5 Qualities Of A Good Business Broker
1. Well-connected/cooperates with other brokers
A business broker’s job is to find the right business (if you are buying) or a buyer (if you are selling) that match your criteria. A well-connected broker can find the opportunities from a large available pool. You should look for a broker that is part of broker associations, local networking groups and most importantly that cooperates with other brokers. This means a broker who participates in facilitating a transaction along with the broker who listed the business. Often, the cooperating broker is the agent who locates a buyer for the business and represents the buyer's interests during negotiation (while the listing agent represents the seller). The listing broker typically splits the commission earned on the sale with the cooperating broker.
Unfortunately there are many brokers in commercial real estate that are greedy and do not cooperate making it very difficult for the seller to sell.
2. Trustworthy
The business broker will be dealing with lot of confidential information of your business. It is important that he does not reveal this information to those who are not authorized. It is also important that he handles conflict of interest between buyer and seller in a prudent manner. For example, they should not reveal seller’s bottom line price to potential buyers and vice versa.
3. Well Organized
Since a business broker wears multiple hats and works on many projects simultaneously he should be well organized so that he does not lose track of information and appointments. They should never drop the ball on important tasks.
4. Marketing Savvy
A good seller broker should also be a good marketer. After all, they need to be able to market and sell the business to potential buyers. Marketing savvy means having a web presence and participating in social media using Twitter, Facebook, etc. They should also be able to create good marketing materials and present them well to potential buyers.
5. Basic Legal and Financial Knowledge
Although you don’t expect a business broker to be a lawyer or financial analyst; he should at least have a basic understanding if legal and financial issues. Buying and selling a business involves understanding and addressing the issues in these areas. At a minimum, he should have access to people with good legal and financial knowledge in is his networking circle.
A business broker’s job is to find the right business (if you are buying) or a buyer (if you are selling) that match your criteria. A well-connected broker can find the opportunities from a large available pool. You should look for a broker that is part of broker associations, local networking groups and most importantly that cooperates with other brokers. This means a broker who participates in facilitating a transaction along with the broker who listed the business. Often, the cooperating broker is the agent who locates a buyer for the business and represents the buyer's interests during negotiation (while the listing agent represents the seller). The listing broker typically splits the commission earned on the sale with the cooperating broker.
Unfortunately there are many brokers in commercial real estate that are greedy and do not cooperate making it very difficult for the seller to sell.
2. Trustworthy
The business broker will be dealing with lot of confidential information of your business. It is important that he does not reveal this information to those who are not authorized. It is also important that he handles conflict of interest between buyer and seller in a prudent manner. For example, they should not reveal seller’s bottom line price to potential buyers and vice versa.
3. Well Organized
Since a business broker wears multiple hats and works on many projects simultaneously he should be well organized so that he does not lose track of information and appointments. They should never drop the ball on important tasks.
4. Marketing Savvy
A good seller broker should also be a good marketer. After all, they need to be able to market and sell the business to potential buyers. Marketing savvy means having a web presence and participating in social media using Twitter, Facebook, etc. They should also be able to create good marketing materials and present them well to potential buyers.
5. Basic Legal and Financial Knowledge
Although you don’t expect a business broker to be a lawyer or financial analyst; he should at least have a basic understanding if legal and financial issues. Buying and selling a business involves understanding and addressing the issues in these areas. At a minimum, he should have access to people with good legal and financial knowledge in is his networking circle.
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