Middle market Intermediaries tend to be a hard charging, persistent lot, often thriving in a very challenging line of work. Anyone who tells you that what we do is easy and a sure way to make an insane amount of money is telling half the truth. This line of work requires plenty of patience, perseverance, and a skillful application of consultative sales skills, with deal cycles spanning many many months. At the same time, despite the fact that a good percentage of deals can die a myriad ways, very few professions give you an opportunity to make a year's worth of a corporate salary in one swoop.

Another characteristic of professionals in our line of work is the constant strive to improve and elevate the game, which is the reason for writing this article. After over 10 years in this profession, and multiple middle-market transactions, I am pausing to reflect on a topic that I am sure has pre-occupied plenty of us in this space:   What's the most effective approach - To be a Generalist or an industry-centric Practitioner?

Good News: H.R. 2274 (A Bill exempting main street business brokers and middle-market intermediaries from securities licensing) was passed by the House of Representatives on January 14, 2014, by a vote of 422-0. Congratulations to all who have helped to get this Bill passed.

Bad News: The overwhelming support for the House Bill (H.R. 2274) must not give us the false sense of security that this U.S. Senate legislation (S. 1923) is a sure thing for passage. Based on the unanimous bi-party support in the House, we should be able to conclude that this current legislation (the result of our industry's past seven years of efforts) would have a strong chance of Senate passage.

On the contrary, according to status of S.1923, the Senate version has a less than stellar chance of passing. Our industry has never gotten this far in the legislative process before, and we have momentum working to our advantage. We must have your efforts and/or continued efforts to facilitate passage in the Senate.

We have come so far, but still need your help. Here is what we need you to do: