions and not depend on outside parties to do it for them. They must also have the financial resources available, have an open mind, and understand that owning one’s own business means being the proverbial chief cook and bottle washer.
Today’s buyers are usually what might be termed “event” driven. This means that the desire to own their own business is coupled with a need or reason. Maybe they have been downsized out of a job, they don’t want to be transferred, they travel too much, they see no future in their current position, etc. Many people have the desire, but not the reason. Most people don’t have the courage to quit a job and the paycheck to venture out on their own.
There are the perennial lookers. Those people who dream about owning their own business, are constantly looking, but will never leave the job to fulfill the dream. In fact, perspective business buyers who have been looking for over six months would probably fit into this category.
Business brokers spend a lot of time interviewing buyers. Here are just a few of the questions they will ask. The answers they receive will determine whether or not the prospective buyer is serious and qualified.
- Why is the person considering buying a business?
- Has the person ever owned their own business?
- How long has the person been looking?
- Is the person currently employed?
- What kind of business is the person looking for?
- Is he or she flexible in the kind of business?
- What are the most important considerations?
- How much money is available?
- What is the person’s timeframe?
- Does the person’s experience match the type of business under consideration?
- Who else is involved in the purchase decision?
- Is the person’s spouse positive about owning a business?
There are other questions and considerations, but those cited above reveal the depth of a buyer interview. Business brokers want to work only with buyers who are serious about purchasing a business. They don’t want to show a business to anyone who is not qualified, which is simply a waste of their time and the seller’s time.
Copyright: Business Brokerage Press, Inc.
Read MoreEconomic Forecast: Momentum Wrong for June Rate Hike
ATLANTA-Despite last week’s media reports hinting at a June rate hike after the Federal Reserve’s May meeting, expect Janet Yellen and company to wait until March 2017 for an interest rate increase, according to Rajeev Dhawan of the Economic Forecasting Center at Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business.
“The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) dot charts are of interest to the press for their noise potential,” Dhawan wrote in his quarterly “Forecast of the Nation,” released today (May 26). “These are submitted weeks in advance of the meeting and as such are purely opinions and not policy projections, resulting in confusion.”
Dhawan points to comments in the April FOMC that contradict the idea of a June rate hike.
“The FOMC said consumer sentiment was high, which is true, but it has been moderating since last fall,” Dhawan said. Combined with extreme volatility in the stock market and the political uncertainty surrounding the presidential primaries and upcoming elections, “the momentum indicator for confidence is not up, but down.”
The FOMC also pointed to household income gains as a positive, but Dhawan argues that although gains are solid compared to the Great Recession, they are still half the size of those before it. But deep discounts from automakers have encouraged a dramatic increase in vehicle sales since 2014.
“This is bad news for shopping malls and retail centers,” the forecaster said, “because consumers are scrimping on discretionary spending to service their auto loans in the face of less than stellar income gains.”
As apartment building mania cools, housing demand has also. Already a historically subpar recovery, lack of demand for and availability of affordable housing suggests waning momentum for the potential of a June rate hike.
But the key, Dhawan said, is weak business investment for the past nine months. “Presidential election rhetoric creates uncertainty that holds back investors, plus the damage from last year’s falling oil prices on equipment investment is showing up in growth.” Thus, 2016 job growth will be weaker than that of 2015.
Luckily, resources released by falling oil prices were funneled into sectors more dependent on consumer demand. “As online retail sales have grown at a blistering pace, so has the need for warehouses, truck drivers and cardboard,” Dhawan wrote. “The issue here will be the strength of future consumer demand, which is a function not only of prices but also of ability to buy, a.k.a. today’s job growth, which hinges on prior investment.”
Highlights from the Economic Forecasting Center’s National Report
- Real gross domestic product (GDP) will expand 1.5% in 2016, 2.5% in 2017 and 2.4% in 2018.
- Business investment will drop 0.9% in 2016, rebound to 4.9% growth in 2017 and 5.7% in 2018. Jobs will grow by a monthly rate of 180,000 in 2016, 193,000 in 2017, and soften to 169,000 in 2018.
- Housing starts will rise from 1.154 million units in 2016 to 1.297 in 2018. Auto sales will slowly drop from 16.8 million units in 2016 to 16.3 in 2018.
- The 10-year bond rate will rise to 2.3% by the end of 2016, then 2.8% in 2017 and 3.4% in 2018.
Domestic-Based Sectors Drive Georgia’s Economy
2015 job creation in Georgia was better in the education, health, hospitality, government and financial sectors than in the globally linked corporate, transportation, wholesale trade and manufacturing sectors, according to Rajeev Dhawan of the Economic Forecasting Center at Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business.
But Dhawan expressed concern that momentum is slowing in domestic sectors in his quarterly “Forecast of Georgia and Atlanta,” released today (May 26). “Consumer spending can keep the economy humming, but we need one more element to maintain a 10,000 monthly job growth at the state level,” Dhawan wrote. “The missing ingredient is business investment, which has been very weak for the last nine months.”
