Name of Business:
Transworld Business Advisors of Annapolis
Point of Contact:
Steven Palmer, Principal Business Broker
Phone Number: (410) 842-6063
Length of time business has been operating: Transworld has been brokering business sales for over 40 years.
Description of Business: We are your local business broker, so we help two types of customers. One is a current business owner looking to scale or sell their business. We help owners scale through acquisition or through franchising their business.
The second is anyone who has always wanted to work for themselves, and we help them find an opportunity that is right for them based on price, location, industry, and other factors. That may include businesses that are currently for sale, or the ability to buy into one of the 496 franchises we currently partner with to place entrepreneurs.
Your Business Mission Statement: Our mission statement is simple, Good Deals for Good People. We are excited when we walk away from the negotiating table with both the Seller and the Buyer feeling like they got what they wanted.
Whatâs Your Why? My why is my father. My father built and ran a successful construction company for 25 years. Through the company, he was able to pay for my parentâs house, their vacations, and my education among many other spoils that my parents were lucky enough to enjoy. And then one day, shortly after the onset of the Great Recession, he casually told me he just shut his doors. Now he owned the commercial property his business was on, and he was able to sell that. However, he didnât get anything for that brand, book of business, and good will he built in a community that he had serviced for most of his adult life. And although I didnât know why at the time, it didnât sit right with me.
So, a few years later, when Transworld reach out to me with an opportunity, it dawned on me, âahh, this is exactly the service my father needed when he exited his business.â And when I saw that those same services were being under-served in the greater Annapolis regionâ during another crisis â I jumped at the opportunity.
What sets your business apart from others? Two things separate us, and that is the size and breadth of our network and our ability and willingness to get involved locally in the community. Transworld is the largest business brokerage franchise, with 600 agents and 250 office locations around the globe. Why that is important to our customers is that my office has access to data detailing every listing that Transworld has worked with since 2014 - which currently sits at over 37,000 listings. And we use those listings when crafting our plan to sell a business by looking at what businesses in that industry sold, what businesses did NOT sell, what price point they are and have been selling at, and what headlines and buzzwords got the attention of buyers. And we use that data as a baseline to craft a plan that is best equipped to meet the needs of our clients.
Our second differentiator is that we know this area better than other brokers because we live here. Maryland is lucky in the fact that we have a very diverse, talented, and educated workforce. Because of that, we have a variety of very good business brokers around. However, most business brokers in the State of Maryland are either doing this part time or trying to cover the entire State. And if they are covering the entire that, that really means that they are focused on Baltimore City and the suburbs of Baltimore and Washington DC because thatâs where the bigger businesses are typically located. Our brokers arenât focused there. Our brokers are hyper-focused on the greater Annapolis/Severna Park/Arnold/Edgewater/Crofton region. We are getting involved in these communities. And we are using our intimate knowledge of these areas to get our clients the best value for their business.
What are some of the personal rewards that come from your business? I think the easy answer to that question is we help people move onto âwhateverâs nextâ â whether thatâs helping a business owner spend more time with their kids, spend more time on a golf course, or helping someone move onto a new venture.
But I want to highlight a reward that comes earlier in the process. What I really enjoy is when I talk to a business owner and they say that they would like âto get this much for my business.â And yet, when I run the numbers, their business is worth MORE. I had this experience recently with a restaurant. The owners were hoping to get $300,000 for their business, and after I did an evaluation, we ended up listing their business for over $400,000. And it was a great feeling to see that sense of pride that they felt when they realized how much their business was worth.
How long have you been a chamber member? We are new to the Chamber, having only been a member for a couple of months. But we are already getting involved. Since joining in May, we have sponsored a Young Professionals event and have had the opportunity to get to know some members at the Lt. Governor Luncheon and at a Crofton Market Mixer. And we are excited to continue being involved.
What benefits have you experienced with your chamber membership?
The generosity of the Crofton Chamber members has just been nothing short of fantastic. Since we have joined, we have reached out to several members regarding things both related to, and not related at all to, the Chamber, and they have come through EVERY time. Considering we are new and still building that trust with these individuals, they certainly donât have to do that. But they do because the Crofton Chamber, and larger Crofton business community, is built on contributions from kind and generous people.
Do you offer any discounts? Please specify: We do offer discounts for current members of the Crofton Chamber. One of the services we provide is a Broker Opinion of Value. Our BOV is a report detailing 10 different methodologies for valuing your business. Typically, we sell that for $3,500, which includes a digital copy of the report, a printed and bound copy of the report, and a briefing from our team discussing our findings. If you are an active member of the Crofton Chamber, we offer our BOV at a 10% discount.
And that still entitles you to the $500 ârefreshâ reports we offer. The refresh report is great for business owners looking to measure the effectiveness of new initiatives they implement on the valuation of their business.
Sadly though, this only applies to active members of the Crofton Chamber. So, if you were a member, but no longer are, we wonât be able to offer you the discount.
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