BCB Certification

GABB Class: Securing and Managing Listings, Aug. 17

Whether you’re new to the profession of buying and selling businesses, or have limited experience as a business broker, this Aug. 17 GABB class will teach you the best practices to secure and manage listings for businesses for sale.

Matt Wochele, CBI

Securing and Managing Business-for-Sale Listings (GREC#73352)  will also help you when you’re selling someone else’s listing, review marketing strategies, cover ethical issues, help you analyze the financials of businesses for sale, and teach you how to guide a client through meetings with prospective buyers, negotiations, financing and closing.  The class will be taught by GABB’s Vice President Matt Wochele, CBI,  founder of Preferred Business Brokers, Inc. and a Life Member of the Georgia Association of Business Brokers’ Multi- Million Dollar Club.

This class is part of the GABB’s Board-Certified Broker credential program. Students who successfully attend all three hours of the class and pass the test will be eligible for credit through the Georgia Real Estate Commission. The class will be held both in person and online via Zoom, although the instructor is urging students to attend the class in person.

To encourage students to attend the class in person, the GABB will offer attendees several prizes including a one-year membership to the GABB and Starbucks giftcards. Only students who attend the class in person are eligible for these incentives.

The class (GREC #73352) will be held from 10:00 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the classroom of the Georgia Association of Realtors at 6065 Barfield Rd, Sandy Springs, GA 30328. Per GREC rules, students who arrive promptly and stay for the entire class are eligible to earn three hours of continuing education credit through the Georgia Real Estate Commission and the GABB’s Real Estate School, GREC #8074. Students who prefer to attend via Zoom must remain on camera; the link will be sent after you register.

The class fee is $49 for GABB members, $75 for non-members, and $225 to register for the BCB program and one class. Note that the BCB program is only open to GABB members. Contact GABB Executive Director Diane Loupe at diane.loupe@gabb.org or text her at 770-744-3639 for more information.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR:

After attending Bucknell University and St Joe’s University Matt Wochele started his professional career as a stockbroker in NJ in 1978. In 1981 he was transferred to Atlanta to head up the firm’s investment banking business in their Atlanta, Jacksonville, and Houston offices. After 18 years working with public companies, Mr. Wochele started Preferred Business Brokers, Inc. in 1996. He has sold more than 300 main street and lower middle market businesses in the past 25 years.  Mr. Wochele is a Certified Business Intermediary, a Life Member of the Georgia Association of Business Brokers’ Multi- Million Dollar Club, a GABB Phoenix Award recipient, a member of the International Business Brokers Association and is currently serving as Vice President of the Georgia Association of Business Brokers’ board.

GABB Class: Business Broker Models, July 13

Business brokers will learn how to set up their practice, identify and define their market, identify clients, conduct feasibility studies; recruit, supervise and train staff, and the ethics of different broker models, in this July 13 class presented by the Georgia Association of Business Brokers.

Business Broker Models will be offered both in person and via Zoom on July 13, and is part of the GABB’s Board-Certified Broker credential program. Students who successfully attend all three hours of the class and pass the test will be eligible for credit through the Georgia Real Estate Commission.

The class will be taught by former GABB president Michael Ramatowski, CBI, chief executive of RamBizGroup Business Solutions, a specialty M&A business brokerage firm. Mr. Ramatowski’s business brokerage profession began in 1992. 

Michael Ramatowski, CBI

Mr. Ramatoswki’s clients include general brokerage and candidates for merger by acquisition from manufacturing, distribution, and service businesses. A longtime member of the GABB, he has owned and managed businesses that included a real estate master franchise, a property management networking company, and a service business. As COO of a banking conglomerate, he managed brokerage operations, title companies, home and service warranty programs, and a relocation company. Mr. Ramatowski has served on the board of directors of eleven different organizations with diverse specialties including real estate brokerage, mortgage companies, title insurance, banking, health care, and office supply operations. He served as an Electronic Specialist in the U.S. Navy Submarine Service. He attended Cleveland State University and Baldwin Wallace College. He has been awarded the Certified Business Intermediary professional designation by the International Business Brokers Association.

The class (GREC #73239) will be held from 9:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. at the classroom of the Georgia Association of Realtors at 6065 Barfield Rd, Sandy Springs, GA 30328. Per GREC rules, students who arrive promptly and stay for the entire class are eligible to earn three hours of continuing education credit through the Georgia Real Estate Commission and the GABB’s Real Estate School, GREC #8074. Students who prefer to attend via Zoom must remain on camera; the link will be sent after you register.

