Checklist for Finding the best Portland, Oregon Business Broker
You’ve established and built a successful company and experienced financial success. Now that it’s time to sell your business, you want to get the best selling price for it. It is important to get the best price, but it’s also important to get the best terms and to make sure the transaction closes. That’s why it’s critical to find the right Portland business broker.
A business broker’s job is pretty much the same as that of a real estate broker’s job in selling real estate. Like selling real estate, there is a process to go through and lots of preparation prior to selling your business. If you have spent time and efforts in building a profitable business, you should do the same before letting it go. Having a professional Portland business broker on your team can make all the difference in the world and is worth every penny at the end. Westwood Benson Business Brokers has an established track record of success helping company owners sell their company.
A top business broker can sell a company for a higher price and more effectively than what a business owner can generate on their own. There is a series of standard procedures that a professional business broker executes – from evaluating the business for sale, knowing the market trends and connecting and finding the right business buyers.
When looking a business broker, it’s critical to get to learn about the person and the company. Before setting up an appointment to discuss a business for sale, you should prepare a checklist of interview questions in order to confirm the expertise of the broker.
Below are a few questions that can help you, as the business seller, evaluate prospective brokers:
- How long have they been working as a business broker? (A long record of experience in selling business is definitely a plus factor)
- How many successful closing deals has the business broker made in the last couple of years and in what particular industry? (It is good to know the business broker’s track record in closing business sales)
- Are the business broker’s clients happy with their transactions? (Ask for testimonials if possible)
- How do they find business buyers and qualify them?
A meeting to discuss selling a business will not be complete without questions that will be asked by the business broker. At this point, the business seller can gauge a the business broker’s capability and experience in selling businesses. Below are samples of critical questions from business brokers that are not only helpful in determining a good business broker, but also aid in determining what business buyers are looking for.
- Is your company brand popular?
- How many employees do you have?
- How many loyal customers do you have?
- Do you have multiple income streams?
- Is your business finance record updated?
The answers to the questions above work both ways for both seller and buyer but leading to only one goal – finding the right Portland business broker to help successfully sell the company for a price that will satisfy the company owner.
Checklist: Westwood Benson Portland Business Broker
Awesome post! Keep up the great work! 🙂