Latest / The Inspired Stories Podcast / Brad Scoffin on Why Baby Boomer Business Owners Are Running Out of Time to Plan Their Exit

Transcript

Brad Scoffin on Why Baby Boomer Business Owners Are Running Out of Time to Plan Their Exit · The Inspired Stories Podcast

0:04
Welcome. To another edition of the
0:06
Inspired Stories podcast where leaders share their experiences
0:10
so we can learn from their successes and be inspired by how
0:14
they've overcome adversity. My name is Anthony Kotaspodi and
0:17
today's guest is E Brad Scoffin, principal and business broker
0:21
with Advanced Business Brokers. Headquartered in Portage, MI,
0:25
the firm guides owners in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and
0:29
California through the sale or purchase of companies earning
0:33
between 1:00 and $100 million. Their services cover exit
0:37
planning, business valuation and full service M&A support.
0:42
Founded in 2016, Advanced Business Brokers has quickly
0:45
become the trusted partner for sellers in manufacturing,
0:48
distribution, IT, retail and franchise resales.
0:53
Brad is currently the President of the West Chapter of the
0:56
Michigan Brokers Association. Before joining the brokerage
1:00
world, he built skills in financial advisory and
1:03
commercial real estate and served as state president for
1:06
the Michigan Association of Health Underwriters.
1:10
His mix of valuation, know how and community networking has
1:13
earned him more than a dozen LinkedIn recommendations and a
1:17
reputation as steady guide through complex transitions.
1:21
Now, before we get into all that good stuff, today's episode is
1:24
brought to you by my company, Mad Back Benefits Agency.
1:27
Listen, if you run a business, you are likely stuck in the
1:30
cycle of rising insurance premiums.
1:32
You're paying more, but your team is getting less, and many
1:35
people can't afford coverage at all.
1:37
We do things differently. We offer a solution that
1:40
provides your employees with unlimited access to doctors,
1:43
therapists, and prescriptions. That's always free for them to
1:47
access, but here's where you really need to pay attention.
1:51
Unlike every other employee benefit out there, our program
1:54
leverages different insurance frameworks to put more money
1:57
into your company's bank account.
1:59
As an example, we recently helped the client increase net
2:03
profits by $900 per employee per year.
2:06
Results vary, but the consultation is free.
2:09
Imagine being the advisor that becomes a hero by introducing
2:13
this to your clients. See if they qualify today at Add
2:16
Back benefits.com. All right, back to our guest
2:19
today, Co founder of Advanced business Brokers Bow Tie Brad
2:23
Scoffin. Thanks for making the time to
2:25
Share your story today. Well, thanks for having me,
2:27
Tony. I appreciate it.
2:29
So let's talk about the bow tie. For folks that are just on the
2:32
audio version, you got to run over to YouTube or to our
2:36
website to see the video. This is Brad's signature.
2:40
It's on his LinkedIn profile. Everywhere he goes, he's got a
2:42
bow tie on. How'd this get started?
2:45
You know, I, the world I grew up in and financial services grew
2:48
up, you know, wearing ties, Sport coat and ties, suit and
2:50
ties, depending on which firm and when I moved into this world
2:55
on the business brokerage, the clientele that I'm working with,
2:58
typically the owners are, you know, manufacturing, don't want
3:01
to see a guy in a suit and tie, but I like being dressed up.
3:05
So the bow tie kind of works in both camps.
3:07
I get to look professional and having a professional attire get
3:12
a bit of whimsy when I walk into Home Depot, even though people
3:15
always say, oh, I love the bow tie, I never got comments like
3:18
that when I just wore a regular tie.
3:20
But with the bow tie, it kind of breaks down barriers, yet still
3:24
as a professional look. So I started that about 10 years
3:27
ago and it is my signature look. And as you kind of alluded to,
3:32
I've now got the nickname of Bow Tie Brad.
3:36
That's great, and I understand that you've locked down a
3:39
domain, a domain name and an e-mail address that are
3:43
associated with this branding. Huh.
3:45
Yeah, I had a guy that was a, you know, a creative marketing
3:49
guy that showed me this one. He said, hey, bow tie brad.com
3:52
is available. If you don't buy it, I will and
3:54
I'll come back and sell it to you.
3:55
So yeah, I I locked that down and now I have an e-mail of Brad
3:59
at Bow Tie brad.com and and people that look that up can it
4:03
goes back to my regular website. That's good.
4:06
So yeah, let's talk about this diverse background that you've
4:09
got 'cause, you know, before we kind of get into the business
4:12
brokerage world, you were previously a financial advisor,
4:15
Morgan Stanley, then got into insurance with Colonial Life,
4:19
then TPA work, third party administrator work with Core
4:23
Source. What first kind of attracted you
4:25
into the insurance base? Well, so I, I've always been in
4:30
financial services sales, but I like working business to
4:33
business. So that's where my, so even at
4:35
Morgan Stanley, I did a lot of stock options, stock purchase,
4:39
pension work. And then I had a friend recruit
4:41
me away from that that was on the health and welfare side of
4:44
benefits. And that was my world in
4:46
colonial life. And then again, the TPA was
4:49
large group self funded insurance plans.
4:52
So worked in that realm, worked with business owners.
4:55
So I always like working with business owners and finding
4:58
solutions to, to help them, you know, navigate whatever world
5:02
that they were trying to navigate in.
5:04
And the employee benefit world was a wonderful place to be
5:07
because it was kind of a win for both sides.
5:11
So how long did you stay in that space before you kind of
5:17
migrated into what you're doing now?
5:19
I was at Morgan Stanley for 10 years and then in the health and
5:24
welfare side of benefits insurance for various carriers
5:27
for 15. It's a long time.
5:31
Yeah. What did you love so much about
5:33
the space? Well, he saw in my world in
5:36
working that world. I always liked again, one
5:41
residual income is a great thing.
5:43
So I like building up a book of business where I could then work
5:47
with clients. It wasn't about just I got need
5:49
to sell something to to survive. I've got other income coming in,
5:52
so I could do right solutions with people.
5:55
And then in the my move from Morgan Stanley to the insurance
5:58
side of employee benefits, I learned fast that we used to
6:03
call it the split is the wind. So collaborating with others and
6:07
a lot of my work happened through other insurance agents.
6:10
So I was more on the carrier side, helping bring solutions to
6:13
their clients. And that again, that
6:15
relationship and working collaborative was a lot of fun
6:18
for me. So it wasn't that I had to just,
6:20
you know, smile and dial kind of thing.
6:22
I actually built relationships with other trusted advisors to
6:26
bring solutions to their clients.
6:27
So that to me was fun. The split is that.
6:30
How'd you put that? What was the?
6:32
Split's the wind. So if I, if I can help you bring
6:35
a solution to your client and I get paid on it, but you also get
6:39
paid on it too. We're splitting, you know,
6:42
revenue streams, if you will, but I'm but providing solutions
6:45
and then splitting the revenue stream.