The class will cover the sole proprietorship and enterprise business models of business brokering; market analysis; defining business buyer and seller clients; defining business types; and defining the overall market. Students will learn how to conduct a feasibility students of the financial health of a prospective business to be sold, including examining the income statement, as well as identifying areas where the prospective business could build wealth. In the final hour of the class, Mr. Rawatoswki will teach students how to conduct a feasibility study of the financial health of a prospective business to be sold, including examining the income statement, as well as identifying areas where the prospective business could build wealth.

The class fee is $49 for GABB members, $75 for non-members, and $225 to register for the BCB program and one class. Note that the BCB program is only open to GABB members. Contact GABB Executive Director Diane Loupe at diane.loupe@gabb.org or text her at 770-744-3639 for more information.

Introduction to Business Brokering: Feb. 9

INSTRUCTOR: C. David Chambless

Learn the basics of business brokering from one of the most successful business brokers in Georgia.

C. David Chambless, who was the top business broker in the GABB’s Million Dollar Club, will teach a three hour “Introduction to Business Brokering” on the morning of Tuesday, Feb. 9 from 9 a.m.-12 noon.  Due to the pandemic, the class will be held online.

This class qualifies for three hours of continuing education credit from the Georgia Real Estate Commission.

This class is designed to familiarize someone who is new to the profession of buying and selling businesses with the basic concepts and terms used in business brokerage. Attendees will learn the basic concepts and terms used in business brokerage, including developing your business broker brand, marketing, confidentiality, documenting your work, finding buyers and ethical considerations.

This class, GREC #72820, 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.

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.

GABB Launches BCB Program at Fall Conference

Up your level of professionalism and impress your clients!  Earn the Board-Certified  Broker certification, developed to improve the knowledge and professionalism within the business brokerage community.

By earning this certification, you will tell potential clients that you are an expert in buying and selling businesses in Georgia. The certification program was developed by the GABB under the direction of GABB Board Vice President Judy Mims and GABB Executive Director Diane Loupe. The GABB operates a Real Estate School, license #8074 from the Georgia Real Estate Commission, specializing in training business brokers.

The BCB certification program will consist of 40 hours of training in the profession with hands-on teachers active in the industry.

Two classes will be offered during the GABB’s Oct. 27-28 Fall Conference that will be part of the BCB curriculum, although brokers may enroll in the class without being part of the BCB program.  The first two classes are:

BUSINESS VALUATION BASICS, GREC Course #72444– Oct. 27, 9 a.m.-Noon. Students will learn how the market value of a business is determined and study fair market value, strategic or synergistic value, the market and income approaches to valuation, understanding ethical dilemmas in business valuation, and other concepts. Approved by the GREC for 3-hours of CE credit.

Instructor: GABB Affiliate DAN BROWNING, founder and President of DB Consulting, Inc. He holds a Master Analyst in Financial Forensics (MAFF) from the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts, originally awarded August 1999; he is Accredited in Business Appraisal Review (ABAR) from the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts, originally awarded March 2010; he is a member of the State Bar of Georgia (Active Member; Eminent Domain and Nonprofit Law Section Memberships); and was a member of the Editorial Board, Business Appraisal Practice (IBA Journal) 2013-2015.

BUSINESS BROKER PRACTICE APPROACHES, GREC Course #72445 – Oct. 28, 9 a.m. – Noon.  Students will learn about the advantages and disadvantages to specializing in a particular field or being a business broker generalist, including identifying industry specializations, understanding and resolving ethical issues that may arise, and understanding how professional business brokers structure their practices. The GREC has approved this class for 3-hours of CE credit.

Instructors:

ROBIN GAGNON,  Co-Founder of We Sell Restaurants and wesellrestaurants.com, the nation’s largest restaurant brokerage firm and the only national franchise specializing in restaurant sales. One of the most prolific restaurant brokers in the industry and a franchise resale specialist, she holds the Certified Business Intermediary (CBI) designation from the International Business Brokers Association or IBBA and is an MBA.  She has also achieved the Certified Franchise Executive (CFE) designation from the International Franchise Association. Robin oversees the development and training of Restaurant Brokers nationwide and has created the industry’s only Certified Restaurant Broker coursework and testing program.  

J. SNYPP III, a former GABB Board member and a life member of the Million Dollar Club, lives in Dunwoody, grew up in Atlanta and graduated from Georgia Southern University with a degree in marketing. Mr. Snypp spent more than two decades in the office furniture business before becoming a Business Broker and has been with Preferred Business Brokers, Inc. for more than 10 years. He has found success selling businesses in a variety of industries most recently selling a day care center, landscape company and distribution business.

Each class will be offered online via Zoom link. Students must be present for the entire class to get CE credit.

