Dear optimist, pessimist, and realist,
While you guys were busy arguing about the glass of water, I drank it!
Sincerely,
The opportunist
Businesses, by their very nature are opportunistic. Embracing opportunity is how they grow.
At some point though, organic growth becomes a limited option. This could be due to the struggle to find good employees, the challenge inherent in keeping up with the rapidly changing technology environment and more.
Some agencies then seek to embrace the opportunity to grow or otherwise ensure their sustainability by becoming part of a larger enterprise. This typically means selling all or part of their agency or buying others.
That’s where we come in.
If I had a dime for every time I get asked, ‘What’s my Agency Worth’, I’d have...well…let’s just say that I would never worry about change for the parking meter!
The problem with answering the valuation question is that there are so many variables that make up the ‘number’. Sure -you can hire a professional valuator who will charge you an arm and a leg and give you a fancy report with lots of colors. Do they know title? Do they know what factors a Private Equity buyer values as opposed to a Strategic buyer? How many title agencies have they sold? In the end, your agency is worth what someone will pay for it. We know how that works because we touch more title agency buy/sell transactions than anyone else in the country. Our firm is a fully licensed Investment Bank, compliant with SEC and FINRA regulations.
I have long believed that anything worth doing is worth doing properly. The question of the value of a business that folks have put their hearts and souls into building is a fair one. Answering that question is something we take seriously.
These are extraordinary times. No one knows what the future holds, and business owners are only acting prudently in wanting to know what their business is worth.
For this reason we have created an affordable new product we are calling ‘IBPO’ (Investment Banker Price Opinion).
IBPO is a proprietary and individualized report which outlines our opinion as to market value of a title agency based on current market conditions. It contains a financial model outlining a value range using multiple relevant methodologies.
We provide you with a questionnaire subject to a NDA. The questions are specifically designed to give us the detail we know from experience that buyers (both strategic and financial) value in today’s market. This involves much more than a simple P/L analysis and includes a review by an experienced title professional as well as a sophisticated numerical analysis based on our proprietary financial model.
We use the reply to the questions and other information from the company to prepare our report. If we see something aberrant in the information you supply, we will identify same and confer with you about possible remediation.
While not a full-blown valuation opinion, the IBPO provides you with a real-life glimpse into the value of an agency based on current market conditions. The IBPO is also a great way to gain a sense of market value of a target acquisition.
Want to know what your title agency is worth? Email us at [email protected] for more information.
-Howard Turk