The following is a memo I recently published, that’s a re-write of one I did several years ago. I have found that this “Baby Boomer” prediction has turned out to be ultra true.

LOOK AT THESE FACTS…

The Baby Boomers (about 70,000,000 of them) are poised to make a great impact on the American economy.

• Retiring Boomer business owners will sell or bequeath $10 trillion worth of assets over the next two decades.
• These assets are held in more than 12 million privately owned businesses.
• More than 70 percent of these companies are expected to change hands.
• The sale of almost 12 million businesses over the next 10 to 15 years represents a significant increase in the annual number of businesses that will be sold.
• These owners of businesses should have a valuation performed by a business broker, to map out a strategy for selling and structuring the sale of the business.
• Planning ahead will enable business owners to achieve the best transaction possible during this Boomer-induced wave of business sales.
• The 12,000,000 businesses likely to change hands over the next 10-15 years might involve a large number of boomer-to-boomer sales.
• Baby Boomers ages 45 to 64 form businesses at a higher rate than other age groups.
• 55 to 64 year olds form businesses at the highest rate of any age group.
• Many of the Baby Boomers are too young to retire; they typically have ample capital through savings, investments or other assets; they have job-related skills accumulated through a lifetime of work; and many have lost faith (and money) as a result of large company layoffs and restructurings; and many will buy their own business in coming years.
• Many Boomers find themselves unhinged from their traditional employment safety nets. This dislocation has fueled an intense desire and need to have control of their destinies.
• Ironically, now small business ownership is seen as much more safe and secure than working for a large company.
• So, in the coming decades, not only are we likely to see millions of Baby Boomers selling businesses they now own, we will also see additional millions of Boomers (who’ve spent their lives working for someone else), buying businesses.
• The next two decades will see a significant increase in the number of small and mid-sized businesses being bought and sold by Baby Boomers, in addition to the other generations of Americans that business brokers regularly deal with.

NOW’S THE TIME FOR  HARD WORKING BUSINESS BROKERS, AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS EXCITING WAVE OF BOOMER BUYING AND SELLING, TO BE ENERGETIC, ENGAGED, FOCUSED, AND “TALKING TO THE PEOPLE”…

To be continued Thursday with specifics on what business brokers should be doing to take advantage of this exciting wave.