6:47
It's a win, win on, you know, for both of those kinds of
6:49
things. It's after a win, win, win if
6:51
we're doing something right for the client.
6:53
Now before we get into the business brokerage work that
6:56
you're doing now, I'd be curious to hear about a challenging work
7:00
experience that took place before that taught you a lesson
7:05
that you still carry with you today, Brad.
7:09
You know, there's been, obviously there's been so many,
7:14
you know, a couple right off the bat when I first got, I work for
7:19
Morgan Stanley right out of college.
7:21
And so being young and, and things like that, it was a
7:25
wonderful experience, but I had to get over, hey, you're just
7:28
young. I don't want to trust you with
7:29
my money. And so I learned early in life
7:33
to build those relationships with trusted advisors and work
7:38
that route. It was definitely a slower route
7:40
to building that business. But, you know, getting to know
7:44
different attorneys, Cpas, bankers, things like that, that
7:48
could help me overcome that. Because again, as somebody who's
7:50
young and 20 and I'm talking to somebody who's got, you know,
7:53
$510,000,000, to have them have me control that, you know, you
7:58
have to, how do you find to give yourself credibility right away?
8:02
And that's carried me through all, all of my career paths is
8:05
I've always built my businesses on relationships with other
8:09
trusted advisors. And so that's, yeah, because it
8:13
was a struggle right away to build business.
8:15
But when I left Morgan Stanley, I had about 300 million under
8:20
management. A lot of it was pension, pension
8:23
work and it was definitely hard to leave, but it yeah, it was
8:28
the right thing to do. I don't regret it at all and it
8:32
allowed me to do, you know, open up other avenues when I went
8:35
into the insurance side. Is that why you say it was the
8:39
right thing to do? Because it opened a a better,
8:41
bigger door for you. Yeah, just the the opportunities
8:46
that it opened up and it it allowed me to again, I probably
8:51
should have left Morgan Stanley a few years earlier.
8:55
Maybe I would still be in financial services in that
8:58
realm. I wanted to be out of that
9:00
corporate structure where they the way that they had and be in
9:05
in the box that they needed me to be.
9:07
Not that it's a bad company, it's a great company, but I like
9:11
the freedom flexibility of building my own business.
9:13
And so it was kind of a stepping stone.
9:16
Morgan Stanley was still I got to run it my way within the W2
9:20
world. Then I went more 1099 building
9:23
my own structure for a corporation, and then the last
9:27
chapter where I'm at now, it's completely my own and it's all
9:33
been about the same because it's all self-employed from the way
9:36
the income comes in. So let's talk about why you've
9:40
made that most recent transition 'cause, you know, you were in
9:43
the insurance space for years, you'd built up lots of
9:46
relationships, good book of business domain expertise.
9:50
What was behind the decision to go into something new?
9:53
Well, it was actually a a forced transition.
9:58
Again, this is one of those things with corporate.
10:01
I was part of a group where I was in outside sales covering
10:05
three different States and they decided to change from we had
10:08
four of us in several states covering large territories and
10:13
they went from outside sales to inside sales, you know,
10:17
basically waiting for the phone to ring big since changed back,
10:21
but they eliminated the sales force, the outside sales people.
10:26
And and so that was, you know, a great company as far as they
10:29
gave me a great transition package to figure out what I was
10:32
doing next. And then I was being courted by
10:34
payroll companies, financial services companies, other
10:37
insurance companies. And a friend introduced me to my
10:40
partner Larry, who's been doing business valuations and
10:44
brokerage for several years before that.
10:48
But it was a one man show and my heart and again, my faith, God
10:53
just opened up the doors and it was the right place for me to go
10:57
because I've always been entrepreneurial in the way that
11:00
run things. And so it was a definitely a
11:03
leap of faith because here I'm going from all these other jobs
11:06
had some benefits packages, things like that.
11:10
And at that time in my life of I had just gone through
11:13
unfortunately divorce and you know, I needed stability.
11:17
And yet what am I going to do? I'm going to go and do something
11:20
where it's like, you know, there there's no guarantee of a
11:24
paycheck. There's and it's the best
11:26
decision I ever made. It's interesting.
11:29
I mean it's, it's not totally foreign.
11:32
You know, you had a lot of experience in wealth management,
11:34
you had experience in insurance and I don't know the depth of
11:38
the insurance products that you're in, but sometimes, you
11:40
know, those are treated as financial instruments.
11:42
But to business brokerage in particular, what drew you to
11:46
that space? I I get that you're
11:48
entrepreneurial and so doing your own thing was really
11:50
attractive, but what specifically about brokering
11:53
businesses? Well, again, I always liked
11:56
working with business owners and finding solutions and with this
12:02
world of business brokerage, especially now the, the people
12:06
that are baby boomers and they're calling it, you know,
12:09
the silver tsunami. If you've ever heard that term,
12:12
it's amazing how many get to the end and haven't done anything to
12:16
plan. And so just being able to help,
12:19
you know, a lot of these small business owners as small as a
12:21
relative term, but they get there and they, this is
12:26
everything that they put all their blood, sweat and tears in.
12:29
They don't have. It's the retirement nest egg or
12:32
it's a large portion of that. And again, I have a passion for
12:36
just getting the word out to so that they make better decisions
12:39
so that they can actually have better outcomes, better success
12:43
and a better transition. And so with that, when I did my
12:46
research, again, it was scary to go work with Larry because the
12:50
other offers that were coming in had a little bit more stability
12:53
to it, but I just could see where this was going.
12:57
One of the things that I've done, some leadership training,
13:00
I've done the, it was a Gallup strength finders test.
13:03
And one of my biggest strengths that I score on is strategic.
13:08
So I, I can see 3 or 4 steps down the road a lot of the
13:11
times. And I just knew where this was
13:13
going and where my heart was taking me.
13:16
And yeah, it's just, it's a wonderful place to be, to be
13:19
able to talk to business owners and be on a soft sell approach.
13:23
I can't. I'm not here to force anybody to
13:24
sell their business. But if I can help educate them
13:27
and then they find me to be a valuable resource and add value
13:30
to what they're trying to accomplish, that's just a SOAP
13:33
reward. So let's hear more about what it
13:37
is you guys do because, you know, advanced business brokers,
13:40
obviously you're brokering businesses, you're helping folks
13:42
sell their businesses. But you know what you're talking
13:45
about in terms of clients need to really plan years in advance
13:51
for whatever that transition is, whether they're going to sell
13:54
the business, whether they're going to, you know, pass it on
13:56
to family members. It sounds like you guys are
13:59
getting a lot more into advisory roles rather than just like Yep,
14:04
here, let me list your business for you.
14:06
So we are very transactional just to take a step back from
14:10
that. But I like identifying where
14:13
they need to be and where they're how they can get there.
