The Broward County and South Florida Chamber of Commerce has teamed up with Sunbelt Business Brokers of South Florida. Whether your buying or selling a business, you now have the power of one of the largest Chambers of Commerce in the nation with the largest Business Brokerage Network in the nation. Beginning with this issue, we will be offering helpful articles on the buying and selling of businesses in South Florida for business owners and prospective owners.

Sunbelt Business Brokers have always put great effort into the buyer interview process. Screening and educating buyers is a very important piece in the business brokerage puzzle.

Most buyers have a distorted idea of how to buy a business. The business broker takes the buyer interview as an opportunity to make some very important points regarding the business buying process. It is critical that a buyer, looking to buy a privately owned business, remembers that a business owner runs the business to best suit his or her personal needs. Financial decisions are not always made to "improve the balance sheet", but are made most likely to increase the net cash in the owner's pocket!

In our view, the most important things a buyer must understand are:

1.The financial statements of privately owned businesses are the result of the owner's personal decisions and are usually done to minimize the impact of income taxes and maximize the cash in the owner's pocket. They are never prepared to maximize the amount of tax owed!

2.Small business owners are cautious about revealing their financial records until they know that they have a bona fide buyer interested in purchasing their business. That usually means that earnest money has to be put in escrow before the seller will release all of his financial data.

3.Making an offer to purchase is not a final act - it is one of many steps on the way to buying the business. Making an offer is like asking someone out on a date - it is not asking someone to marry you.

4.The buyer will be protected by contingencies in the "Offer To Purchase" contract that effectively allows withdrawal of the offer at any time for most reasons. The deposit is generally fully refundable until the buyer indicates that closing documents are to be prepared.

5. An initial, open and honest discussion between the broker and the buyer will assist the broker in matching the buyer with business opportunities that will suit the buyer's temperament, desire and check book. This discussion will also help to educate the buyer in assessing the facts, as presented by sellers, and allow the buyer to make an educated decision on the various business opportunities available.