A Guide to Identifying a Great Business Broker in Colorado
Having experience as a business owner allows you the understanding of what a quality service professional can truly bring to the table. When it comes time to sell a business in Denver, identifying a Denver business broker you can trust is important to ensuring the best outcome for your business sale process. In the following article, we’ve compiled the top questions you should ask a business broker to determine if their experience is the right fit to help you sell a business.
What Is Your Transactional Experience?
While you may think that experience in your business’s industry would be a key attribute to helping you sell your business, transactional experience is actually a better indicator of what you can expect from a business broker. You will want to work with a business broker who has completed a variety of small business transactions. This will evidence that they have the experience to manage the business sale process, and have seen enough transactions to predict and manage any hurdles that may arise. A good background also points to a business broker with contacts in financing, and access to interested and active buyers.
How Do You Value a Business for Sale?
Depending on the industry, different professionals determine the value of a business using different methods of calculation dependent on why the business valuation is needed. For example, an attorney may require an appraisal of a business for divorce proceedings, but the number they determine will be different from the value a business broker would place on a business preparing to be listed for sale. An experienced business broker will have access to sales comparables, their own internal database of recent deals and can tell you the range of multiples you can expect for your industry. This data combined with Denver market knowledge will provide the most accurate business valuation.
How Many Buyers Do You Have in Your Database?
With long term experience in the business brokerage industry, comes access to deal flow. Deal flow means your Denver business broker has a database of buyers, a certain level of business listings, potential seller contacts and relationships with attorneys & finance professionals. In essence, your broker has the right contacts and a high level of access to help move your business sale forward. Transworld Business Advisors - Rocky Mountain, for example, has access to more than 15,000 buyers and a vast network of 225+ offices globally that may also have interested buyers for your small business.
How Do You Protect My Business’s Confidentiality?
Most of the general public’s experience with business sales are through public media coverage of large scale corporate mergers and acquisitions. This coverage often focuses on the negative aspects of an M&A transaction like employee layoffs. This is one of the main reasons having procedures in place to protect a business and the business owner are important. If employees flee the company or tell customers and vendors about the sale, the health of the business can be jeopardized, often for no reason, because employees are a valued aspect of the business to begin with. So, asking your business broker how they protect confidentiality is important. In Transworld’s case, we have a strict procedure we follow that includes blind advertisements, pre-qualifying buyers, non-disclosure agreements and gated information.
What Type of Professional Network Do You Have Access To?
Another term for a Business Broker is Business Intermediary which at its most simple form is a “go-between” or a mediator. Because of this a high quality business broker will maintain a network of connections like transactional attorneys, commercial real estate brokers, tax accountants, lenders, banking professionals and financial institutions that they can count on to play a role in their client’s business transaction. These connections are people who understand best practices in Colorado business sales and are familiar with your business brokers processes. A wise broker will provide guidance on who to consult and when and will help you navigate this decision process.
Since many of our Denver Business Brokers have been business owners themselves, Transworld Business Advisors -Rocky Mountain understands the importance of working with professionals you can trust in the business sale process. If you’re interested in speaking with a broker about a future business sale in Colorado, schedule a free consultation or visit our website for more information.
Schedule Your Consultation Today
Rachael Holstein has been the Marketing Manager for Transworld - Rocky Mountain since 2016. Her work experience has been largely focused on business development and marketing in business brokerage, finance, architecture, property management, and information technology. A long time resident of Cleveland, Ohio, she attained her undergrad from John Carroll University and her Master’s Degree from Cleveland State University. In 2013, she relocated to Denver with her husband, Joe, and her furry companions to explore the mile high lifestyle!
If you liked this blog and want to receive more content, just like this, right to your inbox, sign up here!
