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American Business Brokers & Advisors Founder & President MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS BUSINESS VALUATIONS
JULY 2025
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What Do Business Owners Really Want?
The first thing you are probably thinking is, what a simple question this is. Business owners want to make more money. If this is what you were thinking, you would be partially right, but it is not the real reason. Making money is one of the main reasons people get into business, but ultimately, the underlying reason someone gets into business is for options — to have the option as to where they will work, whom they will work with, how the business makes them feel, and how they can make other people feel. Because if you decide to get into business rather than work for someone else, you are giving yourself the option to have more control over your future. Not complete control, because the markets will decide how much control you have, but being a business owner enhances your chances of controlling more of your future. If this is the case, then why don’t more people get into business and enjoy the many options available to them?
is okay because business is not for everybody. Another reason people don’t get into business is that they don’t know how to start or buy a business. Having sold over 900 businesses, I have a good idea of what it takes to buy a business, what pitfalls to avoid to ensure you are buying the right business for yourself, and what it takes to ensure you don’t miss something when you are buying a business and end up buying the wrong business and possibly losing your shirt. There is a process for buying a business, just like there is for selling a business. But you have to be more careful when buying a business because there is a very good chance that if you don’t follow the process, you will lose money, decrease your options going forward, and defeat the reason you were getting into business in the first place. So, how do you increase the odds that you will be successful when buying a business? You need a road map, a guide, or someone who has bought many businesses who can share with you what to do and, more importantly, what NOT to do when buying a business. Then what happens after you buy a business and you are operating the business successfully? You want to expand your business by buying more businesses of the same kind of business you are in. If you add additional businesses, you are now in the category of a multi-unit business operator, and the rules change. You are now a businessperson with multiple businesses to operate, and this is a whole different ball game. I know because I started with one retail outlet and eventually grew
it to 155 retail outlets and made every mistake you could possibly make along the way because I didn’t know how to grow a business that was scalable. I paid a lot of money in tuition along the way, learning how to operate a large number of businesses at once. I have helped hundreds of people start businesses and shared with them the do’s and don’ts of buying a business, hoping they would not make the same mistakes that I have. Take John's situation for example. When I met him, he had about 15 convenience stores and was doing well. He and his family would buy or build a store occasionally. Over time, our conversations turned to acquiring convenience stores. I worked with him and shared opportunities that allowed him to grow into a 51-convenience store chain that is now highly profitable and has broadened his family's options beyond their wildest dreams for generations to come. He learned the process of how to buy groups of convenience stores and make them very profitable in a short time after I introduced him to the power of acquisitions and what to look for in buying groups of convenience stores.
One reason people don’t decide to get into business is that they are afraid of failing. This
All of that because he learned how to buy a business the right way.
Every industry has business owners who come to a point where they want to step away from their business for many different reasons. Every industry has business owners who are looking for the opportunity to grow their business, and if done in the proper manner, it Continued on Page 3 ...
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What Are the 10 Top Deal Killers in Business?
I hate to admit this, but I am a deal junky. I love finding deals, putting deals together, and especially closing deals. I do this for a living by helping my clients find businesses they want to buy and sell. But my deal-making desires and skills go beyond just helping my clients. I love finding deals and studying deals for myself, too. In my book, “Hidden Wealth: The Secret to Getting Top Dollar for Your Business,” a ForbesBooks title, I talk about having the disease called “Dealitus,” where it was almost impossible for me to pass up a deal. It got so bad that, at one time, I owned and operated six different businesses until I got a hold of myself and finally either closed or sold them off. Since I am making true confessions about my issue with “Dealitus,” I would also like to share the Top 10 Deal Killers when putting a deal together and keeping it together to closing. 1. Unrealistic sales price. We all think our stuff is worth more than it really is. This is human nature. Since it belongs to us, we take things personally, which in our minds makes them worth more than what they are really worth. The truth of the matter is that the market dictates the value of a business, not the seller. Being unrealistic about what you want your business to be worth and what its real market value is will kill a deal. 2. Hiring an attorney who is not versed in how to treat the sale of a business. They may be a good attorney, but they may not be experienced in the buying and selling of a business; therefore, they flounder and drag the process out, heightening the chances of the sale falling through. 3. Sellers who don’t understand that the selling of a business is a process. Certain things need to be done in a specific order to complete the sale of a business, and if the seller is not willing to cooperate and follow the process, chances are that either they, the buyer, or both parties will get frustrated, and the deal falls apart.