14:16
And then I have lots of people that I have connections with
14:19
other trusted advisors that will do that consulting and help them
14:24
achieve those, putting in the right management team, growing
14:27
certain things, putting in process development and putting
14:31
in all the pieces to make them more transferable.
14:34
But we've looked at bringing that in house and really we
14:39
stuck to hey, we'll help them with establishing where there's
14:42
value, where there's holes, tell them where they can go get it
14:45
fixed. And then when they're ready,
14:47
we'll help them then create that buying pool for us, the best
14:51
client when they're ready to sell.
14:54
It's not, hey, I want to sell this as fast as I can for the
14:56
most money, making bad decisions when those are the two drivers
15:01
versus the the client that says, hey, I'm ready to retire.
15:04
I want to make sure my employees are taken care of.
15:07
I want to make sure our clients are well taken care and there's
15:09
a positive impact or neutral impact in the community.
15:13
And I want a fair price. That's a wonderful flight.
15:17
And so if we can help just bring that awareness.
15:20
And that's what I love. I, I'm not here to pressure
15:23
anybody to sell. I am, you know, it always breaks
15:26
my heart when I have to tell them, but baby's ugly because
15:29
they're ready to sell them. They haven't done anything to to
15:31
make it better, but there's just so much that can be done it it's
15:36
amazing the little work. The the, the biggest thing that
15:40
that's required in making that work worthwhile is time.
15:44
You can't, you know, it's not like selling a house where you
15:47
can slap a new coat of paint on, clean up the yard, maybe spruce
15:50
up the bathroom and you get top dollar with a business.
15:54
It's about cleaning up the books.
15:55
That's their curb appeal. It's about putting in structure
15:59
as far as processes and having a team.
16:03
And that's the two things that drive the value of a business
16:05
down is the owner is usually too big a part of the business.
16:09
It's OK to make the decisions and control the business.
16:13
But when daily operations are dependent upon the owner and the
16:17
owners got their hand in everything, it makes it harder
16:20
to transition and and or to sell for top dollar.
16:23
And then the other one is just clean books and we can get it.
16:25
I'm not talking about, you know, that they're doing things
16:28
illegal, but there are things that can be done in the way that
16:32
you run a business on the books that I get it.
16:35
Small business owners don't want to pay taxes, but it's not
16:38
necessary running a business to be tax efficient versus to build
16:42
wealth and to build it an exit. They're they're at odds with
16:47
each other more often than not. So I think what you're saying in
16:50
that last part there, Brad, is, you know, sometimes very rarely
16:55
a a small business owner is going to you know, put something
16:58
as a business expense that maybe wasn't just to be more tax
17:02
efficient there. And when you do that, yes, it
17:05
does save you on taxes now, but the valuation of the business is
17:09
going to be based on those tax returns, right, The net income
17:12
that you showed on those tax returns.
17:14
And so taking that right off now is going to affect your
17:17
valuation later. Right.
17:19
It's absolutely that way. Cash flow and what's your
17:21
profitability on tax returns is the starting now everybody wants
17:25
it to be a simple math formula. What's my multiple and I
17:28
multiply this number by this number that's not see how it
17:31
works because you could take again, I like using houses as an
17:35
example. All understand it.
17:37
You can take 2 houses in the same neighborhood, same square
17:39
footage. Maybe it was a you know, same
17:42
design exactly. And yet one will sell for 30%
17:45
more than the other one because hey, it on the inside, it's got
17:50
all new Windows and all new floors and it's clean and what
17:53
the other one you'd go inside and it's got holes in wall and
17:55
mold growing and you know, there's, there's different
17:58
things for. So from the outside they might
18:00
look the same. So just looking at a financial
18:03
statement is just a starting point.
18:06
But you're right. They, you know, will get
18:08
business owners that will buy lots of equipment to be able to
18:11
depreciate it fastly because that's, you know, they get to
18:14
the end of the year and they have this big tax burden in the
18:16
account for not any bad. But the client says I don't want
18:21
to pay taxes. Well, here's how you can do
18:23
that. Buy some more equipment.
18:24
Appreciate it. Well, but if you don't need that
18:27
equipment as a buyer, I don't know if you need that.
18:30
So buyers are going to look at it through a different lens.
18:35
And so if there's just ways to clean those books up.
18:37
And yeah, there are sometimes where we get some creative
18:40
accounting where things might even not have been reasonable to
18:44
put through, but it it lessens the tax burden.
18:49
So OK, clean books, setting it up so it's not so reliant on the
18:54
owner going forward. Those are two big ones.
18:57
What are some other low hanging fruit that folks should do as
19:00
they prepare for a transition? Well, the the things that you
19:04
know, drive the value of a business, really it comes down
19:08
to two things, cash flow, you know, profitability.
19:11
So anything you can do to improve profits, you can do
19:14
that. Some with cost savings, there's
19:15
other and or just growing the business through growth.
19:18
And the other item, which is a big catch all is risk.
19:22
And most business owners don't think there's any risk in their
19:24
business. And risk, just like consequences
19:27
can be a positive or a negative. There can be positive risks.
19:30
You're in an industry that's exploding and, and growing, you
19:33
know, AI or managed. It is just, you know, growing
19:36
exponentially right now. But risks can be also negative.
19:40
And sometimes there are things that you can control and
19:42
sometimes not. COVID created a lot of risks,
19:45
especially for for restaurants and, and things like that.
19:48
So a buyer or somebody that's going to operate a business net
19:52
is going to look at it. What are the risks?
19:55
Again, one of those just that we went through was the business
19:58
owner is too big a part of the business.
20:01
If the business owner wants to just turn over the keys and
20:04
leave next week and all that institutional knowledge leaves
20:07
with him, all the relationships leaves with him, that's a huge
20:10
risk for me, the buyer. So I have to I have to mitigate
20:14
or I have to protect against that risk.
20:16
Some of it will be done through structure, Some of it is based
20:20
on hey, it's the only way to protect on them is, is price.
20:23
So all of that stuff gets factored in.
20:26
But most business owners I talked to never think there's
20:29
any risk in their business. And just in small business
20:32
world, those that are under 10 million in revenue, just being
20:36
small has lots of risks, whether hey, if you lose a couple of key
20:40
employees or if you lose a key client.
20:43
So de risking the business. Look at your customer base.
20:47
Do you have customers, two or three of them that are, you
20:49
know, that are more than 50% of your business, doesn't mean get
20:53
rid of them or shrink them, but you got to grow the others
20:56
because that concentration issue.
20:58
Or do you have concentration issues?
21:00
Do you have one employee that you rely on that fixes
21:04
everything, but nobody else knows how because he's got the
21:06
magic sauce or what happens when he wants or she wants to retire.
21:12
So you've got to have redundancies or again, it's all
21:15
about how do you make it less risky and like for the business
21:18
owner having a great management team.
