Not every leap is foolish.

If you want to take the leap to owning  your own business,  we can help mitigate the risk.

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Business Buyers Advocate is dedicated to just that – advocating for the Business Buyer, rather than the Seller.  Why would you need an advocate to buy a business?   You may not if you’re buying your 4th or 5th business.  For the first or second, however, it’s helpful to have someone who has been through the process dozens of times to advise you.  There are countless pitfalls, and remember, the Seller usually has a broker advising him or her – and their allegiance is to the Seller.

Most brokerage firms work for business owners wanting to sell their business.   We focus on the needs and wants of the business Buyer.    That focus has resulted in countless satisfied business owners…who found and purchased their business with the assistance of Business Buyers’ Advocate.

We help mitigate the risk…recognizing that no one can eliminate risk if they are to live. 

SERVICES

Buying a business is not as easy as buying a car, or a house, or anything you’ve ever bought before. So why would you want to buy an existing business anyway? Why not simply start your own? Like buying a new car or build a new house vs. buying used? Statistics. Fewer than one in 10 startups make it to year 5…or even year 3. Records of a good existing business can give both you and a bank confidence that the business will continue to generate immediate cash flow for you to re-pay the bank and for you to take a salary…something startups rarely can do. 

We offer two levels of service, consultation and search. While there are hundreds of details in buying a business, the major steps are simple:

Find the right business for you
Investigate and examine the business to determine its value to you
Negotiate a deal, do more investigating (“due diligence”), and close.

 As always, the devil is in the (myriad) details.   BBA can help.   If you have already identified a business you want, we can advise you through the negotiation process and avoid mistakes getting  to closing.
Each of the following steps includes ample opportunity for missteps:

Valuing the business
Identifying and Analyzing opportunities
Making an offer
Completing the "Due Diligence"
Arranging Financing
Closing the sale

Surprisingly, the greatest stumbling block is often step one.  So often, some statistics say that 97% of prospective buyers never buy a business at all.  If you have not found the right business yet, we offer a formal search program that we guarantee will find a business that matches your criteria…usually several.

A Formal search saves time and money in the long run.   We do an intense detailed search for the businesses that meet your criteria…not just the ones that are listed for sale.  Of the dozens of searches Joe has been involved with, only one resulted in his client buying a business that was already for sale.  And the previous buyer could not finance the purchase due to a lack of good contacts.  Joe’s client closed quickly, and at a good price since the Seller was worn out dealing with the amateur. 

ABOUT US

Joe Warner began his intermediary career after owning several businesses.   On one occasion, he needed to sell a business, and used a broker.   The result was less than satisfying, and he joined a local franchise brokerage office to learn how to do it better.   That led him to the premiere organization for brokers, International Business Brokers Association (IBBA), and their sister organization M&A Source.

Of all the “customer reviews” Joe has received over the years, the one he likes best is the letter he received from a prospective buyer who decided not to buy a business.   During the interview, Joe discussed what a small business owner actually does…including making critical decisions without adequate information (without the reams of data and input of numerous experts one might have in a corporate environment…or, better yet, the ability to see the future).  This corporate executive realized he was not comfortable risking his life savings doing that.   And for many, that is the right decision.  Not everyone is cut out for business ownership.

He joined immediately, being attracted to their formal training courses and their rigorous curriculum to become a Certified Business Intermediary, which he did in record time, completing in 2003.  Only a few years later, he became one of IBBA’s  instructors for those brokerage and M&A classes…and consistently received rave reviews from his “students”.   His impetus for teaching was that he always learned something new from the collective wisdom of a class of interested brokers.

If you feel you are right for business ownership and would like to learn more about BBA,  please contact us for a no-obligation initial consultation. 

Owner, Bonner Springs Car Wash, Drew Oliver

I’m writing to express my heartfelt appreciation for the service Apex Business Brokers provided me during my recent acquisition of Bonner Springs Car Wash in Bonner Springs, Kansas. I truly feel that the credit lies squarely with Joe Warner. From our initial conversation, through the closing process, Joe was extremely professional and paramount to the success of my search. He was willing to meet with me and invest time educating me about the process, when other business brokerage firms in town were not. I’m told that most brokers shy away from unemployed individuals with no experience buying or owning a business. I’m grateful Joe did not. Joe’s willingness to go the extra mile (driving to the seller’s home after hours for needed signatures), and his polished diplomacy (soothing anxiety when our attorneys were determined to spoil the deal) has resulted in me landing my dream job…working for myself. Thank you very much Joe Warner and Apex.

Seller, Odegard Crane & Display, David S. Odegard

Dear Joe Warner….I just wanted to drop you a note to thank you for all of your support and assistance with the recent sale of our business. You brought a qualified candidate to the table, and closed the sale in a timely manner. You also did an excellent job of working closely with our attorney and our accountant to prepare and coordinate all of the necessary documents. Thank you again for your excellent work on our behalf. When we first met, you expressed confidence that a buyer would eventually be found. I was skeptical because of the number of false starts we had experienced, but you followed through and matched us up with an excellent candidate resulting in a win for everyone involved.

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