Services & Solutions

› Entering or Buying a Business

Questions that we can help you answer before you Enter Business Ownership:

Click on a question for more information:

• When is the best time to Enter business ownership?
• What are the ingredients of a successful Entry?
• How can I avoid overpaying for a business?
• How do I prevent the use of compromised professionals?
• What is the best method of Entering business ownership?
• How can I maintain confidentiality?
• What professionals do I need & when should I use them?

Ninety percent of the time we represent only the Exiting Party. However, there are circumstances when entering parties, such as you, want to retain us as your uncompromised advocate. Be sure to inquire about a targeted business search where we represent only your interests in the transaction.

Get started and download our forms:

• Individual Non-disclosure Form - PDF or WORD DOC
• Entering Party Profile - PDF or WORD DOC

Fax the completed forms directly to Joe Camp at: (509) 277-0100, or .

For more information on how BizAdvocates can help you smoothly and cost effectively enter business ownership,
Call (888) 333-2181 or Fill Out Our Entering Form.

When Is The Best Time To Enter Business Ownership?

Better business opportunities are available now than ever before in history… if you know how and where to find them. Economist and demographic expert Robert Avery at Cornell University estimates that 70% of over 12 million privately owned businesses will change hands during the next 10-15 years due to the baby boomers reaching retirement age. So, the time to buy a business is now!

At some point the owner of every business and professional practice will exit his/her business through a sale or ownership change, which may now make it available to you. Regardless of the type of business you choose to enter, there will be several owners wanting to show you their opportunity.

It is never too soon to start planning your strategy! Such major decisions always require adequate planning and educated decisions. BizAdvocates.com and its affiliate offices nationwide is a full service consulting organization that has provided sound solutions to business owners, sellers and buyers for three decades.

Regardless of whether you want to start a business, enter an existing business or learn how to improve your current business for future changes, our certified professionals are qualified to help you make the appropriate steps in a way that will be most rewarding for all involved. Fasten your seat belt and get ready for an exciting ride into your future!

What Are The Ingredients Of A Successful Entry?

A successful inspection of the exiting party's financial and operational books and records will solve most problems in a business transfer. We call this Financial and Operational Due Diligence (FODD). Due diligence involves far more work than most attorneys and CPAs want or even KNOW to do. If you delegate the complete due diligence, the expense to you will be substantial and you will deny yourself the opportunity to really understand the business and it’s culture. Due diligence is getting to know the owners, understanding their reason for exiting the business, learning the Paul Harvey “rest of the story” to get under the covers of the business operations and environment so the owner can/will fully disclose the opportunity and the pitfalls. In summary, you want to ensure there are no skeletons in the closet, and that full disclosure has occurred. So, you can see due diligence is more than financial statements. Every financial question has a lengthy and valuable operational answer that you (and your advisors) need to understand.

Create a cooperative environment and open the channels of communication. In most cases, we do represent the exiting party (and they pay our fees) but there are circumstances such as in a targeted marketing search when it is most appropriate for us to represent you, the entering party. When we are retained to represent the entering party in a transaction, we become your advocate.

As your Advocate, a Primary Business Consultant makes sure you stay true to your course of WHY you want WHAT you want and that your financial expectations are in alignment with the “true” opportunity. In fact, as your Advocate, we may be a part of your success team once you conclude the purchase. We are your trusted advisor, we know your new business intimately, so why not ask for leadership in launching your new business life and the growth of your new business?

Here are some typical questions you should consider as an Entering party:

Have you defined the type of business you are best equipped to operate successfully?
Our experience gained from hundreds of transactions will help you make an appropriate decision. Not only is it important that your current skills complement the “prospective” business, the business must also address your family's lifestyle needs and goals. It must be affordable to you with proper working capital in place.

Why is the current owner selling?
There are many reasons…illness, boredom, retirement, and family considerations are just a few. What is important is that you understand and believe the reason given is actually the true reason for the owner’s exit.

How do I ensure full disclosure on the part of the owner?
A Primary Business Consultant can lead you through the steps of Full Disclosure to uncover all the answers to your questions. If you aren't comfortable with those answers, you should NOT move forward in the purchase of that business. You will experience a significant review of the business at the Financial and Operational Due Diligence (FODD) inspection. If you aren't sure after that meeting, you should not move forward.

How Can I Avoid Overpaying For A Business?

It is imperative that you review an appraisal prepared by an unbiased third party in order to insure that you don’t overpay. The financial institution which will provide financing for the business transfer will require one anyway. It would be tragic to find out at the last minute that you’ve already negotiated a price that is too high. An independent third party appraisal will produce a fair valuation of the business. The third party relationship allows for total fairness.

