Maybe I Do Need a Broker…
From the Archives: This was written back in 2016(!) when I was a Partner with Murphy Business Atlantic. It was a shameless piece of self-promotion, but I still like it. So I am sharing it again here.
Why do I need a broker? I know my business better than anybody else! I built this business from scratch 10, 20, 30, 40 years ago. I know it’s a restaurant, a barber shop, a retail store, or a car wash, but I’ve been in this business long enough to know what it’s worth, how to market it, what due diligence is, and whether I should sell shares or assets! Didn’t I sell that old car I used to own, and made a damn tidy profit too!
Well the truth is the car was 10 years old, and didn’t owe me anything, but I got what I could. I know what all my investments are worth only because my investment guy (Gerry, Ralph, Peter?), what’s-his-name, sends me a monthly statement. And I’ve heard rumors that Domingo’s barber shop in Dartmouth sold for X amount. I read the internet. I know Google. I know every business is worth 2-3 times EE-bid-ah. I just don’t know what EE-bid-dah is!
My business has a lot of assets. There’s the truck, all the money I spent fixin’ up the office, the secretary, and all that inventory I’ve been saving for years. It’s just reaching its highest value now. The location is great, on a busy corner, but I don’t own it. I lease from month to month.
But I make a pile of money! Which I pay to my wife, two daughters, a son-in-law, and two sixty something employees who have been with me for 30 plus years.
So I don’t know what it’s worth but it’s gotta be a lot ‘cause I’m working like a dog. I’m pretty sure I know enough to sell it.
Maybe, just maybe, I do need a broker!
Disclaimer: I am (thankfully) not a lawyer, nor am I an accountant. If any of this sounds like legal/financial advice, it's not. Take everything I say with a grain of salt. But not too much - I hear it's bad for your blood pressure.
