Greg Kells is the Founder and President of Sunbelt Canada, the number one business brokerage in the country. He has directly facilitated the sale of over 1,000 businesses and is a two-time winner of Businessperson of the Year in Ottawa. Greg is passionate about mentoring and teaching, with experience as a guest lecturer at Harvard, Yale, Duke, and various colleges across Canada. He is active in numerous community organizations and advocates for economic empowerment, the environment, science, and technology.
No matter how successful you’ve been in your previous work life, becoming a first-time small business owner can be tough. As perhaps half of business buyers in Canada were born in the baby boomer era, it’s worth taking a closer look at the typical challenges from their perspective.
Do you already own a business? Is much of what you need to operate your business “in your head”? Businesses that rely on their owners for success have less value because replacing the owner is much more difficult and they are not ready for growth. Yet that’s how most small businesses still operate today.
The grocery store has been in John's family nearly 50 years now, central to the new life they began when they moved to Canada in the early 50s. He remembers them working long and hard to make enough to support him and his sister.
For certain business buyers, a franchise is a good fit. As explained in the previous post, Franchises, a business-in-a-box, franchising is a method of being in business for yourself, but not by yourself. Individual franchisees are local owners/managers who apply a prescribed system of business operation to produce and sell specific products/services throughout a market territory.
Our business brokers work hard to connect buyers with businesses where they can be successful and happy. For some, the solution is the purchase of an existing operating franchise with a known name, system of operations, specific track record, trained employees, existing customer base and cash flow - a business-in-a-box.
Six weeks ago you lost your job. So far, all your leads have been dead ends and you're starting to get nervous. You did get a package, but it's not going to last forever.
The recession has thrown many business owners off track, leaving them unsure and unequipped, akin to driving in an unfamiliar area without a GPS or map or navigating the wilderness without a compass.
In part one of this post, we explored how business brokers bring buyers and and sellers together, providing the all-important expertise to bring the deal to a conclusion that works for both. Here are some takeaway points specific to each party.
Nike's “just do it” slogan has become part of our popular culture. As business brokers, though, we'd want to add another word: just do it right! Dealing with and overcoming challenges is almost second nature for most small business owners. They know how to build and run their businesses to make them successful. But they don't how to sell one.
