On Monday, January 12, 2009 King & King Business Advisors will launch an agressive advertising program never before seen in the business brokerage community. With help from the professionals at WMAL Radio in Washington D,C, King & King has created a series of radio commercials designed to reach out to business sellers and business buyers. Additionally, ads will be aired to reach out to those that business sellers and business buyers count on for guidance and advice ie, attorneys, accountants, bankers, etc.

King & King’s first ad features their CBI certified brokers status, experience and proven ten step marketing program. To listen to the first ad click on this link. WMAL 630 Radio ad

July 18, 2008, Woodbine, Maryland

Mr. James M. King, President and Founder of King & King Business Advisors, is proud to announce that Mssrs. Wayne and Mark Kraus have joined the firm to form a new industry specific consulting and sales group which will work exclusively with the owner’s of Bowling, Skating, Arcade, and other Recreation related businesses assisting them in developing successful succession plans and implementing business process improvements to make their businesses more profitable and increase their equity value.

Wayne Kraus has been in the Bowling & Family Entertainment business as an owner and operator in the mid-atlantic region for over forty (40) years. Most recently Wayne was the owner of Thunderhead Lanes Bowl & Grill located in Taneytown, Maryland. In December of 2007 ,with King & King’s assistance, Wayne sold Thunderhead in a multi-million dollar transaction to a local entrepreneur. After a short period of rest and relaxation Wayne has now decided to go back to work helping other center owners to increase their gross sales, drive down expenses and build real equity value. Additionally, Wayne will be traveling throughout the region working with center owners to find suitable buyers for their businesses.

Mark Kraus has also worked several years in the industry, most recently serving as the General Manager of Thunderhead Lanes Bowl & Grill. Mark has a firm grasp on the day-to-day operations of the business and an uncanny understanding of the market and the consumer. Additionally, Mark turned a profit above and beyond industry standards and benchmarks year in and year out. Mark will be working with Wayne on consulting engagements and assisting buyers and sellers with transactions.

Welcome aboard Wayne and Mark, may our association last a long time and bring many valueable services to our Entertainment Industry clients.

What Do Business Brokers Do? (excerpted from Volume 8, Issue 13, IBBA Weekly Communication for April 8, 2008)

Shari Bayne, CBB, CBI
Vanguard Resource Group, San Diego CA
Over the years, I’ve run into many women who are intimidated by the fact that the majority of business brokers are male. They seem to think that just because they are female, they are at a disadvantage in business brokerage. As a result of this widespread point of view, “Women’s Forums” have been formed in both IBBA and CABB; forums created, I guess, to help us poor, disadvantaged female brokers compete with the vast army of bullying male business brokers.

Enough of this nonsense. Is business brokerage really different for women than for men? I’ve given this much thought, and after looking back at my experiences in this industry, I’ve come to the conclusion that women actually possess more innate skills for successful business brokerage than men do.

I’ve been asked by many people, what it takes to be a successful business broker. We all know there’s no college degree that you can obtain for this career, so what does it take to be successful? By looking at what we do every day, we can get insight into what it takes to be successful. Here’s my list of what a business broker does:

Prospects for listings

Presents brokerage services to business owners

Assists the business owner with appropriate pricing

Lists the business for sale

Prepares a professional offering package to marketplace

Interviews and qualifyies potential buyers

Presents the business to potential buyers

Assists with an offer to purchase

Helps the business owner to evaluate offers

Organizes the due diligence process

Follows through to a success closing and transfer

To sell a business, the broker must first find a business owner who wants to sell; convince the owner that they have the ability to assist them; help the owner price the business; prepare the marketing package; and, then market the business to prospective buyers. When a buyer has been identified, the broker should be able to assist the buyer and seller in the negotiation of a purchase contract and assist both parties in the due diligence and closing procedures. All of this can be done successfully if the broker has the ability to listen to and understand the motivation of both the seller and the buyer. And ladies, let’s face it, we are the communication experts. While our male counterparts may be able to grunt and groan out the latest scores in the NFL better than we can, we are the masters of person-to-person talk.

So, since we know we’re the best communicators out there, let’s look at the entire skill set needed for business brokerage to see if we lack anything in other areas. Here’s my list of needed skills:

Sales and marketing skills

Persistence

People skills (communication, empathy and listening)

Problem solving

Honesty and trustworthiness

Organization skills and attention to details

Life experiences and a willingness to learn

Every broker should implement a marketing plan to target potential business sellers, and persistence in required; the phone won’t ring simply because you have made the choice to become a business broker. If there are problems with the business, the broker should be able to understand them fully to ascertain whether or not these problems can be overcome. The broker should possess the quality of honesty, and use it to confront issues and resolve them. And, finally, all successful business brokers must have organizational skills and be able to pay close attention to the details of any deal.

No offense, men, but I think that the typical woman in business excels in persistence, honesty and organizational skills.

It’s also certainly true that a successful business broker should have a background in business ownership, business management, business financial management and/or business sales and marketing. Fortunately, our society has given us women many opportunities to gain these business skills over the years. And, in addition, there numerous opportunities for anyone - male or female - to get training in key areas of business brokerage through CABB and IBBA. So, if you are a woman who might has excellent sales and marketing skills, but don’t know much about business financials or business management, the doors are open for you to get training.

So in closing, I have just this to say: Ladies, start your engines! Let’s go out and show the industry how good we are at being successful business brokers.

In a very recent report published by the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy it was determined that people/households that owned small businesses were much more likely to be high income earners and high wealth holders than people not owning businesses. The report takes a good hard look at the question of; How did these households fare from 1989 - 2004? There is a huge amount of good information in this 50+ page report that everyone considering an entreprenurial venture should read.   Click here for more.

Changing jobs can be one of the most stressful events in life, but it also can be an exciting opportunity to pursue one’s dreams and ambitions. If you are a baby boomer, how do you know if a second career might be right for you? Take this Second Career Test that was published in an article on Newsweek’s online magazine to see if a second career is right for you.  Navigate to the link below and click the “Launch” button in the bottom left corner of the picture.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13233137/site/newsweek/

June 11, 2006 - Starting Fresh

For many boomers, retirement will be the perfect time to begin a second career. Some of the most popular fields, according to a recent survey:

27% - Consultant

20% - Teacher or Professor

15% - Customer Greeter

13% - Tour Guide

13% - Retail Sales Clerk

10% - Auditor or Bookkeeper

10% - Home Handyman

9% - B& B Owner/Manager

8% - Security Screener

7% - Real Estate Agent

Source:  2006 Merrill Lynch New Retirement Study