21:21
I have a business right now, guy's 78 years old and he's got
21:25
about 100 employees, but he makes all the decisions hiring,
21:29
firing, he's got all the vendor relationships and he wants to
21:33
talk about doing an ESAU, which is an employee ownership type
21:37
program or franchise it or you know, what he can do to, you
21:43
know, transition. It's like it doesn't matter
21:45
whether it's ESOP franchise or what how you run now you need a
21:49
management sub. There has to be an entity that
21:51
runs his business. And right now it was just him.
21:54
And so, you know, that's The thing is if his kids don't want
21:58
the business, well, they don't want all the work that he puts
22:01
in because he he puts it 80 hours a week.
22:04
But if he had, if he went out and hired ACEOACFO&ACOO or
22:09
whatever titles you want to give them, it cost him and he'd
22:12
actually make a little less money.
22:14
He makes about, oh, close to $2,000,000 a year in net profit.
22:18
It cost him that and to bring that down, but it would double
22:20
the value because now it's transferable because he's not
22:26
needed that they it can run without him.
22:29
How? Long.
22:30
If he were to decide to go that route, how long do you think it
22:33
would take him to get even just two of those positions?
22:36
Call it ACEO and ACFO into place and trained to where he could
22:42
step back. Well before to where he could
22:45
step back and realize that all the potential value two to three
22:49
years, OK, you can hire them. Finding people, I know everybody
22:54
complaints that that's the challenge right now, but it's
22:56
not as hard as you think. You've got to set the right
22:59
parameters and people and roles can be filled and some of that
23:03
depending on size of the business.
23:05
ACFO, you don't have to necessarily hire full time CFO.
23:09
There's plenty of fractional CF OS that are great.
23:14
And you do need that once you get to a certain size because
23:17
ACFO will be able to help you be more strategic instead of just
23:22
filling out the boxes so your taxes go well.
23:24
They actually can help you forecast, plan, and utilize your
23:28
financial statements as tools to run the business better.
23:30
So they're worth their weight in gold, but it can be done
23:33
fractionally for those smaller businesses.
23:36
So, Brad, talk to us about who your ideal client is, whether
23:40
it's geography, industry or size.
23:44
Yeah, great question. So I do have a heart for small
23:46
business and I do a lot of volunteer work with small
23:50
business associations. So we actually did create a
23:52
platform for the really small, we call them mom and pop Main
23:55
Street businesses doing under a million.
23:58
They need the most help Bill question.
24:00
They also take the most time, unfortunately, and they're the
24:05
most fee conscious and that's OK.
24:06
They have less, you know, to deal with.
24:08
So we had to create a platform that worked and service them.
24:11
And we do, we have an assisted service model and that can work
24:15
all over the country, but hyper focused right now with those in
24:18
the Midwest, meaning Michigan, Indiana, Ohio.
24:21
And then Larry and I, our bread and butter where we started and
24:24
where we focus our our efforts and most of our team is focused
24:30
in this area are the companies that are in that it's deemed the
24:34
small market, the one to 10 million space.
24:37
And then I do have an M&A advisor that's certified that
24:41
works in the 10 to 100 million space, in the 10 to 100 million
24:45
space. He works all over the country,
24:48
has some in Florida and Texas and one in Michigan right now.
24:52
But on the other ones, I like to meet people and personally I
24:56
like to visit the place and they just can't afford to fly me
24:59
around for a $2,000,000 business for the expenses.
25:03
So those we're typically looking at in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio.
25:07
And then industry wise we're really industry agnostic because
25:12
small business is small business.
25:13
However, there are some that they just can't add value to it
25:17
if they're not profitable or they're struggling.
25:19
It's really hard because it the emotional tie they have.
25:23
Hey, this business could be worth something someday.
25:25
Well, OK, but not something nobody's going to pay you for
25:28
what it could be worth. They're going to pay you for
25:30
what it's doing now. And often that's a disconnect,
25:34
you know, I want my 10 million, but you're worth a fraction of
25:37
that. And and helping them bridge
25:39
that, if they're realistic, we can help.
25:41
But it does come down to profitability.
25:44
We don't really work on bars and restaurants that are struggling.
25:48
We have sold several that are run like a business.
25:51
So, but it has to, you have to look at who's the ideal buyer?
25:54
Are they buying it because they want to run the same business?
25:57
Are they, you're wanting to sell this to the guy that wants to
25:59
then change the concept of a different restaurant.
26:02
That's if they're buying it to run it the way it's run and it's
26:06
a business model there. We add value to that.
26:09
And then we don't do a lot of professional services like
26:13
doctors, dentists. I do have people in the industry
26:16
that specialize in those. So what we do work on is a lot
26:19
of service based businesses, manufacturing, distribution,
26:22
logistics, IT and then we do work in the healthcare space,
26:26
but not the doctors and dentists, but the PT practices,
26:30
the therapy practices, home health care agencies, things
26:35
like that. And those are really hot, right?
26:38
Now interesting, why do you think those are so hot?
26:42
Service based businesses, if, if they've scaled up and are
26:45
running well enough, there's a lot of consolidators in every
26:49
space. And then for us, my goal and job
26:53
with working with a business owner is to help them find the
26:56
best fit. I was just talking with a
26:58
gentleman on how we do this because it's not just about,
27:02
hey, I want to sell my business and who can give me the most
27:04
money. And if that's it, that's fine.
27:06
There's ways to do that. But really it's about culture,
27:09
especially somebody that's built up a practice and they have four
27:12
or five locations and they want to make sure that it's turned
27:17
over to somebody that fits that model.
27:20
And I have one right now where, you know, we went through a
27:23
large buying pool and narrowed it down to a handful of buyers
27:27
that actually fit the culture and it's been a great fit.
27:31
And that's in the home healthcare space.
27:32
And, and, and so it's really about that buyer that, that the,
27:37
they want the legacy to continue what they've built.
27:40
They know that they're ready to retire or they're ready to hand
27:42
it over to somebody else, but they don't want to just, you
27:45
know, a lot of sellers fear that have to give this and then
27:48
somebody's going to come in with that action, you know, get rid
27:51
of employees or service by community because it's, you
27:54
know, community based differently.
27:57
And then it it's just they want to see their, they want to see
28:00
their baby grow up and, and and graduate.
28:05
How do you source your deals, Brad?
28:08
Again, that's through the trusted advisor networks.
28:11
I think you're still employing that same thing that you did
28:14
back when in your insurance days.
28:15
Yep. Absolutely.
28:16
We do hire marketing teams to do that and we've seen a huge
28:20
uptick in people that find us through Google and and LinkedIn.
28:26
So our marketing teams jobs working, they're doing a great
28:29
job on on that. But still the vast majority come
28:33
through banking relationships, trusted advisors like wealth
28:37
managers, insurance agents at time and then attorneys, Cpas,
28:44
other business consultants that work with business owners.
28:47
So anybody that's a trust advisor in the business owner
28:50
world we work with? Are are some of these the same
28:55
folks that you had relationships with in your insurance days and
28:58
your wealth management days? Or were you having to form a
29:02
whole new network as you got into business brokering?
