Strong Demand for Georgia Businesses

Strong Demand for Southeast US Businesses

Atlanta - There has been a considerable amount of publicity over the last twenty four months talking about a large-scale baby boomer exit creating a significant number of small businesses for sale as these baby boomers seek to retire. Depending upon the publication, I have seen some numbers as high as 750,000 businesses owned by baby boomers coming on the market in the next several years. Should this figure be accurate, it would represent a fifteen-fold increase from 2001. Proponents of this phenomenon project that selling a business at a good price will be more of a challenge given that fewer “X Generation” buyers will be available.

While this scenario will likely have an impact on the market, I would not anticipate it to be across the board. Owners of profitable and successful companies with a track record of earnings and growth with well organized and clean financial statements, will be better positioned than most. Advanced planning, with an exit strategy in place, will be necessary to maximize the value of these transactions, and therefore, it would be highly advised, for owners to engage a business broker or experienced transaction team at an early stage. Business buyers in today’s market are very competent and sophisticated, placing even more emphasis on advanced planning and the necessity to secure appropriate representation from an organization that is capable of properly valuing the company and has the expertise to develop a comprehensive marketing plan, and pre-qualify buyers, all in the strictest of confidence.

It is clear that activity in the Southeast region will remain strong over the next several decades and I can definitely appreciate the significant interest in buying a business here, having lived in a majority of the states including Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, & Georgia. The low cost of living, mild climate, and exceptional fundamentals for small businesses in this region, has created a significant interest from private equity groups, entrepreneurs, and corporations seeking to acquire market share or enlarge their footprint. The increasing demand for purchasing a profitable, small businesses was a key ingredient to the phenomenal year that ENLIGN had in 2009 finishing with a record value and number of transactions. While the overall economy is still recovering from the economic slowdown, the ENLIGN model of coupling an experienced business transaction team and professional partner program with a proprietary marketing methodology proved very successful and resulted in a record amount of business. The successful company’s represented by ENLIGN was key component to our success. ENLIGN’s model of representing privately-held, profitable business with sales revenues in excess of 1 million dollars enables us to represent highly successful businesses who, in many cases, are the leaders in the industry. There is a large group of potential acquirers seeking to purchase profitable and successful businesses here in the Southeast and, especially during a generally poor economic time, the good businesses really stand out. ENLIGN’s proprietary database of qualified buyers in addition to our well regarded network of industry partners remains instrumental in completing successful business transactions.

About the Author:

Michael Fekkes is a Senior Broker at ENLIGN Business Brokers in Nashville, TN. Michael is a Certified Business Intermediary CBI®, a member of the International Business Brokers Association IBBA®, as well as a former business owner. He can be reached at 615.535.1150 or mfekkes@enlign.com. ENLIGN Business Brokers (www.enlign.com) is a Professional Services Firm serving the Southeast that is headquartered in Raleigh, NC with regional offices in Nashville, TN and Atlanta, GA. providing business intermediary services ranging from valuation and sale to exit & succession planning strategies.
Posted on:
Wednesday, July 28, 2010 10:07 AM