Read MORE about the BCB Certification Program here, or to enroll in the BCB program WITHOUT registering for this conference

To enroll in the BCB Certification Program

Application to enroll in the GABB’s Board-Certified Broker Program: $195 + $40 for classes.

Cost for both classes for GABB Members – $75

Cost for both classes for non-GABB members – $100

Board-Certified Broker Curriculum by GABB

The Georgia Association of Business Brokers is launching a new educational program which will enable our members to achieve proficiency in the profession of business brokering. The Board-Certified Broker designation, or BCB, is intended to make clear to prospective clients that the broker has the knowledge and skills to professionally represent them in future transactions.

The GABB operates Georgia’s only Real Estate School dedicated specifically to business brokerage. The BCB curriculum includes 40 hours of coursework designed to be completed  over a 2-year period. During this extraordinary time in our nation’s economy, the GABB believes that an excellent use of time would be to strengthen the skills professionals need to represent clients fairly, ethically and responsibly. 

Scroll to the bottom of the page to register for the program.

PROPOSED CURRICULUM FOR BCB CERTIFICATION

Introduction to Business Brokerage – 3 hours

This class is designed to familiarize a new practitioner with the basic concepts and terms used in business brokerage.

Elements of Value: An exploration of how a business broker analyzes a company.  Defining those elements for a new practitioner.

• Cash Flow
• Assets, including real estate
• Ease of Duplication
• Competition
• Inventory
• Intellectual Property
• Good will
• The broker should always think about what a lender, especially the SBA, will need to see to approve a loan.

 Confidentiality Concerns: An exploration of the need for confidentiality in business transactions and best practices to keep a listing confidential.

Business Broker Process – 3 hours

• Finding sellers
• Preparing listings
• Finding qualified buyers
• Negotiating and closing sales
• Commission/Fee Structure and Getting Paid

Securing Business for Sale Listings – 3 Hours

• Researching comparable properties

• What information should you gather?
• Listing Agreement basics
• Negotiating the commission
• Understanding Co-brokering

Introduction to Accounting Terms and Federal Tax Returns – 3 HOURS  

• Basic Accounting Terms – 90 Minutes: An introduction to accounting terms frequently used by business brokers, e.g. revenue, net profit, add backs, Seller’s Discretionary Earnings, EBIT, EBITDA, etc.
• Net Income Per Books – this is the number most lenders use to calculate cash flow for debt service.
• All Brokers should know that SBA requires lenders to use tax returns in underwriting.
• Introduction to Federal Tax Returns – 90 minutes

A basic look at business tax returns (Sub-chapter S corporations, C Corporations, partnership, etc.)  and why they are crucial to the sales process.  How these are used by bankers.

Understanding Financial Statements – 3 Hours

The basics of analyzing a company by looking at its financial statements.

• Profit & Loss statements
• Balance Sheets
• Tax returns

Recasting Financials – 3 Hours

• Recasting financials to get Seller’s Discretionary Earnings (SDE)

Business Valuation Basics – 3 Hours

How to Value Businesses (understanding multiples, other considerations

• The basics of business valuation. Understanding the role that the cash flow plays in a business brokerage transaction.
• Using business reference guide, I.e., Tom West’s Business Reference Guide

• • Rules of thumb based on both sales and earnings (SDE)
  • Pricing tips from industry experts
  • Benchmark information that provides comparison data
  • Industry resources such as associations and publications with websites
  • General information providing industry data, surveys, and comments
  • Facts about many different businesses and industries

• Inventory
• How to value inventory, brief overview

Financing a Business Sale – 3 hours

How business transactions are financed and the advantages and disadvantages of each method.

• SBA loans, requirements
  • 7 (a)
  • 504
  • FDA loans

SBA Loan requirements in detail: cash injection, collateral, industry (or relatable) experience, cash flow, to name a few.

• Seller financing
• Conventional commercial financing
• Use of 401K and other retirement funds
• Developing a Business Plan

Understanding Business and Corporate Structures – 3 Hours

• Introduction to business entity types
• Discuss the many different business entity types, including corporations, LLCs, and partnerships
• Introduction to Corporate Structures and the advantages and disadvantages of each.
• How to work with corporations,
• Business Structures: and LLCs, and partnerships or LLPs.
• Ownership interests and authority
• Secretary of State web site: finding out if the company is a validly registered business, requesting a SOC certificate.
• Governing documents for various business and corporation types.
• Operating Agreements for LLCs.
• Partnership Agreement
• Corporations will have bylaws
• Which legal documents you should see before taking a listing
• How these documents will fit into the transfer of the business.
• Shareholder agreements and Buy-sell agreements and how they affect the sale of a business.
• Is there anything in these documents which will affect the sale of the business? Suggest we have a business broker co-teaching class with lawyer to discuss how it’s affected the class.