29:05
So yes and yes. OK.
29:07
So, yeah, yeah, I mean any relationships that I had and you
29:11
know, we when my partner and I started, we had probably 2000
29:15
names in our contact database. Now we're at about 112,000 and
29:20
growing. So the, the network just keeps
29:24
growing and growing and growing. And we start off with just the
29:26
two of us and now we have 12 people on the team in the, in
29:31
the four states you mentioned and looking to add a couple more
29:34
here in the next 6 months. A. 112,000 people in your
29:39
networking database. I guess I understand why people
29:43
call you a professional rock star for your networking
29:47
leadership. Can you tell us about some of
29:49
the events you do, like barrels, bottles and brews?
29:52
So that I've turned over, I, I did that as a give back to the
29:56
community because in the area that I lived in, networking was
30:01
kind of ebb and flowing and there wasn't a lot of good
30:03
networking. And then we kept it going
30:05
through COVID and then it's still going now, but it's a
30:09
barrel. Claws and Brews was a, hey,
30:11
we're going to get together as a social drinking group, support a
30:14
local business and sometimes business happens in that order.
30:18
It was very casual get together right before COVID.
30:22
We'd used to get 100 to 120 people that would get together
30:26
once a month. Now it's about 40 or 50 because
30:29
there's just so many other opportunities.
30:33
And I'm a big, you know, fan of networking.
30:36
I teach a class at the local university on networking to
30:39
college students. And networking is about just
30:43
building relationships and making friends.
30:45
And it's just funny because at the college level, the college
30:48
students, it's like, oh, I'm scared of networking.
30:50
It's like, well, unless you don't have any friends and
30:53
you've never had a girlfriend or a boyfriend and things like that
30:56
already know how to network. You just need to know how to
30:59
apply it in the, in the business world.
31:02
And so we go through that. And again, the best networkers
31:05
are the ones that it's about helping people connect.
31:09
And then if you help people, they want to help you back.
31:13
And so it's not going in and finding somebody that, you know,
31:16
buy for me or sell for me or, you know, what can you do for
31:19
me. So say more about that because I
31:22
think you've hit on something here that a lot of people feel
31:26
that networking is icky. It feels very transactional.
31:30
I'm uncomfortable doing it, but you've got a different approach
31:34
in mind. Can you go into that in a little
31:36
bit more detail? Yeah, so it it just depends on
31:39
where you're networking, but you should, if your job, especially
31:42
sales, requires you to build relationships, you should always
31:46
be networking. But you should never feel like
31:49
you're networking and the people around you should not feel like
31:52
you're trying to network with them.
31:53
But whether it's at a family reunion or you know, 60th
31:57
birthday party, just talking and having a genuine interest with
32:01
your fellow human beings and then at business networking
32:05
events, it's the same thing. Yet the goal there is just to
32:08
find the people in the room. And you can't build a
32:12
relationship with all sixty of them all at once.
32:14
So even if you meet all sixty of them, pick one or two to follow
32:18
up with and have a cup of coffee and just get to know people
32:22
instead of starting off like this is what my business is.
32:25
And do you know any business owners that want to sell?
32:27
No, you know, what do you do? Hey, this is what I do, but you
32:32
know, just get to know the person as a person.
32:34
You'll find more common interests.
32:35
And I found a lot, you know, of stuff through faith.
32:40
There's a lot of business groups where we just sell again, that
32:44
vulnerability and being able to share stories and and talk and
32:47
just be support for each other. And guess what?
32:50
Then they just want to, hey, by the way, what is it you do, you
32:54
know now that part of that building a relationship, IE the
32:57
family reunion, If your family members don't know what you do,
32:59
then they're never going to help you.
33:01
So you've got to weave that into the conversation.
33:03
But it's got to be from a non salesy approach.
33:06
That's at least my world is just build relationships, let people
33:10
know, and then also find out what they do so that you can
33:13
find a network of resources. Because if I run into the best
33:18
network when I was at Morgan Stanley, if I had clients
33:23
calling me, ask me, hey, do you know anybody in town that does
33:26
landscapers window washing or that does this?
33:29
I know I'm a trusted advisor when they're asking me for
33:31
recommendations, other things. And so if I can help them
33:36
connect, then when they have a need that I can service, they're
33:39
more apt to come back. I think what I'm hearing you say
33:43
boils down to be a human first, right?
33:47
Not a sales guy. Just be a human being, connect
33:49
with folks and get to know them on a personal level.
33:52
Start there. And that's a great foundation to
33:54
build from. And, and I think I also heard
33:57
you hint at this. How can I add value?
34:00
Can I make introductions for you?
34:02
Yeah. Can it be helpful to you and
34:03
your business? And so when I ran barrels,
34:06
bottles and brews, that's what I would do.
34:08
I'd see people that were new, hey, you're new here.
34:10
What do you do? Oh, you know, you probably like
34:12
to meet people that are in, you know, hair salons or people that
34:16
are real estate agents or people that are bankers.
34:18
And I would, you know, walk them over to somebody I knew in that
34:22
world and introduce them and then walk away it with, you
34:26
know, expecting nothing in return.
34:27
But that old adage is that you know what you put out there?
34:31
You get that 10 pole is so true. Horses, if you're just a taker,
34:35
everybody knows those people in the room where the person that
34:37
walks in and the energy level just goes down 3 notches and the
34:41
person's coming in and passing their card out to everybody in
34:43
the room and. Not even making eye contact,
34:46
just this is a transaction. How many people can I touch
34:50
here? Yeah.
34:51
Yeah. And then they become a card
34:52
collector and they have, you know, a stack of 6 inches worth
34:55
of business cards, and not one of them knows really who they
34:59
are, and they don't know any of them in that stack.
35:02
Yeah, it's not really networking on an effective level for sure.
35:05
So Brent, for someone who's on the fence about selling, what do
35:10
you find is the biggest mental or emotional hurdle in taking
35:14
that next step? Oh, great question.
35:17
There's so many because it is a very emotional time and I
35:21
totally get that. Very much respectful of business
35:23
owners. They've done a great work in
35:24
building a business, creating a lifestyle for themselves and
35:28
their employees. You know, the, the first step is
35:32
just starting to carve out a, a path and knowing what you need,
35:36
you know, and what you want to see happen.
35:38
What is the legacy? And if it's that you've sat down
35:41
with your financial planner and they say, hey, when you retire,
35:44
you're going to need an extra $3,000,000 or 2 million or
35:47
whatever you're going to need. Start early so that you can say,
35:51
well, is my business going to be worth that?
35:53
How can I get it? Because if you need 10 million
35:55
or want that because you want to be philanthropic and want to be
35:58
able to, you know, give money back and do lots of good.
36:03
All too often I get business owners that they say, well, I
36:06
want $7,000,000 for my business. It's because I want, need and
36:10
think I deserve that. Or I need that for validation
36:13
because I want to know what I've done.