8. Buyers or sellers applying the definition of insanity, which is continuing to do the same thing over and over and expecting different results. When you are in the process of selling your business, you must disclose everything and be honest about your business. If you have been skimming in the past, quit doing it because the buyer needs to know what they are buying, because if you are not honest about something in your business, and the buyer discovers this, they will think you are lying about some other things about your business. 9. The ‘D’ syndrome. I talk a lot about the “D” syndrome in my book, which is called death, disease, divorce, partnership dissolution, disruption in the marketplace, and my favorite one: Dumb. The “D” syndrome happens to all of us because we do not have control over it, and it is considered a significant life-impacting event. Regardless of what it is called, it can kill a deal the day before closing. I have had people have heart attacks, wives running off with the bread man before the closing, and even people dying the day before a closing. Sometimes, the deals went forward and closed, and sometimes they fell apart. The “D” syndrome was the reason. 10. Passage of time. If there is a No. 1 reason for a deal to fall apart, it would have to be the passage of time. The buyer and seller may be motivated to get a deal done, but if things drag out too long and burn up time, the buyer or seller will get frustrated and lose interest, and the deal will fall apart. Of course, there are a multitude of other reasons deals fall apart, but the 10 reasons I have listed here will kill a deal. So, be aware when working on putting your deal together, and if you are not experienced in doing a lot of deals, maybe you should find someone who has done over 900 deals and ask them for some assistance.
4. Sellers not being forthright and disclosing certain liabilities or
outstanding issues. The business, instead, tries to hide things from the buyer, which sets a bad tone with the buyer, possibly killing the deal. (I once had a seller lie about there being no competition near their business, and
when the buyer visited the location, it was obvious there was a competitor a couple of blocks away. It killed the deal.) 5. Business trends. The business experiences a downward trend in sales, either from a loss of sales, construction, or some outside event. When this happens, the business is no longer trending upward, and the sales price will trend downward. The value of the business is what it is today, not last year or next year, but now in the present. 6. Not investing in your business with the capital improvements it needs to continue to be profitable. It goes by the rule of “Pay me now or pay me later.” If you don’t pay for the capital improvements while you are operating the business, the buyer will make you pay for them with a deduction in the sale price when it comes time to close on the sale. 7. The buyer, seller, or outside parties do not understand the urgency of the transaction and are non-responsive. This happens a lot during due diligence with outside parties such as accountants, attorneys, surveyors, municipalities, etc., taking the “we will get to it approach,” and frustration sets in, thereby killing the deal.
–Terry Monroe
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SUDOKU (SOLUTION ON PG. 4) Take a Break!
Find out, with just three pieces of information about your business, how we can provide a convenience store operator with a market valuation showing what their convenience stores and businesses are worth in today’s marketplace. Best of all, it costs you nothing and it is entirely confidential. Simply send an email to Terry@TerryMonroe , and in the subject line, put “3 Point Market Valuation” Information is the key to everything. Don’t play a guessing game. Get the information you need. TERRY’S ‘3 POINT MARKET VALUATION’ TERRY’S QUOTES OF THE DAY “Everything is changing. People are taking their comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke.” –Will Rogers “Being president is like running a cemetery: You've got a lot of people under you and nobody's listening.” –Bill Clinton “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and
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remove all doubt.” –Abraham Lincoln
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is a win-win for all parties, especially the business owner who is looking to grow their business. I have worked with many business owners and helped them grow their businesses, as I did with John. If you are a convenience store owner who wants to expand your options and grow through acquisitions, send me an email to Terry@TerryMonroe with the word “ACQUISITIONS” in the subject line. You will be added to our list of buyers so when a chain of stores becomes available, you will be first on the list. –Terry Monroe
AMERICAN BICYCLE CHERRY FIREWORKS
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INSIDE 7824 Estero Blvd., 3rd Floor Fort Myers Beach, FL 33931 1 What Do Business Owners Really Want?
Sudoku Solution
What Are the 10 Top Dealer Killers in Business?
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Discover Terry’s ‘3 Point Market Valuation’
From Resource to Revenue
The Vast Value of Educated Consumers TEACH, DON’T TELL
Nobody should ever be expected to care about what you’re trying to sell them unless you educate them on why they should.
advice before a sale, as giving an interested consumer a solution in advance may lead to greater sales.
USE PICTURES OVER PARAGRAPHS. Pictures will always speak louder than words when attracting a potential sale. Studies have shown that including images in text increases a person’s ability to retain information by as much as 55%. REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE. Never neglect to acknowledge you’re a consumer yourself. What kind of marketing tends to attract your attention? When a salesperson contacts you, are you interested in learning about every facet of their company or services, or do you just want the most pertinent information that speaks to your immediate needs or interests? Consider how you’d explain what you’re selling to a neighbor or family member. Would you stuff your overview with eye-glazing industry jargon or make your words succinct and easily understood? Genuine empathy and education will always win their trust — and money — better than any flashy gimmick or overblown explanation ever could.
Capturing a consumer’s trust and loyalty is a constantly shifting goal. They are bombarded with marketing attempts virtually every moment of every day — including your competitors’ — and your costly campaign can be buried in a mountain of cyber clutter in a millisecond. How do you maneuver through the mire and capture consumers' attention? Here are three tips to help you turn your sales tactics into opportunities to train potential buyers to view you as the definitive go-to for their needs. DON’T RESIST GIVING AWAY SOME OF YOUR STORE. If you want a consumer to understand why your product is the best answer to their concerns, show them why your solution matters. Nowadays, it’s increasingly common for companies to post blogs, articles, or webinars on their websites or upload brief informational videos on YouTube offering expert tips on addressing their customer base’s areas of need. Don’t hesitate to provide free expertise and
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