WANT TO BUY OR SELL A PROPERTY?
615-519-5156
karen@tennbusinessbrokers.com
Business Sales, Mergers, & Acquisitions
Client Centered • Results Driven
Call to discuss your business:
615-519-5156
Why Choose Us?
Why Business Owners Choose Tennessee Business Brokers
1. MAKING THE DEAL STICK
The team at TBB has a track record of closing over 90 % of the transactions it engages.This is accomplished through our depth of knowledge, our extensive experience of over 40 years, and our patience and persistence. We prepare very well on the front end, usually at no charge to the seller, to help get your business ready to present to the market. Our network is very extensive and includes our expansive centers of influence such as bankers, attorneys, CPAs, realtors, appraisers, exit planners, legal intermediaries, lending brokers and business consultants. You have the benefit and support of this large circle when working with TBB. We are with you to the finish line and are fully accountable throughout the process.
2. PROFESSIONALISM
Karen Schorkopf, founder, has reached the top of her profession with the designation of Certified Business Intermediary. You can be assured that she and her team can assist you in determining and taking the best course to obtain and keep the most value for your business. Trust is one of the key ingredients in bring a transaction to completion; therefore, Karen asks her clients to hold her accountable to the Core IBBA Code of Ethics and principals so that you can be assured of the highest level of trust. Code of Ethics found here. Testimonials
Jim Shaub
is an experienced business sales intermediary, M&A Advisor, and bank and private capital sourcing specialist, having been involved in all aspects of a business’s life cycle. This experience includes starting, selling, buying, mergers, family, and management ownership transitions, restructuring and bankruptcy reorganizations. He is a published journal author on the subjects of financing a business, and investment business analysis.
Jim has an understanding and empathy of a business owner’s challenges and issues when facing the transition of a business, one that often embodies the owners themselves. This is often the first and only time the owner will be going through this process, which makes it critically important to engage a partner who has the experience and understanding of how this transition will affect all the parties involved with the sale, or a purchase. Confidentiality, Trust, Experience and Diligence are required for any successful completed transaction. Jim will bring all of these to the table for you, your company, and your stakeholders.
John Kingston
is an Executive Vice President and Senior M&A Advisor with 20+ years of experience working with companies within various industries and of various scale. Previously, he spent 10 years as an Investment Banker in New York with Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Global Industrials Group, where he worked closely with public and private companies, financial sponsors and investors/shareholders originating and executing strategic advisory and capital markets transactions. His breadth of expertise includes mergers & acquisitions and divestitures, transaction execution, capital raising (debt and equity). John has spent the majority of his professional business career advising industrial product and service companies and is also experienced with building products, professional contractor, and prestige consumer retail businesses.
John’s experience with small and mid-sized companies first began in 1998 working with his family’s Southern California based aerospace manufacturing company. It was during this time that he was involved with his first acquisition process, being responsible for leading the integration of an acquired product line. Since that time, he has continued to develop and refine his capabilities, having served as a consultant/strategic advisor and advisory board member to the shareholders of several small and mid-sized businesses. He has experience as a small business owner/operator through a company he acquired and later divested prior to relocating back to Nashville, TN.
John has an MBA in Finance from Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management and a BA in History from the University of Colorado. He served on active duty as an officer in the United States Marine Corps completing two combat deployments to the Middle East during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He is a licensed REALTOR® in the state of Tennessee and enjoys real estate investing in his personal time. John’s greatest accomplishment is his family, being a father to his 6-year old son and husband to his wife of over 13 years. John offers his clients an extensive experience-based perspective, having been both a buyer and seller of small and mid-sized companies in addition to his advisory roles. This enables his thoughtful and carefully crafted guidance regarding the sale process, prospective buyers, marketing strategy, valuation, and risk management.
Tracy Scrima is bringing over 15 years of experience in entrepreneurship, business consulting, and business development. She has a comprehensive background in managing and expanding businesses, with particular expertise in the retail, hospitality, medical, and service sectors. Previously, Tracy founded and grew Medical Spas, multi-location Lash and Brow and beauty education business in Boston, where she demonstrated a strong aptitude for driving business growth and maximizing shareholder value.
In addition to her entrepreneurial endeavors, Tracy has served as a consultant, advising small to mid-sized companies on strategic growth initiatives, operational efficiency, and market positioning. Tracy has specialized in mergers and acquisitions, providing invaluable insights to businesses navigating the complexities of the marketplace.
Tracy is committed to maintaining the highest standards of professionalism and ethical conduct in all business dealings. With strategic communication skills and rigorous approach to client service Tracy is a trusted advisor to business owners seeking to buy, sell, or expand their enterprises.
A graduate of Berklee College of Music and a former professional singer, she brings a disciplined and creative approach to her work. She is dedicated to leveraging her extensive industry knowledge to facilitate successful transactions for Tennessee Business Broker clients.
Paul Schorkopf
has over 30 years’ experience in the Financial Markets, starting as a specialist on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and continuing into the futures markets in New York and Chicago, and in Mortgage Back Securities and Asset Backed origination on Wall Street. Paul also worked as an award-winning engineer for Dell and Verizon. In 2002 Paul and his family moved to Brentwood, Tennessee. To teach their three sons how to run their own business, Paul worked with them to restore a 1969 Good Humor Ice Cream truck. Paul is customer focused, and believes integrity is at the core of all successful transactions.