LEGAL ISSUES In Business Brokering – 3 hours

This class is designed to help the new broker understand business structures and how to transfer them using preprinted forms.  It is also to cover what issues can be addressed by a business broker and what issues must be addressed by a lawyer

• Using GABB forms
• Asset purchase agreements VS. stock-purchase agreements
• Stock purchases aren’t as common, if there’s some kind of licensing or intellectual property in a company. Stock purchase, taking the liabilities of the business
• Non-compete agreements
  • Liability for brokers
  • Earnest money and settling disputes

Business Brokering Ethics – 3 hours

Ethical issues that are unique to business brokerage.  Must meet the GREC requirements for ethics training.

• Rules, regulations, regulatory bodies that govern business brokers (Nick suggestion)
• Standards of care (Nick suggestion)
• Conduct (Nick suggestion)
• Confidentiality
• Duties to client
• Duties to customer
• Agency – Broker’s duty to buyer and seller depends on contractual obligations
• Co-brokering and splitting commissions
• Referrals
• Advertising

Business Broker Practice Approaches – 3 Hours

• Defining your market
• Should you specialize? Why or why not?
• Identifying industry specializations
• Understanding and resolving ethical issues

Setting up Your Business Broker Practice – 3 hours

What parameters should a new broker consider in setting up their practice? Class will examine various brokerage models.

• Finding Sellers
• Identifying the best buyer and reaching them
• Promoting your practice
• Growing your practice
• GREC Advertising Rules
• Buy side brokerage

Understanding LEASES in a Business Transaction – 3 Hours

Frequently, business brokerage includes a real estate component.  Business brokers should have some knowledge of lease terms; and know how to identify comparable properties to provide Sellers with guidance on property value if the property is included in the transaction.

• Lease Terms & Conditions
• Subordination and Non-Disturbance Clauses
• Valuing below-market lease rates
• Lease assumptions

Valuing Real Property – 3 Hours

• Valuing Real Property for Sale

Negotiations  – 3 hours

How to achieve the best outcome for you and your client.  Negotiation techniques that work.

• Listing Agreement/asking price and commission
• Working with Buyers
• Getting to an Agreement
• Price & Deal Structure

Marketing Your Listings – 3 Hours

• Finding the “best buyer” for a listing
• Protecting your client’s confidentiality
• Offering prospectus
• GREC Advertising laws, including:
  • Any advertising that is misleading or inaccurate in any material fact or in any way misrepresents any real estate is prohibited. Whenever a licensee becomes aware that a principal with whom the licensee’s firm has a brokerage engagement is advertising to sell, buy, rent, lease, or exchange real estate in such a manner that is inconsistent with this rule, the licensee must immediately take steps to stop the advertising until it complies with this rule.
  • A licensee shall not advertise any real estate for sale, rent, lease, or exchange unless the licensee has first secured the written permission of the owner, the owner’s authorized agent, or the owner of a leasehold estate. When such permission is granted, a licensee advertising real estate that is listed with another firm shall clearly and conspicuously disclose that fact and the name of the listing firm unless the listing firm has expressly agreed in writing to waive those clear and conspicuous disclosures.
  • A licensee shall not advertise to sell, buy, exchange, rent, or lease real estate when such advertisement is directed at or referred to persons of a particular race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin. The contents of any advertisement must be confined to information relative to the real estate itself, and any advertisement that is directed at or referred to persons of any particular race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin is prohibited.

Due Diligence – 3 hours

What to expect during the due diligence process. 

• Proving cash flow/examining the books
• Examining real estate
• Examining corporate structure
• Customer lists/revenue streams
• Inventory
• FF&E
• Non-compete clause
• Warranties and guarantees
• Prepaids
• Advance Payments

Proposed: To earn the BCB Certification, business brokers must:

• Earn 40 credits, including 30 hours of required classes, and 10 electives
• Each class will have a written test, and brokers must pass the final test to earn credit
• Have at least two years of business brokering experience.
• Be a member of the Georgia Association of Business Brokers
• GABB members who wish to obtain the certification may opt to pay a fee to take the final test of the course in lieu of taking the class. This option will not confer any CE credits.
• Pay a non-refundable enrollment fee: $195
• Final examination and certificate fee: $195
• Additional fees for taking BCB classes will apply.
• This curriculum is subject to revision by the GABB board and the GABB Real Estate School.

Register for the GABB Program here: