By Jon Holbert
With all the convenient means of communication and marketing available through the internet these days, we are seeing more out of state or “distant” companies pushing their products or services into every market in the nation, including business brokerage.
Sometimes distant companies seem like glamorous experts through their expensive marketing campaigns, and they can easily turn the head of a business owner who is thinking of selling. Being a small-town guy myself, I must admit that the thought has crossed my mind in the past that someone from some big city like New York, Boston or Houston must be smarter or at least more sophisticated than our local folks.
A long time ago, my dad told me “An expert is often just someone from out of town.” Time and experience have proven that to me countless times. It seems like the bigger the city they are from, the less they know about life and business in smaller “normal” places like ours. Furthermore, the expenses they endure in those big markets force them to charge more for the same product or service offered locally.
Fifteen years ago, when I began working with The CBI Team, the founder of the company (Carl Grimes) told me “All business brokerage is local.” I find that to be just as true today as it was then. Your local business broker knows their market, he/she knows the dynamics of the area, the key factors, people, and current market conditions. They know the intricacies of how to find a buyer from anywhere in the world and educate them on our local market area and the business climate. They know how to confidentially manage your transaction with professionalism and expertise that is simply not available from a distant broker. That knowledge, professionalism and expertise clearly demonstrate that, when it comes to business brokerage, the real experts are not from out of town, but simply around the corner.