36:15
It is a good thing. And then somebody comes along
36:20
that gives them the honest truth that, hey, in today's market you
36:23
probably sell for $3,000,000. They think that's offensive and
36:27
I'm not trying to be offensive. I just want to help them have
36:31
the right expectations and the market sets the price.
36:35
I don't. And I'm just going to tell them
36:37
where the market's going to see them.
36:39
And then they also have to talk about who and what that legacy
36:43
is for the transition because if they want to sell it to an
36:48
individual, I had one just happened this way, they they
36:50
wanted to sell to an individual financial buyer, somebody coming
36:54
out of Fort Worth that wants to run a family business, start
36:57
building their empire. It's just a different vibe.
36:59
And I totally get that versus sell to a strategic buyer,
37:03
somebody who's competition, who's buying market share.
37:07
Well, a strategic might see a higher value because they're
37:10
synergies, they're savings and there's reasons.
37:13
So this business was worth about $3,000,000 based upon cash flow
37:19
to an individual because that's about all we're going to be able
37:21
to finance from a bank and that's so three 3.2 is about
37:28
where they would be now. A strategic might see 3 1/2 to 4
37:32
million because of certain synergies.
37:35
Well, our our owner said, I don't want to talk to anybody
37:37
that I compete with because they're going to, you know,
37:40
steal my ideas. It's like, well then if all you
37:42
want to talk to is individuals, they're restricted because of
37:46
capital restraint. And in the type of loan they
37:48
have to get an SBA loan, which is a little more expensive
37:51
versus somebody who may already have enough capital and be able
37:55
to get better terms or pay cash. So yeah, just prepare in advance
38:01
to know what what it is you need and why and what what are you
38:05
looking for. So there's an entity called the
38:08
Exit Planning Institute. They put out great research and
38:12
right now the last 1 from 2025, it's just scary the statistics
38:17
that are out there. Of all business owners
38:19
interviewed, more than 50% would like to transition their
38:23
business to an employee or a family member.
38:27
Employees are kind of like families.
38:28
So I love those all together. That still only happens about
38:32
20% of the time of all the business owners out there.
38:35
They see their path as selling it on the open market.
38:39
That's about 30%. Interviews say that's what I
38:41
want to do. It still only happens 10% of the
38:44
time. So what happens all the rest of
38:46
those times? People end up having to run
38:49
their business or they end up even some try to sell it to, you
38:53
know, somebody and they get fatigued and they end up over
38:56
40% of the time closing the business.
38:59
Wow. That's a huge stat, and these
39:04
are businesses that would ostensibly have some kind of
39:06
sale value. Yes.
39:08
Now selling, closing the doors doesn't mean they didn't get any
39:11
value out of it. They may have closed the doors
39:13
and looked with it if they had you know capital equipment.
39:16
But some of them if you're a service based business and you
39:18
close the doors, yeah, there there is 0 value unless they own
39:23
their real estate and then they sell off the real estate.
39:25
But yeah, they're every business that is running profitably has
39:29
value. Now again, sometimes I had a an
39:33
excavation company and the guy was only making less than
39:36
$100,000 in in what he took in his pocket.
39:40
And all his equipment over the years that he built up still
39:43
have value of over 3 million. Making 100 Rand doesn't support
39:47
a $3,000,000 price tag. So his path was easy.
39:50
Find it a liquidator that will auction off all this equipment
39:54
and it fast and easy. But more often than not, the
39:59
pieces sold off separately are worth less than the business as
40:02
a whole. So if it's running and it's
40:04
profitable, but just see what that value is, because I don't
40:08
want to see businesses close, then jobs are lost, then the
40:11
community loses and it's just it's a bad thing, so.
40:16
And then there's the other one said, hey, I'll just work here
40:18
until I die. And it's like, you know what,
40:20
That's a fabulous exit strategy. And it does work very well for
40:25
you, the owner, for everybody else.
40:27
It's absolute chaos for your family members, for your
40:31
employees, for your clients. The day that happens, it puts
40:34
everybody into a tailspin. So that 40% of businesses that
40:38
you say don't sell, what's the one biggest thing that was
40:42
missing? What could those businesses have
40:44
done differently? Yeah, so, so it's 40% close the
40:49
doors. The ones that tried to sell,
40:51
it's even worse. Only 20 to 30% actually sell
40:54
that tried to sell. So, but anyway, the, the, the
40:59
ones that tried to sell and don't sell, a lot of it is just
41:02
it's that emotion gets in the wire.
41:05
So they, they don't understand, they think they're being low
41:07
balled and somebody's trying to give me a low price.
41:10
And it's like, no, this is what the numbers in the math support.
41:13
Because you got to look at it when somebody's buying a
41:15
business, especially a smaller one, where it's in it and you're
41:18
selling to an individual. Again, different thought process
41:21
when you're selling the private equity or family offices and
41:25
strategic buyers and we work with all.
41:26
But when you're selling to an individual, they're going to
41:29
have a big loan payment. So they got debt to service and
41:32
they need to get a fair wage to, you know, because why would I
41:35
leave a $60,000 a year job to take a $30,000 a year job with
41:39
all sorts of risk or 100,000, whatever number you want to plug
41:43
in that if they need to make a fair salary, they need to pay
41:47
back that debt. And then the business still has
41:49
to make money so that it can grow and do other things.
41:53
Or for if there's capital expenditures and a lot of
41:55
business owners that the, the sellers, they just say, oh,
41:59
that's the next buyer's problem. And it's like, no, that's your
42:02
problem because they're going to only give you an offer that
42:05
allows for that to happen. Not the number that you think
42:08
you want, need and deserve. It's the number that the math
42:11
can support and and that's where it's at a lot of times.
42:16
It's just, I get it. You've spent more time at your
42:20
workplace than with your family. And so you need that to pay off
42:24
somehow. And it if you have been running
42:28
it because you were good at something, but not like a
42:30
business, there's nothing wrong with that.
42:32
It's been a great job or a great owner operated business for you,
42:36
but it's not going to equate to, hey, if you make a, you know,
42:40
half $1,000,000 a year, it's not going to equate to a $10 million
42:43
retirement nesting. The math just doesn't doesn't
42:46
match up. I'm curious, Brad, if you stay
42:50
in touch with any of your customers post exit, does
42:56
everybody think an exit is going to be Nirvana?
42:59
And for some folks it is. For other folks, it feels quite
43:03
different. Yeah, we, we touch base with a a
43:07
handful of them, a lot of them once they get to retirement
43:11
they've left or gone, you know moved to Florida or or in a
43:15
different world. But we do keep in touch because
43:18
we do have clients that want to talk to past clients as far as a
43:21
referral or just what their experience was.
43:24
Some are great stories, you know, as far as the transition
43:28
goes and in the world that we tried that, we try to really
43:31
align ourselves with people that are looking for that, that right
43:34
buyer and best fit versus just the most money.