We live in an era of globalization, and all of us are affected by what happens elsewhere, particularly in our own country! It would be a mistake to ignore other economic markets. Consequently, you need to make sure that the evaluator has national/international experience and uses regionally sensitive pricing policies that reflect appropriate economic conditions. A believable valuator must have significant experience in all types of businesses with ample computer data to support his/her decisions and credibility to pass the consideration of the lender and your own CPA.

In order for the appraisal to be credible and substantial to other parties in the transaction, the valuator should be a totally independent third-party who has no other business relations with anyone involved in the transaction, other than for the purposes of conducting the appraisal process.

How Do I Prevent The Use Of Compromised Professionals?

BizAdvocates.com professionals are your advocates; assisting you in locating the best business worthy of the years of personal sacrifice and resources you will invest in it. Advocate is the strongest word we could find to express our relationship to you as we place your interest above every other interest in the transaction. For your protection, this special relationship must be specifically documented!

It is important that you understand how our buyer Targeted Business Search and compensation are both designed to allow us to be uncompromised professionals. Most owners never allow their business to be placed in a large pool of “listings” where commissioned sales persons are only paid for the ones that sell! This is no more than a Las Vegas gamble because they place themselves at risk of never selling. In order to earn more, many professionals are tempted to work only on the ones they have listed in their own personal inventory. These professionals are also in a potentially compromising position of possibly advising buyers to take offers that may not be in the buyer’s best interest. The fact is that the majority of better businesses are seldom placed in this type of marketing. The owners realize they really need specialized attention and do not want to risk the loss of confidentiality nor waste time on unqualified buyers.

Acting as a true advocate, a professional cannot be placed in a compromising position regarding the payment for their services or how they spend their time. Advocates must be paid for their services based on what is best for the client, not what makes it possible for them to receive the quickest commission. Three decades of experience in this industry helped BizAdvocates.com and its affiliates' professionals develop an acquisition and compensation system that locates better businesses faster and at a significant savings to you. This significant savings in fees makes your deal easier to consummate and leaves more dollars available for your ultimate reward. Our reward is that we consummate better transactions faster and earn more in the long run. This is a win-win for everyone, as is always the case when everyone is honestly motivated. Ask your BizAdvocates.com consultant for a complete explanation of this revolutionary and more successful Targeted Business Search.

What Is The Best Method Of Entering Business Ownership?

You will enter a strong business with significant value because you will monitor every detail of the search! You also reap greater rewards in your search because BizAdvocates.com and it’s affiliate offices keep you informed in the process through periodic reports which gives you the option of approving each step and expenditure. Surely you would never think of turning the search for your most important asset over to someone without the opportunity to monitor his or her progress.

The most exciting part of the BizAdvocates.com‘s Targeted Business Search plan is that it is really a plan. We know the plan best because our mentor, Mr. Bill Bumstead, wrote the book…52 Steps To Finding Buyers and Sellers of Businesses…one of the most popular texts used by the largest professional associations in the industry. If a professional has not received this training, he/she may only know to do a few things over and over, leaving you in total frustration not to say, unsuccessful.

Sellers want to sell and buyers want to buy. However it is not easy for them to find each other, especially with the need to maintain confidentiality. Because of this need for confidentiality, no one follows the real estate marketing plan of putting a large sign in front of a business, running an ad in the local paper complete with the picture and address of the business or placing the information in the local multi-list in hopes that some other broker will have a buyer for it. In fact, a multi-list for businesses does not even exist and never will because business buyers and sellers do not want to potentially lose customers, employees, suppliers and banking relationships due to over exposure. You want to know you are speaking to a profitable and successful business before pursuing a purchase. A “listed” business does not necessarily represent an officially appraised business.

Because of its accuracy, the BizAdvocates.com’s Targeted Business Search was recently called “laser searching” by one of our happy clients. Instead of looking in an over-shopped pool of “listed” businesses in false anticipation that you will find what you want, we specifically target all of the owners with the most likely characteristics of your needs and confidentially contact them without waiting for them to find us. After all, BizAdvocates.com and it’s affiliate offices have been at this for three decades, we know who they are, where they are, how to find them and how to encourage them to talk with you.

We have developed many proven search techniques to successfully locate better businesses… over fifty in all. Each of these steps will result in new opportunities. One of the most important characteristics of our professionals is their commitment to implement “appropriately” targeted plans which you monitor regularly. BizAdvocates.com professionals know more to do than is actually needed to accomplish your goals!

How Can I Maintain Confidentiality?

