Main Street News August 2012

Pino Bacinello, CBI, M&AMI, CMEA, CSBA

Chairman’s Message

Fellow Association Members,

Welcome to the month of August! Though sometimes it seems that time stands still, most of the time, each day flows into one another, and each week flows into each month and, by golly, here we are with about 63% of 2012 gone, and yet we still have about 50% of the plan of work still to do.

That being said, I am confident that by the time we burn off the remaining 37% of 2012, we will have completed most of the planned work, and have our ship pointed in the right direction. God willing, with good seas and some great captains, we are in for some great sailing ahead!

Your leadership is working hard to make this an association with indispensable tools and benefits for your success. We have recently approved the purchase and implementation of a new Association Management System that will make it easier to register your membership, courses and conferences. It will also help our partners managing the association to be more effective and efficient in their accounting, record keeping and data management. Soon you will see a new web site that will make it easier for you to access essential information, whether you want to attend a conference, course, or apply for the CBI. It will also allow sellers and buyers to easily search for you as a broker, setting you apart from your competition as an IBBA member.

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IBBA Website

By logging into the IBBA website, you can change your member information, access bylaws and other documents, as well as retrieve exclusive member benefits.

Log In Here

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Scott Bushkie, CBI, M&AMI

Marketing Committee Update

I would like to thank all who participated in the first Market Pulse Quarterly Survey! We should see the results later this month. This will allow us to hopefully get the media’s attention with some interesting facts on what is going on currently in the market.

Second, see below the highlight video that we created at the conference. We will be using this to attract new members and continue to build the brand of IBBA, the CBI and its members. Please email me if you have any ideas for future video topics that would be of value to you.

Why Join The IBBA?

Scott M. Bushkie, CBI, M&AMI
Marketing Committee Chair

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Karl Kirsch, CAE

Executive Director’s Message

I am pleased that the Board of Directors has approved acquisition of a new Association Management System (AMS) and website for IBBA. In our efforts to become an even greater resource for business brokers, we recognized early that the needs of the association had long since passed by the existing technology infrastructure.

The new AMS and website will ultimately make the association far more self-service. That doesn’t mean we are trying to keep you from calling us at the headquarters, we like it when members call so that we can get to know you and learn the types of problems you need help with. What it does mean, is for those simple questions you need an answer to quickly, you should be able to access answers directly from the website.

The way the new system will work is that the AMS will house the data on each member and non-member who has done any kind of business with the association. Conducting business could mean anything from attending a conference or course, applying for the CBI, or even requesting information on how to become a broker or intermediary.

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Steve Wain, CBI, M&AMI

Technology Committee Update

Setting Up A Modern Brokerage Practice: Part 1

With all the changes that are going on at the IBBA and M&A Source lately, I’ve been thinking, “This a good time for IBBA members to upgrade their practice.”

I’m a firm believer that when you practice excellence in your business, you have no chance of being a failure. For some, keeping up with ‘what’s current’ is a pain that seems to never end. To others, it’s an excuse to get a new gadget, even if its likely usage is not quite understood. There is no best answer, but what is true, is that as a practitioner, you owe your clients the best services in business brokerage.

So, as the IBBA and M&A Source start to make changes that will affect you, the question is whether you will be able to take advantage of these ‘new gadgets’, and improve the level of services you offer.

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Chet Walden, Chair, CBI, BCI, M&AMI, FIBBA

M&A Source Chairman’s Message

We are sad to have to skip Chet Walden’s wise words this month because he is recovering from back surgery. I urge each of you to send him your best wishes for a speedy recovery. His email is [email protected].

 

 

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Jack R. Sanders, CBA, CBI, CMEA, CM&AA

Broker Licensing Options

Today, business brokers and intermediaries have a whole new world of options for legally securing commissions. In the past, most brokers have been licensed as real estate broker in the state they were in, or not licensed at all if their state did not require licensing or if there was no real estate involved. That would include a lease to be transferred to the buyer. The lease was a favorite way of requiring brokers to license and pay a DRE (Department of Real Estate) fee. The place where being properly licensed really becomes an issue is in court when you are trying to collect your fee. That is where the rubber really meets the road.

Not much attention was paid to the business being transferred if it became a stock transaction instead of an asset sale under the Uniform Commercial Code. Attorneys can handle stock transactions but may try to reduce your fee to justify theirs. With the advent of the new FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) Series 79 license, there is now an option for handling other transactions (stock, multi-state, partial interest, equity financing, etc.) we were prohibited from doing as business brokers.

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Jim Afinowich, CBI, M&AMI, Fellow of the IBBA, Past Chairman

Member Spotlight

I grew up in a family business. My father was a veterinarian for large animals. While my father drove from ranch to ranch, my mother did the bookkeeping and ran the business out of our home. I don’t know how old I was when my chores started to include doing things for the business, but it just seemed natural to help with the family business, mainly because I didn’t have a choice.