43:38
We have dealt with people that want the most money and they're
43:41
usually the most unhappy with the transaction.
43:45
And you, it is a tough thing because it isn't like selling a
43:49
house. You know, and I have a person
43:53
that actually equated this very well for me says, OK, let me put
43:55
it in terms of selling a house. When you sell your house, you
43:58
just hand over the keys, you're gone, they take over and you
44:01
move on to the next. Or when you sell a business,
44:04
it's like selling your house to that person.
44:06
When you close on the deal, that person then moves in with you
44:09
for six months. You guys have to live together
44:11
for six months and then you get to move out.
44:14
And so if you don't like each other, so if the seller thinks
44:17
they're getting low balled, they're not, they're going to
44:19
have friction or animosity. And if the buyer thinks you're
44:22
overpaid or the seller's being unreasonable and something,
44:25
there's going to be friction and animosity.
44:27
You know, I've got a a few exits under my belt and you talk about
44:32
being a psychologist. You know, I don't know how long
44:36
you're staying in touch with folks because in my personal
44:40
experience as well as, you know, talking with lots of friends,
44:43
there's this sense of loss that can often times take place,
44:46
right? It's this thing that you have
44:48
put your blood, sweat and tears in the building.
44:50
You've got a team that feels like family.
44:53
You put a lot of effort into training them and then all the
44:55
sudden one day that's not your purpose anymore.
44:58
Right. Do you have experience kind of
45:00
navigating this with folks? We do.
45:03
And that's that's one of the biggest things that we try to
45:07
gauge on the start of an engagement is does a person
45:10
really know what they want to do next?
45:12
Because if you don't have that plan or that path for what's
45:16
next after wholesale, you will end up dragging your feet, self
45:21
sabotaging and just creating all sorts of challenges in the deal
45:26
without you even knowing about them.
45:28
It's just you're, you're being less responsive as it gets
45:31
closer. And the challenge with that is
45:33
if you truly do want to exit and it's the right path for you, but
45:37
yet psychologically you're putting all these roadblocks up.
45:41
You'll eventually sell, but you won't be happy with it because
45:44
you, the things you put as far as roadblocks have led to you
45:48
being that they call it retraded where things get renegotiated
45:52
closer to the end. And again, the buyer is looking
45:54
at, hey, things are changing or shifting.
45:56
I've got to protect against that risk.
45:59
And so or you maybe you blow up a deal and then you go back to
46:02
the drawing board and find somebody else and they're
46:04
looking at it through a newer lens and you may get a, a, a
46:08
lesser deal out of it. And so, and I get it that, you
46:12
know, this is your sense of purpose.
46:14
We did have one that the the only one in our ten years where
46:18
somebody pulled out of the deal right before close, but it was
46:22
three days after all the attorneys had drafted everything
46:25
full price offer. Great fit buyer.
46:28
He actually loved the buyer, but we always joked he didn't want
46:32
to be at home with his wife and that's not true, but he didn't
46:36
want to. He liked going and he worked on
46:38
cars, high end specialty cars and he'd liked going in and you
46:43
know, and hanging out with the guys and getting to, you know,
46:46
tinker and do that. And he, he just eventually got
46:50
cold feet and said this, this is isn't for me, even though, you
46:55
know, again, we did everything he had asked us to.
46:58
And the buyer ended up actually buying another business through
47:01
us that we worked with him on because he enjoyed the
47:05
experience and things like that. And we do try to keep in touch
47:08
with. So Brad, in my experience,
47:13
behind every success story, there's usually a chapter that
47:16
almost broke someone. Can you talk about a serious
47:20
challenge that you've gone through, how you got through it,
47:24
and what you learned in that process?
47:26
Yeah. So for me, the, the serious
47:29
challenge, unfortunately, was going through a divorce and you
47:34
know, I had three young kids and luckily post divorce they
47:39
thrived. So it's been a great environment
47:42
for them and, and wonderful. But you know, it was tough
47:45
because during that time, you know, I had a great job that,
47:50
you know, so going through a divorce, had a great job that I
47:53
was making serious 6 figures with all these benefits and, and
47:56
wonderful. And at the same time of the
47:58
divorce, they decided to go from the outside sales force to the
48:01
inside sales force. So I had both personal things
48:04
going on, work things going on and not knowing, you know,
48:08
which, which way was going to be up.
48:12
And so I really had to dig in. You know, I, I wasn't worried
48:14
that I couldn't get a job. You know, I could find a job and
48:18
plenty of people look at, but what was going to be my next,
48:21
you know, chapter as far as the lifestyle I wanted.
48:25
And for me, I had to dig into the last soul searching and my
48:29
faith. And that's where, again, I was
48:33
introduced to my partner Larry, great guy, you know, also strong
48:38
in his faith. And that, you know, helped me
48:41
really do that soul searching of what I needed to do.
48:45
And lately I've learned that the more vulnerable I can be.
48:49
I'm not here to, you know, be, you know, preachy or, or convert
48:53
people, but having whatever your faith is, having some strong
48:57
conviction to that and being good humans and good stewards
49:01
of, of the world and our local communities has really led to
49:06
opening up more doors for me and, and just being able to talk
49:10
at a different level. And at first it was hard for me
49:12
in the business world because, you know, you don't talk
49:14
politics and you don't talk religion and things like that.
49:18
But just being able to be open and vulnerable and God
49:21
definitely opened those doors for me and, and really made it
49:25
wonderful. And now I've got this great job.
49:28
I've got a great white. We're now the modern day Brady
49:30
Bunch. We've got six kids between us.
49:32
There's three boys, 3 girls with, but it is 2 and one, one
49:35
and two. We do a mission trip down to
49:38
Guatemala every year. And it's just, it's
49:42
reinvigorated my life. So I'd have to say that, you
49:45
know, just lots of things kind of perfect storm against me and
49:50
the the way out for me was really getting vulnerable and
49:52
grounded with some people within my world that were grounded in
49:57
faith. Let's talk a little bit more
50:00
about that thing we're not supposed to talk about.
50:02
Religion, yeah. So were you strong in your faith
50:06
before the divorce? Did this try to push you further
50:11
into exploring your faith? I would say I was not, I was
50:16
strong back, always brought up in the church with my family.
50:20
And then during my marriage, it kind of was that, you know, on
50:27
the periphery, kind of like way too many people.
50:30
We, we just, whether your faith is just having a good family
50:33
unit or some greater spiritual purpose.
50:37
And I'm not here to define what it needs to be for you, but
50:40
we've gone away from that. I mean that the studies are just
50:43
staggering. You know, 20 years ago, 70% of
50:47
all Americans said they belonged to a church, not necessarily
50:51
attended, just belonged to some kind of organized religion.
50:55
And now it's less than 30%, or I think it's 30 or 40.
51:00
Less is less, but it's less than half.
