Fifty years ago, in the Rose City of Portland, Oregon, a group of knowledgeable, experienced, highly skilled individuals led by IBA’s founder, G. William Ososke, identified an opportunity to professionally work in the fertile soil of the small business community of the Willamette Valley brokering the sale of privately held companies and family businesses. Early transactions were more sporadic and involved smaller companies than the firm facilitates today.  I personally remember facilitating a transaction for $15,000 in the 1990’s involving a pet grooming salon where I helped a community beloved dog groomer sell her book of business and leased location more to give her clients a place to go when she retired than because the sale generated a windfall.  The first generation American citizen who bought the business with his wife with financial help from a family member was a true artist with a clipper and scissors capable of making any breed of dog show quality in presentation.  He was thrilled to live the American Dream and be an entrepreneur. Together we painted the interior cinder block walls of the shop one weekend, to give the space a fresh, clean look and to enhance Feng Shui.  Many years later over dinner, Wan Kim, shared wonderful stories of what he achieved from that humble platform in terms of having both of his daughters graduate from college and become doctors, own a house, and live a standard of living he never thought possible.  I am blessed and thankful for being able to call Wan a friend and be companions on the path of life.   True wealth is found in our family, friends, and the experiences we have shared together.

Today, IBA has nine offices (Bellevue, Bellingham, Everett, Federal Way, Olympia, Wenatchee, and Spokane in Washington and Portland & Bend in Oregon) and closes multiple transactions a month in a value range from $500,000 to $30,000,000.  However, the corporate value system of the company has not changed. We still seek to serve, provide quality, and only want to be paid by happy customers upon project completion.

This week in alignment with the American tradition of a Thanksgiving holiday the fourth Thursday annually each November we would like to say THANK YOU to all the business owners past and present who have entrusted us with the sale of their passion project where they invested their blood, sweat, and tears in pursuit of an entrepreneurial dream and financial prosperity, the buyers who took a leap holding our hands into the future taking executive control of their economic destiny, and convey our gratitude for everything large & small done by our collaborative partners for our benefit and that of our clients.

We want to thank the accountants, CPA’s, and CFO’s who with attention to detail prepared & reviewed company financials while also structuring deals to mitigate taxes for sellers and enhance tax benefits for buyers.

We want to thank the attorneys who drafted, negotiated, and reviewed transactional documents, along with their professional colleagues who protected intellectual property rights, estate planned, and created entities as vessels for entrepreneurship.

We want to thank the lenders, SBA, Conventional, and Real Estate, who supported buyer acquisitions.  We are blessed to live in a nation where the government and its banks support entrepreneurship.  What is available here is not available anywhere else in the world.

We want to thank the real estate community.  We are blessed to have a strong national network of real estate professionals willing to help assess property values, sell properties when the present use is no longer the highest & best use of the land, lease, and sublease spaces, and help retirement age clients sell their homes to move to the sun and parties relocating to Washington & Oregon motivated by entrepreneurship find homes to become part of communities and raise their families.

We want to thank the professionals who support our transactions with escrow, title, inspection, and appraisal services.

We want to thank the wealth advising community for helping our clients strategize for retirement, legacy, and philanthropy with the assets generated from successful sales of their businesses and associated real estate, if applicable. We also want to thank the parties who facilitate the use of retirement assets to acquire family businesses, so that nest egg can grow larger under their direct management of privately held companies.

We want to thank the advisors and consultants from SCORE to outsourced CFO’s who invite us into meetings to help strategize and serve their clients.

We want to thank the spectrum of trade and professional organizations that allow us to serve their communities and contribute to their strength and vitality.

We want to thank the franchisors who supported us in the sale of new franchised business opportunities and the resale of established successful franchises.

We want to thank our government officials who serve at a municipal, county, state, and federal level advocating to maintain the “special” economic environment that exists in the United States that allows all demographic groups of entrepreneurs to climb a limitless ladder of opportunity as business owners offering leadership, freedom, and financial prosperity to anyone with a vision and ability to execute.

We want to thank the people who work for the government who process the paperwork and protect the citizens through monitoring business operations.   Who does not take comfort from seeing an excellent or good smiling face on the window from the health inspector when walking into a restaurant?

Finally, as the owner of IBA, I want to thank every member of the IBA team for their contribution to the firm’s quality of service and success.   I know how hard you work, the amount of time you spend in pursuit of enhanced knowledge and skills, and appreciate the integrity you demonstrate personally, on behalf of IBA, and as members of the mergers & acquisitions industry. You are leaders and high performers in the business brokerage industry for a reason.

I am also grateful for the support your spouses and families provide you to pursue a profession where you are asked to take on the stressful responsibility of securing a retirement nest egg that will allow for aging with dignity and comfort for many clients, problem solve through sophisticated transactional issues inclined to create confrontation between parties with a cool head, and work evenings and weekends, as that is often the only time entrepreneurs are available to collaborate on a business sale.

I close with the wise words of Pope John Paul II

“Let us remember the past with gratitude, live the present with enthusiasm, and look forward to the future with confidence.”

I wish everyone in IBA’s world past and present a Happy Thanksgiving.

IBA, the Pacific Northwest’s premier business brokerage firm since 1975, is available as an information resource to the media, business brokerage, mergers & acquisitions, real estate, legal, and accounting communities on subjects relevant to the purchase & sale of privately held companies and family-owned businesses.  IBA is recognized as one of the best business brokerage firms in the nation based on its long track record of successfully negotiating “win-win” business sale transactions in environments of full disclosure employing “best practices”.