Main Street News April 2015

Regular Registration Rates End for the 2015 IBBA Spring Conference NEXT WEEK!

If you haven’t registered for the upcoming 2015 IBBA Spring Conference, make sure you sign up before April 23, when
registration rates will increase! And if you plan to fly from Atlanta, Boston, Chicago/O’Hare, Detroit, Fort Myers, Myrtle Beach,
Orlando or Tampa, you have the opportunity to fly direct – nonstop – into Atlantic City via Spirit Airlines. As of today (April 17) some of these departing cities have fares as low as $70 roundtrip! Those flying into Philadelphia also have multiple
transportation options to get to Atlantic City. If you haven’t been to Atlantic City in a while (or ever), check out photos taken
during IBBA staff’s recent visit for a sneak peek of the area.

Wondering why you should attend? The IBBA has something for everyone:

Eight formal educational courses on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, such as the all-day course on “Surviving & Thriving in Your First Year as a Broker” scheduled for Tuesday, May 5 and “Overcoming Objections in Listing and
Sales Contracts” on the afternoon of Wednesday, May 6.

• Eight formal educational courses on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, such as the all-day course on “Surviving & Thriving in Your First Year as a Broker” scheduled for Tuesday, May 5 and “Overcoming Objections in Listing and
  Sales Contracts” on the afternoon of Wednesday, May 6.
• On Thursday morning, Full Conference attendees will have the opportunity to participate in “mastermind” sessions on Thursday morning that will be led by Subject Matter Experts on buying and selling specific types of businesses,
  such as medical/dental, restaurants, insurance agencies and others.
• On Thursday afternoon, Full Conference attendees will be able to participate in more informal, peer-to-peer sharing via the popular “open space” Mastermind Sessions, during which attendees will have the opportunity to suggest topics discussed in depth at breakout sessions and rotate between them at their leisure. If there is a topic of interest that you’d like to lead on Thursday afternoon, click here to suggest it!
• On Friday, two workshop tracks will be available to Full Conference attendees: the “Fast Track to Success”, and “The Next Level Series”. Whether you are new to business brokerage or a veteran of the industry, this conference has something new to teach you!

Activities and educational courses are scheduled throughout May 4-9 at the Sheraton Atlantic City. Check out the full conference schedule and the Spring Conference Preview webinar recording for more information.

For more information on the , visit Spring Conference

Cress V. Diglio, CBI, M&AMI 2015 Chair of the IBBA

IBBA Chair’s Message

Throughout my career as a Business Broker I have been affiliated with three highly successful organizations: Corporate Investment International, Sunbelt and most recently Transworld. During my tenure, I have worked with hundreds of Business Brokers at all three organizations and throughout my time, I have witnessed extremely intelligent and successful individuals embark on a career in Business Brokerage. Unfortunately, the majority of these individuals have either failed or never achieved the level of success they envisioned when they began their new career. I often wondered why a small portion of new Brokers succeed while the majority fail. Over the past five years, I have interviewed approximately 100 current and former Business Brokers in the hopes of discovering the difference between success and failure. The following lists are the most common answers I received from the individuals I interviewed.

Why Business Brokers have failed:

1. Difficulty obtaining quality listings, high percentage of listings don’t sell
2. Didn’t enjoy networking, cold calling, door knocking
3. Lack of professionalism in Business Brokerage, negative perception in the public eye
4.  Ran out of money, depletion of savings, desire for a steady income
5. Not enough support or training
6. Nothing happens quickly, length of the closing cycle
7. No guarantees – you can work hard with little to no results
8. Other opportunities

Why Business Brokers have succeeded:

1. IBBA – #1 answer from Brokers interviewed
2. Staying power – at least one year of reserves in the bank
3. Focused on industries in which they have knowledge/experience
4. Goal-driven, results-oriented, plan for success
5. Emphasis on quality listings – walk away from over-priced listings
6. Strong customer service, high level of professionalism, trusted advisor
7. Education, designations/certifications, knowledge of financial statements
8. Effective networking and marketing

As you can see, the majority of successful Business Brokers attributed their success to the IBBA. The successful Brokers that were not part of the IBBA attributed their success to self-education, a strong support group, a large network of professionals and hard work. Admittedly, these Brokers echoed similar sentiments; it would have been easier if they discovered the IBBA early in their career. When I reviewed the answers from the Brokers that left the business, I determined that the IBBA could have solved the majority of their problems. An IBBA education will help you obtain quality listings, teach you how to network effectively even if you don’t enjoy it, raise your level of professionalism and earn more money.

Three years ago, I made it a priority to help others succeed as a Business Broker and that is the main reason I created IBBA Course #119: Surviving and Thriving in Your First Year as a Broker. Course #119 is a jam-packed, interactive 8-hour course covering the Broker process from pre- to post-transaction, setting goals, implementing your plan, discovering what works for you, best practices, tricks of the trade, increasing productivity and success rate, informative war stories and so much more. As a result of this course, you will learn how to create a personal plan that if followed, will make you successful. The very reason this course exists is due to a career of attending IBBA Conferences. The course material is a compilation of information I have gained from attending IBBA courses and workshops. It is filled with priceless information I have received from IBBA members, trade vendors, key-note speakers and others I have talked to at conferences over lunch, dinner or drinks.

The real value in attending an IBBA Conference is the ability to interact with the most successful Business Brokers in the world. Where else can you have an opportunity to pick the brain of the leaders in your field? Where else can you learn trade secrets from top income-producing brokers? Where else do you have an opportunity to sit with the owners of the largest franchise and independent business brokerage firms in the world and learn how to grow your practice? Where else can you sit in Mastermind sessions with Business Brokers from around the world in an interactive format discussing topics relevant to your business? Where else can you attend educational courses where you receive subject matter that will enable you to close more transactions? Where else can you visit with vendors who provide invaluable products and services to Business Brokers?

The answers to these questions is simple: NO WHERE!
The only place to achieve all of this is at an IBBA Conference. It’s not too late to register for the upcoming conference in Atlantic City. The information you receive at this conference can be the difference between failure and success.

Mollie Horning

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