Frances was tired and ready to sell her business after a long successful stint at the helm. She had reached out because she had heard that I had helped sell her friend's business and she wanted to retire as well. Like most entrepreneurs, Frances knew how to run her business but didn’t have the knowledge, time or energy to find a buyer. We discussed options and over the next few months I went to work and found a business buyer in France that wanted a Canadian presence.
In 2017 I sold my business after 28 years. While most businesses are difficult to sell, mine was a relatively easy sale, it was a profitable business with a shotgun agreement with my partners.
In the following months, I had numerous other business owners reach out to me to see if I could help them sell their businesses. I helped 3 clients sell their businesses that year including one who had been working with a business broker for a year without success. Each year since 2017 this trend of helping sell businesses has continued.
Working with Norm Adams my partner in Pivotleader we decided to formalize the help we offered to business owners and look into business brokerage. We took courses, and developed systems that worked in getting leads. One day we realized that in order to really help our clients we needed to get our real estate license to fill the gap between coaching and successful exit of a business.
Selling businesses is much different than selling houses or even commercial properties. The complexity of determining the value of a business, identifying potential buyers and then helping negotiate a deal that works for all parties involved is challenging.
Business owners deserve to be able to sell their businesses after putting in years of hard work, unfortunately this doesn’t always happen. Part of the reason is because they often don’t own their properties or other revenue generating properties which can provide them stability in retirement. Often their businesses aren’t profitable enough to sell or their realtor doesn’t fully understand the value of the business and how to sell it.
My passion is to help business owners reduce that stress of uncertainty about their future and help them develop plans for the future. Yes, business coaching is fun, meaningful and important when business owners are determined to grow their business. It reduces stress, increases clarity and profitability. Over the years my clients have “earned more and worried
less” and I hope to coach business owners for many years to come. However, by adding real estate services to my portfolio I can now support my clients and business owners in the north, stabilize their future and turn their businesses over to a new generation of entrepreneurs who are passionate about the future.
Dave Fuller, MBA is an Award Winning Business Coach, Business Realtor and the author of the books Profit Yourself Healthy and Pivotal Performance. Questioning your future? Email dave@businessrealtor.ca