Eric Gagnon, Restaurant Broker and Founder of We Sell Restaurants, appeared on AtlantaBusiness Radio last week to discuss the pathway to business ownership.  The host, Elizabeth Gordon pulled together a team of experts from the Georgia Association of Business Brokers to  outline the steps in buying a business and the resources available to potential buyers and sellers.  He was part of a panel of business brokers assembled for the Burr Forman's Results Matter Radio show.

At Eric remarked on the show, buying a restaurant may be more difficult than purchasing other types of businesses since there are "hundreds of moving parts to do a deal."  A good broker can make sure it's priced correctly and at the same time doesn't "leave money on the table."

Kathryne Pusch remarked that one of the reasons she enjoys business brokerage is that she, in her words,  I enjoy working with small business owners because you get to meet face to face with people making the decisions and whose life you are really impacting."

As these brokers noted, most business owners don't think about all the things you have to think about in selling a business and business brokers serve a real purpose in helping to transition the ownership.   

One question posed by the host was around licensing and whether you need a Georgia real estate license to sell a business.  The answer, per Kathryn Pusch, is clearly, yes.  In her words, "By law, in Georgia, You do have to be real estate licensed to be a business broker.  even a lease is real property in Georgia....It does require a licensed broker to manage that."

The entire podcast is available at this link. 

Gagnon, the only restaurant business broker on the panel replied to a variety of questions that buyers and sellers may have.  He was joined by Kathryn Pusch, President of ConsultKAP, Inc. and Mike McManus, also with ConsultKap.

What is the value of working with a GABB broker in the transaction?  As these brokers said, "The GABB is the state professional association for people who are serious about their business.

www.Gabb.org is a great place to find listings of businesses for sale by Georgia Association of Business Brokers. 

Gagnon reminded the audience that "There are a lot of listings out there that sound too good to be true."   A good broker will ask you for many documents before they list your business to show the true value of the business before listing it.

Kathryn is a seasoned professional consultant and broker.  She is also the 2003 past-President of GABB, the Georgia Association of Business Brokers, and has been active on Board and leadership positions in GABB since 1998. She has extensive formal education, including a BS in Marketing and Marketing Research and an MBA.

Mike MacManus is a Business Transition Specialist with ConsultKAP. His career experiences have included Business Planning, Marketing and Sales positions within a range of companies including Fortune 500 corporations such as Glaxo SmithKline, BellSouth, Anheuser Busch and The Coca- Cola Company. Mike is a current board member with the Georgia Association of Business Brokers.

Eric Gagnon is the founder and President of We Sell Restaurants and wesellrestaurants.com. He is the nation’s leading restaurant broker. Eric is an industry expert in restaurant sales and valuation. He is a frequent speaker and writer for the restaurant industry and hosted a restaurant brokerage segment on Atlanta radio for a number of years. Eric is co-author of Appetite for Acquisition, a book on restaurant brokerage published in 2012 and named “Best of 2012” by Small Business Book Awards.

Eric is the 2011 Past President of the Georgia Association of Business Brokers and Lifetime Member of the Million Dollar Club. He is a member of the International Business Brokers Association, Business Brokers of Florida and the International Franchise Association. Eric is licensed as a Broker in both Georgia and Florida. He holds degrees from major universities in both the United States and Canada.

The business brokers were joined on the panel by Harvey Daniels, of Burr and Forman where he practices in the business section, with an emphasis on corporate law and business planning, including contract and document review and drafting.