Chad Schmidt, Founder of TimoloGC, and Matt Gilbert, Principal of GaP Business Advisors, discuss working with a broker and what to avoid.
[00:08] MATT GILBERT: I think the number-one quality for a good representative to help you get to the finish line is can they listen to what you want to achieve with your business, and help devise a plan to achieve your goals, on your behalf.
[00:25] MATT GILBERT: Most brokers, intermediaries, and investment bankers - they're gonna hear your story they're gonna start tuning it out then they're gonna tell you what's right for you. Then they want to put you in a box and carry that box across the line get a commission. So a good broker that's gonna listen to you, is gonna poke holes all in your plan, and they're gonna challenge you, and they're gonna say well [your plan] conflicts with something you told me 10 minutes ago - so we've got to figure out exactly what it is you want.
[01:00] MATT GILBERT: Honestly most business owners, when they think about selling their business they can't articulate what it is they want and there's a lot of issues when they start trying to articulate it that will prevent them from being successful. If you don't deal with that on the front end, okay and so a good representative is going to draw that out it's gonna really hone this thing in and make sure that we have a very deep and meaningful understanding of what it is you want
[01:34] MATT GILBERT: And then they're gonna say okay will the market allow that? Because if the market won't allow it - if you want 10 million dollars for your business and we do evaluation, we do a financial review, and we look under the hood, and we study operations and survey your IT your old equipment, and we say no yeah I know you want 10 million dollars for your business. But all the data says the market is only going to value your business at 4 million -- don't run the process don't waste your time don't go spend that year your life to fail.
[02:11] MATT GILBERT: Either adjust your your number down or say okay I'm at four million today I want ten what do I need to do to improve my business and make it work?
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