National investment dropped 1.6% in the first quarter of 2016, driven mostly by last year’s massive decline in oil prices. As a result, the state added 22,800 positions in the first quarter of 2016, almost half of the number of jobs added in the fourth quarter in 2015.
“We also must take into account the types of jobs being created,” Dhawan said. “In the mid-1990s the economy created one high-quality tech or corporate job for every three jobs. Now, the economy creates one high-quality job for approximately every four jobs.” Thus, individual income tax growth has not been strong.
This is particularly true in the Peach State, where most high-quality jobs are found in the Atlanta metro area. Due to global headwinds, the corporate sector was considerably weaker in the first quarter of 2016 than in the fourth quarter of 2015. This slowdown in growth was seen in metro areas across the country.
However, Georgia bucked U.S. trends in manufacturing employment. Nationally, manufacturing employment grew by only 1.1% in 2015, compared to 3.2% in Georgia. The reason: Georgia produces more goods for domestic consumption, including textiles and processed foods, than states manufacturing goods for global consumption. “Given that we didn’t share in the fracking boom, we aren’t feeling the fracking bust,” Dhawan said.
Despite the slowdown in corporate job growth, construction in metro Atlanta continues to advance. Projects are taking flight near Dunwoody, Sandy Springs and SunTrust Park in Cobb County. Downtown and Buckhead also have seen increases in office projects and mixed-use development.
Housing permits for the first quarter of 2016 were up 46.5%, driven by a tenfold increase in multifamily construction in Cobb County and a tripling of permits in Fulton County. Dhawan expects this growth to moderate in line with national trends that have seen apartment vacancy rates move upward.
Dhawan believes 2016 will be slightly slower than 2015 for job growth. “A gain of 2.7% in 2016 is slightly less than 3.0% in 2015, but in 2017 we will feel the full impact of weakened investment when we grow by only 2.0%.”
Highlights from the Economic Forecasting Center’s Report for Georgia and Atlanta
- Georgia employment will gain 95,200 jobs (21,700 premium jobs) in calendar year 2016, 80,500 jobs (18,700 premium) in 2017 and 72,500 (15,700 premium) in 2018.
- Nominal personal income will increase 5.1% in 2016 and 2017, and 5.2% in 2018.
- Atlanta will add 68,500 jobs (15,800 premium jobs) in calendar year 2016, 54,500 jobs (12,700 premium) in 2017 and 54,400 jobs (11,900 premium) in 2018.
- Atlanta permitting activity will increase 10.3% in 2016, grow 3.0% in 2017 and 2.7% in 2018.
Why Deals Fall Apart — Loss of Momentum
Deals fall apart for many reasons – some reasonable, others unreasonable.
For example:
• The seller doesn’t have all his financials up to date.
• The seller doesn’t have his legal/environmental/administrative affairs up to date.
• The buyer can’t come up with the necessary financing.
• The well known “surprise” surfaces causing the deal to fall apart.
The list could go on and on and this subject has been covered many times. However, there are more hidden reasons that threaten to end a deal usually half to three-quarters of the way to closing. These hidden reasons silently lead to a lack of or loss of momentum.
This essentially means a lack of forward progress. No one notices at first. Even the advisors who are busy doing the necessary due diligence and paperwork don’t notice the waning or missing momentum. Even though a slow-down in momentum may not be noticeable at first, an experienced business intermediary will catch it.
Let’s say a buyer can’t get through to the seller. The buyer leaves repeated messages, but the calls are not returned. (The reverse can also happen, but for our example we’ll assume the seller is unresponsive.) The buyer then calls the intermediary. The intermediary assures the buyer that he or she will call the seller and have him or her get in touch. The intermediary calls the seller and receives the same response. Calls are not returned. Even if calls are returned the seller may fail to provide documents, financial information, etc.
To the experienced intermediary the “red flag” goes up. Something is wrong. If not resolved immediately, the deal will lose its momentum and things can fall apart quite rapidly. What is this hidden element that causes a loss of momentum? It is generally not price or anything concrete.
It often boils down to an emotional issue. The buyer or seller gets what we call “cold feet.” Often it is the seller who has decided that he really doesn’t want to sell and doesn’t know what to do. It may also be that the buyer has discovered something that is quite concerning and doesn’t know how to handle it. Maybe the chemistry between buyer and seller is just not there for one or the other of them. Whatever the reason, the reluctant party just tries to ignore the proceedings and lack of momentum occurs.
The sooner this loss of momentum is addressed, the better the chance for the deal to continue to closing. Because the root of the problem is often an emotional issue, it has to be faced directly. An advisor, the intermediary or someone close to the person should immediately make a personal visit. Another suggestion is to get the buyer and seller together for lunch or dinner, preferably the latter. Regardless of how it happens, the loss of momentum should be addressed if the sale has any chance of closing.
Copyright: Business Brokerage Press, Inc.
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