David Newell
has over 40+ years of financial experience in commercial and investment banking. Initially trained as a commercial lender, David gravitated to the Asset/Liability side of a major regional bank and dealt with the buying and selling of the bank’s loan portfolio. Subsequently he was asked by the Union Planters Bank (NYSE: UPC) to develop and manage the bank’s Trust business within its community bank network. David was the only officer outside of the Memphis headquarters authorized to accept fiduciary business for the bank in both personal and corporate trust matters. In this role he became very familiar in dealing with business owners exit strategies and the proper management of the sales proceeds post transaction. He served as Trustee for several large leveraged Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) and in all cases was asked to make presentations to the employees on the rights, benefits, and importance of employee ownership whether the transaction be qualified or non-qualified.
Ed Legum
is the author of two books: How to Get What your Business is Worth, ‘Our Road Map to Selling Your Business shows you every step’ and also Being a Business Broker, The Art of Communicating with Buyers and Sellers. In addition, he teaches many other Brokers through webinars on a variety of well know Business Broker Associations. So, you might say he is an expert on the subject. Ed has consulted with businesses throughout the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to help them increase the productivity of their five key resources: (1) people: how to train and transform customer service, salespeople, and managers into top producers, (2) product: how to find a competitive edge through pricing, packaging, and management of products and services, (3) place: how to improve what customers see and experience, (4) promotion: how to find and stimulate new customers to buy from you, and (5) processes: how to give your people the systems they need to get the job done. His 45 years of business experience has given him insight and perspective. Testimonials
3. SMALL BY DESIGN ~ A Boutique Business Brokerage Firm
The staff at TBB works to focus on you. The only way we can do this is by limiting the number of transactions that we are working on at any one time. We have decided that it is better for you to be a big fish in a small pond instead of a small fish in a big pond. When you decide to be a big fish in a small pond, you are special, you are not just a number, you have everyone’s attention, and everyone on our staff wants to meet your needs in the short and long term. Our business is driven entirely by referrals and this is only accomplished if we treat each and every opportunity as our highest priority. We have no “rookies” on our team. We bring on the best deal results because of our excellent foundation.
4. FINDING THE RIGHT BUYER-- EXTENSIVE MARKETING & ADVERTISING
Finding the right buyer for your business is key. We know how, when and where to advertise and market to attract the right kind of buyers. We specialize in the merger and acquisition of privately held mid-size companies and are a part of a national and state network of business brokers who are in contact with many buyers for your type of business. Your business can be advertised in regional newspapers, trade magazines, on the Internet, on TBB’S own home page, and on other Internet databases; plus we are a part of the International Business Broker’s Association, Georgia Association of Business Broker’s multi-lists, M&A Source, National Association of Realtors, CoStar, LoopNet, BizBuySell, Biz Quest, Industry websites and advertising forums, LinkedIn, National Association of Women Business Owners, Exit Planners, Axial, DealStream and more. We also, run some direct mail and email campaigns and are connected to buyers, investors and Private Equity Groups around the world . Also, we have many contacts in the industry and the local community to find your buyer, not to mention the various investment groups with whom we work.
5. CONFIDENTIALITY
You can be assured that the sale of your business will be handled confidentially. We never disclose the name or location of your business until a buyer has been qualified and has signed a non-disclosure and confidentiality agreement. We never put the name of your business in a multiple listing service or any advertisement. We know that if the employees, competitors, customers or suppliers find out in an inopportune time and manner that your business is being sold, it can significantly damage the business. This is another reason Seller’s preferring to work with Boutique Business Brokers firms.
6. PRICE AND STRUCTURE
We have extensive databases of businesses sold nationwide that offer statistics to assist in pricing your business. You do not want to have an unrealistic price that scares buyers away nor do you want to leave any money on the table by underpricing the business. We can price your business for the market through various methods of pricing. We also structure the transactions to minimize the chance of problems throughout the entire negotiating process.
7. NEGOTIATING POSITION
Every time you contact a buyer directly, it weakens your negotiating power. As the third party, we can work with the buyers and encourage them to make a decision without implying that you are eager to agree in any way. Every buyer will have some counsel that will be negative about the proposed purchase, and as a professional intermediary, we help promote positive relations during the negotiating process.
8. MAINTAINING FOCUS
It takes a large amount of time to work with all potential buyers explaining the many details of the records and how your business operates. We do this for you, allowing you to spend your time running the business and maintaining your profit levels. If profits go down, the value of the business goes down as well.
9. TIMING
We make sure that your decision to sell your business is the right move for you. Based on your needs, we analyze the timing of your sale. If your company needs to grow before you can accomplish your goals, we will help you develop a plan to reach your needs. It is necessary sometimes to start planning up to five years out before you sell your company. We help provide the map you need to arrive at your desired destination.
What you get when you work with TN Business Brokers:
Client-Centered and Results Driven
Their key to success is their ability to inspire trust, their commitment to communication, their perseverance and also strong desire for “win-win” outcomes.
Decades of corporate experience
Strong skills necessary to close deals honed over decades of corporate experience including financial analysis, marketing, due diligence, business valuations, intermediation, lending/underwriting and negotiations.
Seasoned business and community leaders
Seasoned business and community leaders with very extensive networking resources both locally and globally.
Commercial Real Estate
Karen Schorkopf is a member of the National Association of Realtors® and is affiliated with Westgate Enterprises, an integrated services Commercial Real Estate Company for Nashville and Surrounding Areas. While her focus is on facilitating the sale of owner occupied commercial real estate related to the Businesses she is selling, her partners at Westgate are experts in handling the full spectrum or your commercial real estate needs-- from brokerage and leasing to design and development. At Westgate, we also pride ourselves on being a family-owned company with an experienced, focused and personable team. Westgate agents stay up-to-date on zoning, codes, regulations, vacancies, off-market opportunities and market comps. Our agents also have access to the most advanced CRE tools on the market, including CoStar, LoopNet, Reonomy and ESRI.