51:03
And it's just declining. And so having that greater sense
51:06
of community and purpose, I think definitely leads to just
51:11
more, more doors being. And so yeah, it was it
51:15
definitely was on the lesser end.
51:16
And I leaned into that post divorce.
51:21
For people listening who are maybe going through similar life
51:24
transitions now, what advice would you have for them?
51:29
You know, find a good mentor. There's a mentorship is so
51:34
important and and again, I have several, but I have one that I
51:39
meet once a a month for a cup of coffee and we just talk about
51:43
life. It's not about trying to network
51:45
or build business. It's just that sounding board.
51:48
It's funny because I've done a mentorship through SCORE and
51:51
SBDC for businesses. I believe in mentorship.
51:55
My wife and I now are very active with Big Brothers, Big
51:58
Sisters. And so having people in your
52:01
life that you can just share with and business owners need it
52:04
more than anybody else because a business owner can't go home and
52:08
share with their their spouse. I'm not sure we can make
52:11
payroll. I'm not sure we just lost our
52:13
biggest client either. You don't want to freak out your
52:17
spouse, right? So it's nice having somebody
52:20
that you can have that vulnerability that can just
52:22
either be that sounding board to listen to you or even give you,
52:26
Hey, I've been through that. Here's where I go and you'd be
52:29
surprised. There are so many different ways
52:31
to find a good mentor. And this gentleman Jim that I
52:37
meet with, he he said 20 years older than me and he says, you
52:42
know, Are you sure this is worth your while us getting together?
52:46
Because he says I feel like I get so much more out of this
52:49
than you're getting because I don't know that I said no, Jim,
52:52
it's a two way St. You're giving me lots.
52:55
And so mentors actually end up getting just as much out of
52:59
being the mentee. And so, yeah, I'm getting a
53:02
mentor. And it doesn't matter whether
53:04
it's personal or work or spiritual, mentorship is is
53:10
wonderful. And that's where I think
53:12
strength comes. How can people find a mentor?
53:18
It depends what you need. I mean I'm from on the spiritual
53:21
side. I went to a few different groups
53:24
or some here locally. Christian Mens Christian
53:27
business men's connection is where I met Jim, but and it's
53:31
just a group that gets together once 1/4 and that are business
53:34
owners. But there's there's other
53:37
things, whether it's through your church, if you just want to
53:39
have somebody to meet with coffee and and things like that
53:43
in work, you know, if there are local organizations scores one
53:48
of them it's, you know, funded through the SBA.
53:52
And it's just business owners who have been there, done that,
53:54
that volunteer their time to be mentors for small business
53:57
owners at no cost. Same with there's groups called
54:01
the Small business development Centers, SBDC.
54:05
Every state changes that a little as far as what they're
54:08
called. But again, they're mentors that
54:10
are paid to be there for business owners, you know, at no
54:15
cost to the business owner. So why not at least tap into
54:17
that resource? You never know.
54:19
So that's those are a couple of different places, but there's
54:23
just if you just look around and just find people you can connect
54:27
with and then stick to it. And mentorship only works if you
54:31
set up some kind of regular cadence.
54:34
You know, whether you know in church as a, you know, as a
54:37
couple, you join a life group or small group or whatever you want
54:40
a Bible study group or you know, you have your own social
54:44
circles. You get together, you know,
54:46
women get together with a women's group or couples get
54:49
together with other couples and just have dinner once a month.
54:53
But if you don't do it on a regular basis and make time for
54:55
it, it's not it's not going to add as much value versus if you
55:01
whether it's quarterly or monthly or weekly, depending on
55:05
what you need. You need consistency and you
55:09
need the ability to be open and vulnerable.
55:12
They can't help you if you're holding back the stuff that
55:16
really needs to come out. It's and it's a beautiful thing
55:18
to see. So I belong to a a couple
55:20
different mastermind groups where we get together once a
55:23
month and just talk about challenges either with our own
55:25
businesses or with clients and share some more stories and
55:30
things like that. And we started that just after
55:34
COVID and about a year and a half, two years in, the stuff
55:39
that was being shared again was deep vulnerability, something
55:43
people going through some really tough times, breaking down and
55:46
crying in front of each other. And it's made us all stronger,
55:51
better humans and Better Business owners.
55:55
And you're right. So consistency, open and
55:58
vulnerability, no judgement zone and have whatever your purpose
56:02
is, it can be social. I mean, I think it's healthy to
56:05
get together. I like my Scotch.
56:07
So we get together and do Scotch and bourbon tastings about every
56:11
two months where we get a group of as guys and girls, but we get
56:16
a group of 20 of us together and sample different bottles and do
56:20
a tasting to see what we want. What's your superpower, Brad?
56:25
So my I've been told that my spiritual gift is hospitality.
56:30
So bringing people together. I've just got one more question
56:35
for you today. Before I ask it though, I want
56:37
to do 3 quick things, Brad. First of all, to get in touch
56:40
with Brad, we've got his website,
56:43
abb-businessbrokers.com, ABB Dash Business brokers.com, his
56:50
super fun e-mail address thatwetalkedaboutbeforebrad@bowtiebrad.com,
56:56
brad@bowtiebrad.com. And we'll have those in the show
56:58
notes for folks. And if you're enjoying the show
57:01
today, a quick comment or review on your favorite podcast app
57:05
goes a long way towards helping others discover our show.
57:09
So thank you for taking a quick moment to do that right now.
57:12
And as a reminder, if you want to be the hero advisor that
57:16
shows your clients how to get their employees access to
57:18
therapists, doctors and prescription meds that, as
57:21
paradoxical as it seems, actually increases the company's
57:25
net profits, reach out to us at AD back benefits.com.
57:29
So last question for you, Brad, what is 1 very specific thing
57:32
that you hope to be celebrating one year from today?
57:36
One year from today, you know, there's just so many good things
57:42
happening. I'm I'm hoping that I'm
57:45
celebrating because right now we're new at mentorship and the
57:49
Big Brothers, Big Sisters and we're still waiting to get
57:52
matched up. So my wife and I are going to do
57:53
what's called the big duo. We're actually going to be that
57:56
big aunt and uncle or grandparents to take kid in our
57:59
local community. So I'm hoping to be able to
58:02
celebrate that a year from now being matched up with somebody
58:06
in the community that just expands our family in.
58:10
Again, any parent in the audience knows you learn so much
58:15
through seeing the world through your kids eyes.
58:17
And I look forward to being able to see the world through another
58:21
kids eyes that's not my own but will be part of our family.
58:25
Awesome Bow tag Brad Scoffin from Advanced Business Brokers.
58:30
I want to be the first to thank you for sharing both your time
58:32
and your story with us today, and I really appreciate you
58:34
being here. Yeah.
58:35
Well, thank you, Tony. I really appreciate it.
58:38
Folks, that's a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories
58:40
podcast. Thanks for learning with us.
58:42
And if one thing stood out, try putting that into action today.