Business Valuation: GABB BCB Class Oct 19, 2021
Learn basic approaches to business valuation, including how COVID may have impacted what a business is worth and tax strategies for maximum profits in this three-hour class offered by the Georgia Association of Business Brokers. The class will be held from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021 at the Georgia Association of Realtors classroom and also available online. Registration is now closed. Students who successfully complete the GABB class will earn credits towards the Board-Certified Broker designation, the first Georgia-specific certification for business brokers. To earn the BCB, business brokers must be members of the GABB and complete 45 hours of coursework. During this extraordinary time in our nation’s economy, the GABB feels that an excellent use of time would be to strengthen the skills professionals need to represent clients fairly, ethically and responsibly. The class (GREC #73547) also offered three hours of continuing education credit towards renewing a Georgia real estate license through the Georgia Real Estate Commission and the GABB’s Real Estate School (GREC #8074). The class will be taught by Jeff Forrestall, CPA, CFF, ABV, PFS, Managing Partner of Forrestall CPAS and Ricky Moore, CPA, PFS, ABV, QKA, MBA, the Manager of Advisory Services at Forrestall CPAs. Both instructors have experience in tax and financial planning and business valuation. Topics to be covered in this three-hour class include:
- Reconciling Valuation Approaches – Why sellers like the market approach and buyers like the income approach
- COVID Updates: How COVID can affect entity value
- Evaluating and Reducing company-specific risk
- How to increase after-tax proceeds at the exit point
- Ethical issues affecting business valuations
If you want to attend via Zoom, and you have not received an email with information about how to join, contact GABB School Director Diane Loupe at diane.loupe@gabb.org or text her at 404-374-3990 for more information. INSTRUCTORS:
Jeff Forrestall, CPA, CFF, ABV, PFS – Managing Partner of Forrestall CPAs.
Ricky Moore, CPA, PFS, ABV, QKA, MBA is the Manager of Advisory Services at Forrestall CPAs.
The 5 Must-Do’s When Considering Buying Any Business
Buying a business can be a very exciting idea; however, it is critical that prospective buyers don’t lose track of important details. As a buyer, you have no choice but to look beyond the sizzle and work to find the steak. In other words, it’s essential to determine the true worth of a given business. Let’s explore the five most important steps that any buyer needs to take when evaluating a business.
#1 – Evaluate What is Actually Being Sold
No buyer should assume that he or she understands everything that is, or is not, being sold when buying a business. One of the most important tasks for any buyer is to carefully evaluate the business under consideration and invest the time to understand what the business does and what is included in the sale. This is a task that your Business Broker or M&A Advisor will perform as well.
#2 – Understand Business Performance
Understanding the performance of a business can be more complex than it initially appears. On one hand, the numbers don’t lie, and it is possible to quickly evaluate the bottom line.
However, in the process of evaluating the business, you and your Business Broker or M&A Advisor might discover that there are many flexible factors that could quickly alter how well the business performs. For example, you’ll want to take into account the number of hours the current business owner is working and if key employees are contributing enough to the business. These are just two of a wide variety of factors that could influence overall performance.
#3 – Look at the Financials
There is no substitute for understanding the current financials of a business. Perhaps a business has all the potential in the world, and you can easily see that potential. Remember that most buyers must obtain financing and to secure that financing, the business needs strong financials in its current state. Before considering any business, you and your team of professionals need to carefully evaluate profit and loss statements, tax returns, balance sheets, and other important financial documents.
#4 – Evaluate the Business Plan
Understanding the current owner’s goals and what steps they’ve outlined to achieve those goals is a key step. As a new owner, you’ll want to know that there is a path forward for growing your business, and a business plan is essential for achieving that goal. Often, lenders want to see a business plan before making a business loan. (See the GABB blog post on how to write a business plan.)
#5 – Look at the Demographics
One of the best ways to grow your business is to understand your customers. So it’s important that you clearly understand the demographics of the business and why customers should remain loyal. If there are challenges on the horizon, such as an expanding competitor or new competitor entering the arena, then you’ll want to know this information as well.
Evaluating a business is not a simple process. Working closely with a brokerage professional who has years of experience in evaluating all types of businesses is essential. This is an excellent first step towards buying the right business for your needs.
Copyright: Business Brokerage Press, Inc.
monkeybusinessimages/BigStock.com
The post The 5 Must-Do’s When Considering Buying Any Business appeared first on Deal Studio – Automate, accelerate and elevate your deal making.
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 BCB Classes
Form for GABB BCB Classes
Read More
Non-Disclosure Agreements: GABB July 27
Stephen M. Levinson, Esq.
When buying a business, buyers usually must sign a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA, in order to review sensitive information about the business, including financial details, inventory, and legal matters. Legally,
Anyone who has not signed an NDA isn’t legally bound by it, attorney and GABB affiliate Stephen M. Levinson told the Georgia Association of Business Brokers on July 27.
To hear Steve’s presentation and the rest of the GABB meeting, click this link.
Here’s a PDF of Steve’s presentation: Levinson NDA presentation
Now in his 33rd year of consistent practice experience, Mr. Levinson handles matters in the areas of business law; business sales and acquisitions; business/contract disputes; construction disputes; and alternate dispute resolutions and has so-far closed approximately 1,500 business transactions. He has also previously lectured about business transactions before Georgia Agent/Broker Groups including lecturing before business brokers for state credit. Steve is also an experienced Mediator and Neutral since 2009 and the owner of Northside ADR.
Mr. Levinson received his B.S. in Political Science in 1983 from the University of Miami and SUNY Brockport and earned his law degree from Georgia State University in 1989. Steve was admitted to the Bar in February of 1989 and is admitted to practice in the U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit; the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia; the Georgia Supreme Court; the Georgia Court of Appeals; and the State Courts throughout Georgia.
Beyond his law practice, Steve is the founder, and for many years, host of a weekly Nar-Anon family-peer support group serving those who deal with the addiction issues of loved ones and is also the co-founder and host of the Annual Deane W. Evans Memorial Golf Tournament, raising money to award merit based college scholarships to deserving high school students and doing other charitable work in memory of Deane Evans.
Steve and his wife Alison (high school sweethearts) are 34-plus year residents of Cherokee County and now live in Holly Springs. They are the proud parents of two adult sons, Alex and Aaron. They are active in many charitable endeavors and are longtime supporters and promoters of the Cherokee County Secret Santa Program, Atlanta Harm Reduction, Atlanta Community Food Bank, The Fulton County Canine Cellmates Program, Caring Hands Community (Kingston, NY), The Zaban Couples Shelter, Georgia Overdose Prevention, Friends of the Forlorn and other worthy causes.
The GABB is Georgia’s largest and most respected association of professionals who help people buy and sell businesses and franchises. Our association includes business brokers, lenders, appraisers, attorneys, business consultants and others who help business owners and entrepreneurs in many ways. Please review our directory if you are seeking a business broker or other professional.
For more information about the GABB, contact GABB President Judy Mims at 404-918-3666 or judy@childcare.properties, or GABB Executive Director Diane Loupe at diane.loupe@gabb.org or text her at 770-744-3639.
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.
GABB BCB Classes
Form for GABB BCB Classes
Read More