By CABB Member: Ron Johnson, M&AMI, CBI, CBB, Fellow of the IBBA

From my perspective, each of us sell businesses all the time (I hope), and with our sellers and buyers we frequently discuss the "Cap X" (annual capital expenditures), the monies our buyers need to invest in the business annually to keep the business running and growing. Each of us, as business brokers/intermediaries, have our own business, with about 50% of us working in multi-intermediary offices, and about 50% being sole practitioners. But in almost every case, each of us "are our business" since most of us are almost wholly commission based, so our success is created by ourselves, and directly effects our income.

Just because our profession has a very small barrier to entry is no reason to think that each of us, as independent businesses, do not have an annual "Cap X." However, in our professions case, most of our "cap x" is in intangible assets, not tangible assets. Nevertheless, those expenditures are necessary to keep our businesses growing. What are some of the key expenditures for us? I suggest that two primary items are Marketing (in multiple manners) and Education. And, in our case, most of the education comes from our associations (the CABB and the IBBA), and within the associations, the association membership is directly tied to education and vice versa. Few things in my career as a business broker have had the financial impact that the membership in, and education from, the CABB and IBBA has had.

Brokerage Firm: BlueKey Business Brokerage M&A
California Region: Northern
Contact: 510-812-2233 or jegwhite@bluekeybma.com  

Q: Briefly describe your background (length as broker, career prior, how you got into this field).

A: I have been a business broker since 2002. Prior to that, I was the Director of Sales & Marketing for Sheraton Hotels in San Francisco for eight years and then while I had my second and third child, I ran my husband's family funeral home for three years. In 2001 I decided to buy my own funeral home after receiving a letter from an intermediary in New York who was representing a Bay Area funeral home. I ultimately lost the bid, but loved doing the deal, and the rest as they say is history!

Q: Do you have particular business types you specialize in, or a region?

A: I specialize in working with women business owners nationwide with revenues between $1 and $10M.

As the economy starts to pick back up, CABB would like to remind you all of the fantastic membership benefits that we have to offer.

• Forms so great that other states want to use them as a model
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• Free legal services
• Access to a health care specialist for your medical, dental, vision, life and healthcare reform needs
• Local chapters to facilitate relationships for increased co-brokering opportunities
• LinkedIn community to share ideas and stay connected statewide
• Annual Productivity Conference with remarkable networking opportunities and education

Don't miss out on a minute of these membership benefits, renew today!

Want to renew your membership online? To renew online, please go to www.cabb.org and click on "Pay my CABB Dues."