Customer Reviews

Buying and Selling Businesses: Including Forms, Formulas, and Industry Secrets

5 star:		(4)
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1 star:		(3)

 

 

There are no industry secrets in this expensive and shallow little treatment of a very serious subject. There is, in fact, almost no useful information of any kind. The opening section on valuation says absolutely nothing about how valuation is done - it merely classifies types of valuation reports. This is the kind of book that might be used by a hack teacher in an introductory course at a mediocre college.

If you have an MBA from a program worth anything, you could totally skip this book. And if you don't have an MBA, do not look for this book to give you any technical skills anyway. This books does, however, serve as a pretty good checklist of best practices in managing and marketing your business and a checklist of things to avoid. To that end, this book's title should read something like "Top 10 ways to..." or some other elementary name and should cost about $10.

This is definitely not a reference or text book or technical guide as the price suggests, and only confirmed my belief that this industry is not that complicated at all for those with a top MBA or those who have any knowledge of investment banking, venture capital, or any subset of elementary valuation skills.

I guess because of the high number of certifications touted by the author and the industry associations, I bought into that fact that this industry somehow may require more technical skills than what is tought in a basic MBA finance or valuation course or more soft skills than any other entreprenuer needs. But I was wrong. This industry just seems to require, based on this book, a first level MBA finance course (reading financial statements, calculating relevant cashflows by undertanding and crosswalking net income to free cash flow, and discounting at the appropriate rate) and general entreprenuerial skills.

For non-MBA's I would recommend buying specific books covering the two subjects in depth rather than one that barely touches on the surface of each.

For my fellow MBA's and for those who've studied finance and entreprenuership in depth, I would recommend thumbing through only the 10 or 20 pages in the book that include checklists and forms just to validate that you are headed in the right direction. These 10 or 20 pages are not worth $100, so buy it used for as cheap as possible.

This book just does not seem to get to the heart of the matter. I was looking for an indepth guide to the buying and selling of businesses. This fell well short of my expectations and I am sure most professionals will be thoroughly disappointed. The chapter on business valuations is a joke, and the chapter on "Steps to find buyers and sellers" is even worse.

Having been in the business brokerage industry for 14 years, it was very refreshing to read someone who has a clear picture of what a broker should do, and how to do it. Also, the importance of an appraisal was made perfectly obvious. As a matter of fact since I learned the necessity of an appraisal in order complete a rational transaction, I will not accept a listing assignment with my client unless and until an appraisal is completed and they agree to offer their business at the appraised value. If they are unwilling to work with me in this manner, I wish them luck and I go to the next seller. And I offer them the names of several other brokers who will do it the seller's way. I certainly won't.

Using this simple procedure results in my selling 4 out of 5 of every listing I get. I don't waste weeks and months, as do other brokers, trying to sell something that is over priced and won't sell at the price the seller thinks it is worth. Why all of the brokers I know use this old fashioned outdated and time wasting procedure, I cannot understand. What they all do is to ask the seller what he/she wants, and then hurry up to sign the listing. When they have 20 of these kinds of listings, they are lucky if they sell a few and it is no wonder that a score of one sale for every 4-6 listings is the norm for the business brokerage industry. Thank you Mr. Bumstead for saving me weeks of wasted time and money and for allowing me to concentrate my valuable time with sellers who understand the logic of a fair market appraisal before going to the market place with their business. It is the only way to go. Without this simple concept from Bumstead, I would not be the successful and happy business brokerage consultant I am today.

I spent a career as a banker and during that time I saw many people attempt to enter and exit business ownership. In doing so, most of these people contacted a real estate or business broker for guidance. Unfortunately the majority of the buyers and sellers encounter brokers who know little more than they do about such transactions. This book gives everyone involved in the transaction the guidance they need. It should be used as the Bible in business transfer transactions and every business owner should refer to it regularly as a guide for planning for that eventual exit.

A well written and professional work, valuable to the novice and professional alike. I found particularly useful the chapter on "Finding Buyers and Sellers". I can see already how this information will increase my income this year.

I have been in the industry as a professional for several years and was looking for something to use as a practical guide for my office. This book has served the purpose very well. I have also heard Mr. Bumstead speak to an industry meeting where he was received very well. The purchase of this book was money well spent!