You’ve probably read a lot about how business brokers represent ‘THE SELLERS’ – a sometimes thinly veiled warning:  ’Caveat Emptor’.  I’ll admit that it does appear to be a conflict of interest – and I don’t doubt there ARE a few brokers who busy themselves simply ‘churning’ businesses.  Come to think of it - I did work with a brokerage (which will remain nameless) that seemed to always be selling the same business – it was like musical chairs except nothing about it was fun.

 
Truly professional brokers have everyone’s long term interest in mind – I can’t speak for others, obviously –  but I don’t want my ears burning a couple of years from now when a buyer is complaining that I sold him/her an inappropriate business.  There’s not a whole lot I can do about the success of a business after it’s sold but I can sure do my best to give them a good start.

 
I’m certain all of this sounds a tad naïve to you and NO, I wasn’t a Girl Scout (our first lesson was about how to iron – my sister and I almost killed each other getting out of that room!) but I would rather forego a sale than to deliberately persuade a buyer to get into a business they can’t handle or will be miserable owning.  I’m not being a Goody Two Shoes (I have friends lined up to attest to this)  - the long term success of my business depends upon it.   Good reviews about business brokers travels at a glacial speed – bad news at the speed of light.  

  
Perhaps a little different perspective on the business broker as the representative of ‘THE SELLERS” is in order.  If you give it a bit of thought, you’ll realize that the broker has every reason to assist BOTH the buyer and seller – after all, there’s no commission without a consummated sale.  It does  not behoove me to spend endless hours trying to fit a square peg into a round hole – I’d prefer to spend my time finding the right buyer who is likely to make it to closing. Call it self  interest if you must – I call it sleeping well at night.   

 
You can also call me quirky:  I  have a personal policy about listing companies in industries that I think are or will be on the decline in the not too distant future.  For example, I steer away from tanning salons – I’m sure lots of owners in this industry have made oodles of money but I just don’t think it’s a good thing to bake clients for profit.  This is not an attack on the industry – which I think is probably as careful as anybody about their clients’ health – I just don’t think I’d do a very enthusiastic job of selling the place.   Don’t think I could sell a Hummer, either (although I hasten to add that it is a perfectly lovely machine).

You’ve probably noticed that much of my blog is dedicated to SELLERS and how I might assist them – I think it’s about time to assist BUYERS, as well.  Remember – you might be a BUYER now – but you just might be a SELLER one day!