My own entrepreneurial side started coming out before high school. I went around my neighborhood pushing a lawn mower, stopping at houses with shaggy lawns and selling my services. In high school I took photography and made extra money taking pictures of dogs and babies.

I started my first real business while going to college. The last time I worked for anyone else was when I was 20 years old. From then on, I owned and operated 14 different businesses. I have had my successes and failures. When I was 30, I was a millionaire. When I was 34, I was broke and looking for something new that didn’t take a lot of money and didn’t involve getting a “real job”. That is when I became a business broker.

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Clyth MacLeod, Lifetime CBI

News and Views

(Editor’s note: I’m leaving the spelling difference to represent our New Zealand IBBA friend. When I needle Clyth about their spelling, along with driving on the wrong side of the road, he says with a smile, “It’s you Yanks that are doing it wrong!”)

Words of Wisdom

Opening our annual Business Brokers Conference was my old friend John Banks, Minister for Small Business and Associate Minister of Commerce. Who better? He has been involved in many businesses and was one of the founding partners of the Tony’s restaurant chain 50 years ago – he shared with us his fundamentals for success:

• Presentation – dress to impress
• Work hard – 50 years of 60+ hours per week!
• Distinguish between activity and busy
• Have weekly, monthly, annual goals and keep a journal
• Find your competitive advantage
• DWYSYWD (do what you say you will do)
• Nothing is more important than reliability and reputation
• Obsess about high quality service
• If you stuff up – then front up
• Say “thank you” and “follow up”!
• Make someone feel special today.

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Richard Mowrey, CBI, CBA, CMA

Member Spotlight

After owning and operating three businesses (in manufacturing and distribution), I stayed on to manage the last one for a couple years in the mid 1980’s. During that period, I saw some formal business valuations prepared for the new owner’s granter trusts, and made a note that a business valuation practice might be something of future interest after taking a break. That educational and business development process started in 1988 and quickly moved into business transaction support. Both professional activities and “value engineering” consulting have continued to this day within our small company; however, the balance of work in each area varies widely in any given period.

Although not all our deals have been in manufacturing, that has been our focus since inception. It is amazing what a former client will ask you to do, like “assist in the sell” of a broadcasting company, once you have established a solid relationship of trust and confidence. That sale was completed in combo with an experienced professional who specialized in broadcast properties. Industry experts are essential in such situations, and I was glad to return to the “simplicity” of preparing and selling manufacturing businesses.

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The Front Line Where the Battles and Tactics Occur to Put Deals Together

This section is available for members to share their recent successes, unique deal situations, and strategies employed to successfully close a transaction. Names of the participants can be masked to provide confidentiality. Please email your write-up to [email protected] and we will feature it in our next newsletter. Please limit your comments to 500 words.

 

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Ken Oppeltz, CBI, CBB, M&AMI

Meet Your Board Member: Ken Oppeltz

I don’t know anyone who went to college with the goal of being a business broker, and I am no exception. I stumbled upon this industry when I was trying to grow Fresh Choice Restaurants, a chain of soup and salad bar restaurants that I co-founded in the San Francisco Bay Area. At Fresh Choice, we found that buying an existing business and converting it to our concept was usually easier than building from scratch. The problem was finding a business to convert, so we contacted business brokers for help. Back in the early 90’s, it wasn’t easy to find a business broker that knew what he was doing, but I eventually found one. And when the time came to sell my last restaurant (using that same IBBA broker), I decided that if it was that hard to find a decent broker, just maybe I might have a shot at making it in the industry.

When I did my research, I found that IBBA offered educational courses and certification. I decided if I was going to do this, I was going to immerse myself in the industry. For my very first IBBA conference, I flew to Arizona and spent a full week in classes, and I have never looked back. I earned my CBI, and was one of the very first to earn the M&AMI designation. I became active in the California Association of Business Brokers and served as president for two years before serving as an IBBA director.

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Keith McLeod, CBI

From the Editor’s Desk

Steve Wain, Technology Chair provides some wise and noteworthy steps to upgrade your technology. Jack Sanders returns with another guest article on licensing. It should be required reading for those considering a SEC license. We’ve also featured a portion of Clyth MacLeod’s New Zealand Newsletter to give us an overseas perspective. Clyth and his team have done 7,000 transactions, not bad for a country with a population the size of Phoenix, Arizona. Chet Walden, M&A Source Chair needs your encouraging email. He is recovering from back surgery, and our regular columnist Scott Bushkie provides marketing insight for our practice.

Each of these special people has a common gene; making a contribution to our industry. For those who share this trait, contact Chairman Pino, one of our monthly featured guests, or myself to contribute. There are always openings for talent.