BizAdvocates.com serves as the intermediary link between those Entering and Exiting business ownership. It is virtually impossible for all principals to maintain confidentiality in the process without this assistance. Our professionals serve as the communication link without initially revealing the identity of the principal parties, specific addresses, or telephone numbers.

Exiting business owners do not want employees finding out the business is available. They may become insecure in their relationship with management and seek employment elsewhere, often with competitors. They do this in order to protect the financial security of their family. They could also take less interest in their work and even sabotage the business and/or reveal company secrets to competitors. The loss of key employees could diminish the value of the business.

Suppliers could lose confidence in their ability to collect money due them. Perhaps, they may even begin to seek other potential distribution possibilities for their products and services. This could be devastating to the new business owner who needs to be at his/her best at the time of transfer.

Customers, clients, and the public in general need to remain free of any fear or doubt that the business will remain capable of standing behind products and services previously delivered. In order to retain their confidence of continued business it is important the community never hears anything to make them feel at risk!

Bankers always become nervous when they hear anything about a business that could affect their collateral, especially the gross sales and cash flow that secure their payments. A newly purchased business needs to display the ability to grow and finance that growth; therefore, confidentiality is as important for the Entering party as it is for the Exiting party.

The media is constantly in search of anything potentially sensitive or damaging. It would be bad enough if any of the outside parties found out which business you were considering and much worse if they shared it with newspapers, radio, television, or the local Chamber of Commerce. BizAdvocates.com search activities never reveal the identity of those entering or exiting business ownership until both parties have been qualified to learn about each other.

BizAdvocates.com provides a great service by handling communications until the proper confidentiality documents have been executed. Before anyone is provided any identifying information, each potential participant will be required to sign a non-disclosure statement in which they will agree to NOT reveal the identity of anyone, or to misuse any information shared with them. You are additionally trained to handle your reactions should anyone be guilty of carelessness. There is seldom ever a problem with confidentiality if our proven guidelines are followed because everyone involved makes confidentiality their #1 concern!

What Professionals Do I Need & When Should I Use Them?

People interested in entering ownership of a business or professional practices often ask: “Are you business brokers?” and “Do you sell businesses?”…the answer for the first question is No! and for the second, definitely Yes! There are terms that describe us better. We are your Advocates, and much more! We are certified consultants with the skills and experience to help you find a better business, and most importantly guide you through the negotiation and closing stages of the transaction, right up to the closing table where you sign the final documents and pick up the keys to your exciting future.

We accomplish for you what large corporations employ a full-time staff of merger and acquisition specialists to do for them, at the same degree of professionalism. Smaller to mid-sized privately owned businesses need the same quality of service, but obviously cannot afford such a specialized staff. Regardless of the size of the business you buy, you are concerned that each step of the buying process is handled correctly. The consultants at BizAdvocates.com have provided business owners this same high quality service for three decades. We have been a part of more business transactions than almost anyone in the industry, and give you the benefit of what we’ve incorporated from the best professionals around the world.

Why do we screen you so carefully in the beginning? Just as we carefully screen exiting parties to make sure they really are ready to sell their business, we screen entering parties to understand your talents and skills so that we can coach you in choosing the best business to match your skill and experience set which will sustain the success of the business you are buying. We also want to make sure that your financial capabilities match the business you are seeking so you won't waste your time and emotional energy pursuing an opportunity that can't be obtained by you. Through our experience in the completion of dozens of transactions and in managing the lending process, we clearly understand what it takes from a lender's perspective to qualify a seller for a specific transaction.

BizAdvocates.com is often referred to as the “coach” of the team, which includes other professionals who may be needed periodically during the transaction. At the appropriate time accountants, attorneys, tax specialists, estate planners, escrow/closing agents, appraisers, bankers and others may possibly be needed. BizAdvocates.com is the coach of this team and will set an example of unselfish cooperation in coordination of all of the individual events, paperwork, activities and responsibilities of other professionals. It is our responsibility to often become reconciliation experts as we keep the process on course.

Timing is an important aspect of any important event. BizAdvocates.com is your clock-watcher; to be sure that everyone performs in a timely manner. We have dealt with most concerns many times and our professional checklists will assure that everyone performs at their best.

Our professionals are your advocates, coordinating your interests in the Targeted Business Search, offer(s), counter offer(s), purchase agreement(s), escrow and preparation of the closing documents to coach the team right across the goal line for you! Even though we are not legal and tax experts and do not perform these or other responsibilities for which we are not licensed, we will help you secure the best professionals in each field. Successful teams play to the end of the game and we will help everyone involved understand this is your game. All of us have the responsibility to help you win it!