Author: Diane Loupe

GABB Class: Introduction to Sell-Side Business Brokering April 29 NEW DATE

Introduction to Sell-Side Business Brokering will be offered online on Thursday, April 29, by the Georgia Association of Business Brokering.

C. David Chambless

The class will qualify towards the Board-Certified Broker designation, the state’s only professional certification for business brokers. The class was previously scheduled on April 13, but we have had to change the date due to an unavoidable conflict.

NEW DATE for THIS CLASS, THURSDAY, April 29.

Georgia’s top-selling business broker in 2020, C. David Chambless, president of Abraxas Business Services, will teach the online class which will cover the many skills business brokers need when selling an existing business. Those who successfully complete the class, #72873, will earn three continuing education credits from the Georgia Real Estate Commission through GABB’s Real Estate School #8074.

The class will cover confidentiality, non-disclosure agreements, engagement agreements, analyzing the business you’re selling, identifying and marketing to potential buyers, negotiating various agreements, working with the buyer’s bankers, due diligence, closing documents and closing the deal.

This class qualifies towards the GABB’s Board-Certified Broker program, a new certification designed by the GABB. The BCB program is the state’s only certification program for professional business brokers. The GABB operates a Real Estate School, license #8074 from the Georgia Real Estate Commission, specializing in training business brokers.

The class will be $49 for GABB members, and $75 for non-GABB members. If you want to register for the GABB’s Board-Certified Broker program, the class and BCB registration will be a total of $225, which includes the $195 BCB registration fee. The three-hour class will start at 9 a.m. and conclude at noon. After you have registered for the class, you will get the Zoom link to join the class. The GREC requires that you attend the entire class to receive credit towards renewing your real estate license. GABB requires that you pass an end-of-course test to receive credit.

INSTRUCTOR: C. David Chambless, president of Abraxas Business Services, was the top-selling broker in the Georgia Association of Business Brokers’s 2020 Million Dollar Club. Chambless’ company provides integrated services to sellers (and buyers) of businesses with revenues of $5-to-$30 million, with a focus on businesses in the manufacturing, distribution, healthcare, technology, and services industries. He has been president of GABB twice, is a lifetime multi-million-dollar member of the Million Dollar Club, and has earned the prestigious GABB Phoenix award for a decade of reaching the Multi-Million Dollar Club. Prior to Abraxas, he held various positions in sales, marketing, and executive roles in technology firms; as CFO for Aaron Rents as well as for private companies; and as a management consultant. Mr. Chambless has a Master of Business Administration in Finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Industrial and Systems Engineering degree from Georgia Tech. He is an inactive certified public accountant. Prior to graduate school, Mr. Chambless commanded components of a U.S. Army Pershing Missile unit in West Germany. Mr. Chambless is very active in his communities. He is a member of Business Executives for National Security (BENS), the Association for Corporate Growth, and a longtime member of the International Business Brokers Association (IBBA). He serves on a fundraising committee of the Atlanta Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America and on the board of the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center. In his involvement with the Technology Association of Georgia, he served as a member of the TAG board of directors and its executive committee as well as the chairman of TAG’s Leadership Council; he was a founder and the chairman of TAG-FinTech; he chaired TAG-Finance for seven years.

Buy-Side Business Brokering: GABB Class April 27

Learn the fundamental skills a business broker needs to work with business buyers at the GABB’s April 27 class on Buy-Side Business Brokering.

Marty Rueter

Martin J. Rueter, Executive Vice President at Coldwell Banker Commercial Metro Brokers, will teach a class titled “Introduction to Buy-Side Business Brokering” from 9 a.m. until noon. The Georgia Real Estate Commission has approved the class #72873 through the Georgia Association of Business Brokers’ Real Estate School.

How to Manage the Buyer-Seller Meeting: Advice from a Top Broker

Meeting a business buyer or seller for the first time is a critical moment for a business broker, which is why a business broker should learn how to best manage it, an industry expert told the Georgia Association of Business Brokers on March 30, 2020.

Peter Goodman, owner of Goodman and Company Business Brokers,  says a successful business sale often hinges on this critical meeting, establishing trust, and instilling confidence. His presentation was praised as extremely useful for business brokers, business seller and business buyers.

View his presentation here:

https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UC9RjcBNR4waLTQoZlqvMhwQ

The buyer-seller meeting is an opportunity for the seller to learn why the buyer is interested in the business, to learn the buyer’s plans for the business and allow the seller to answer questions.

Don’t allow the buyer and seller to exchange contact information, and the broker should not allow the buyer to negotiate price or anything else during this meeting, Goodman said.

The broker’s role is to listen for problems that arise, correct misunderstandings and gauge the buyer’s interest. The broker should review with the seller what the seller should cover in the meeting. Remember, Goodman said, what the seller says will be worth ten times what the broker says.

The goal of the meeting is to be sure the buyer still wants to buy the business after the meeting. Goodman also lists some questions and issues to be covered, gives the parties an agenda o things to be covered, and suggests limiting the meeting to 30-60 minutes.

Sellers should avoid mentioning anything negative about their business that is no longer relevant, such as a dishonest employee who is no longer working there. The seller should discuss competitive advantages and missed opportunities, or ways a new owner can make more money from the business with marketing or new revenue streams.

On the other hand, the seller shouldn’t make the buyer think they cannot be replaced. Remember, it’s the business that makes the money, not the seller.  The seller must make the buyer feel confidence that they have the ability to run the business successfully.

And after the meeting, Goodman always sends thank you notes to all participants.

