Are you wasting time and money because you haven’t relied upon a professional who can handle your business issue? Don’t be fooled by companies who approach you by regular mailings, email, or telemarketing calls offering to value your business and help you sell it for very little or no cost. Remember, “You get what you pay for”. Some companies are making the pitch, ” We’ll appraise or value your business for you and then advertise it in the Wall Street Journal” They say,” You don’t need a Broker, all you need is a Buyer.” These sound nice, but look deeper. Is the ad in the Wall Street Journal a blind ad that pulls responses for everyone they make the same promise to? Is their fee greater if their valuation report is greater? Don’t be fooled by these and other unscrupulous sales pitches.
Common sense tells you, that an appraisal “Is what it is”, as we say at Pro Biz. The fee should NEVER be influenced by these factors. Companies from out of state can be hard to check up on and they are counting on that. Best choice is someone local, with a local presence and local clients who will affirm the skill, integrity and performance of the appraiser. If you do draw from out of the area, or out of state, as do folks with Pro Biz, be sure you can connect with his local folks!
At Pro Biz we invite you to do just that!
At some point in time, every business owner needs help from a knowledgeable and certified professional. Don’t be fooled into engaging someone who is not certified. Even a credible professional in another field, such as accounting, real estate or law should be avoided if not independently certified by a reputable third party. For example, your CPA can do a very adequate job of valuating a business for tax purposes. But his formula will be limited to formulas approved for CPAs. Such a “book value” or similar approved technique. Do not ask him to go outside of his specialty. Or to write a appraisal report to take to your banker. This will create liability for he and you that neither of you want. You see, from time to time, an appraisal or valuation is challenged, perhaps by the banker, an insurer, the IRS or in courts. One of the first questions the opposing party’s attack council will ask the one who did the report is, “Are you certified to do business appraisals? ” And then, “By whom? and “How many have you performed?” The outcome may be disastrous.
Don’t be fooled into taking this route. The CPA may be very well meaning. In fact, I am sure he or she would be or they wouldn’t retain the designation “CPA” very long. Nonetheless, this another common trap many business owners fall into. It needs to be independent, accurate, using the latest valaution formulas and software and it needs to be certified by a certified person.
Lou Sauer, President of Pro Biz belongs to the Society of Business Analysts and is “certified” as a CSBA. That stands for Certified Senior Business Analyst.
Since 1994, SBA has attracted over 700 highly trained business professionals in the areas of Mergers and Acquisitions, Business Valuation, Business Enhancement, Business Law, Financial Planning, Litigation Support, Expert Witness Testimony, Corporate Taxation, Finance, Business Brokerage, Real Estate Appraisal, Insurance, and Leasing, just to name a few. All of the specialties that SBA has attracted, involved the Business Analysis and Business Consulting profession.
The Society is now affiliated with the NEBB Institute. Both have the third party reputation you are looking for. They certified Pro Biz so you won’t be fooled.