Goodman holds the designation of Certified Business Intermediary (CBI) through the International Business Brokers Association (IBBA), the largest and most well-respected business brokerage organization in the United States. Mr. Goodman has been a full-time business broker for 17 years. During his brokerage career, he has personally sold over 100 businesses from main street to lower mid-market in various industries. His emphasis is on working closely with business owners as agent, advisor, confidant and friend has been the foundation of his success.

The Georgia Association of Business Brokers is the state’s largest and most respected association of professionals who broker the purchase and sale of businesses. The GABB also operates the state’s only real estate school dedicated to training business brokers. For more information about GABB, contact Executive Director Diane Loupe at diane.loupe@gabb.org or 770-744-3639, or GABB president Judy Mims at 404-842-1997 or judy@childcare.properties.

SBA to Increase Lending Limit for COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loans

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Small Business Administration is increasing the maximum amount small businesses and non-profit organizations can borrow through its COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. Starting the week of April 6, 2021, the SBA is raising the loan limit for the COVID-19 EIDL program from 6-months of economic injury with a maximum loan amount of $150,000 to up to 24-months of economic injury with a maximum loan amount of $500,000.

Isabella Casillas Guzman is the 27th Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)

“More than 3.7 million businesses employing more than 20 million people have found financial relief through SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loans, which provide low-interest emergency working capital to help save their businesses. However, the pandemic has lasted longer than expected, and they need larger loans. Many have called on SBA to remove the $150,000 cap. We are here to help our small businesses and that is why I’m proud to more than triple the amount of funding they can access,” said SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman.

Businesses that receive a loan subject to the current limits do not need to submit a request for an increase at this time. SBA will reach out directly via email and provide more details about how businesses can request an increase closer to the April 6 implementation date. Any new loan applications and any loans in process when the new loan limits are implemented will automatically be considered for loans covering 24 months of economic injury up to a maximum of $500,000.

This new relief builds on SBA’s previous March 12, 2021 announcement that the agency would extend deferment periods for all disaster loans, including COVID-19 EIDLs, until 2022 to offer more time for businesses to build back. In order to shift all EIDL payments to 2022, SBA will extend the first payment due date for disaster loans made in 2020 to 24-months from the date of the note and to 18-months from the date of the note for all loans made in the calendar year 2021.

Questions about SBA COVID-19 EIDL and disaster loan payments can be emailed to DisasterCustomerService@sba.gov or directed to SBA’s Customer Service Center at 1-800-659-2955 (1-800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard of hearing).

The Georgia Association of Business Brokers has many members who are experts in SBA loans. Consult our affiliated professionals directory for help. 

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About the U.S. Small Business Administration

The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow or expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.

SBA Extends Deferment Period for all COVID-19 EIDL and Other Disaster Loans until 2022

SBA Administrator Tami Perrillo

WASHINGTON –The U.S. Small Business Administration announced extended deferment periods for all disaster loans, including the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, until 2022.

• All SBA disaster loans made in calendar year 2020, including COVID-19 EIDL, will have a first payment due date extended from 12-months to 24-months from the date of the note.
• All SBA disaster loans made in calendar year 2021, including COVID-19 EIDL, will have a first payment due date extended from 12-months to 18-months from the date of the note.

Existing SBA disaster loans approved prior to 2020 in regular servicing status as of March 1, 2020, received an automatic deferment of principal and interest payments through December 31, 2020. This initial deferment period was subsequently extended through March 31, 2021. An additional 12-month deferment of principal and interest payments will be automatically granted to these borrowers. Borrowers will resume their regular payment schedule with the payment immediately preceding March 31, 2022, unless the borrower voluntarily continues to make payments while on deferment. It is important to note that the interest will continue to accrue on the outstanding balance of the loan throughout the duration of the deferment.

“Small Businesses, private nonprofits and agricultural enterprises, including those self-employed individuals, contractors and gig workers, continue to navigate a very difficult economic environment due to the continued impacts of the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, as well as historic Severe Winter Storms in 2020,” SBA Administrator Tami Perrillo said.

“The COVID-19 EIDL program has assisted over 3.7 million of small businesses, including non-profit organizations, sole proprietors and independent contractors, from a wide array of industries and business sectors, through this challenging time,” continued Perrillo.

SBA continues to strive to make available all previously approved Coronavirus Pandemic stimulus funding and administer the new targeted programs related to provisions in the 2020 Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act (the Economic Aid Act) as quickly as possible.

“The American people and the nation’s Small Business owners need our tireless effort and dedication to get this essential funding to those in great need, and SBA will not rest until we implement President Biden’s “American Rescue Plan” and its’ additional targeted programs and funds allocated for America’s small business and nonprofit communities,” said SBA Senior Advisor Michael Roth .

COVID-19 EIDL loans are offered at very affordable terms, with a 3.75% interest rate for small businesses and 2.75% interest rate for nonprofit organizations, a 30-year maturity. Interest continues to accrue during the deferment period and borrowers may make full or partial payments if they choose.

In mid-February 2021, SBA reached a milestone in the success of the COVID-19 EIDL program, by approving more than $200 billion in emergency funding in low-interest loans, providing working capital funds to small businesses, non-profits and agricultural businesses to survive the severe impacts of this catastrophic and historic period within the entire United States of America and its territories. SBA continues to approve over $500 million each week for the COVID-19 EIDL program.

Questions on SBA COVID-19 EIDL and disaster loan payments can be answered by email at DisasterCustomerService@sba.gov or by calling SBA’s Customer Service Center at 1-800-659-2955 (TTY: 1-800-877-8339).