We’ve mentioned in previous posts that 7 out of 10 businesses listed for sale never sell. This post will discuss these 3 points and give a brief explanation of each. Selling your Insurance Agency is no easy task and the first thing you should do is assemble a team of Professionals to assist. You won’t sell a home without a Real Estate Agent. You don’t do taxes without an Accountant or Tax Preparer. Why would you sell your business without professional representation? Read more

The biggest challenge we face on a daily basis is the ability to verify the income of an agency in order to list it for sale. Insurance Agency Owners have a good idea how much each carrier pays them each month, but lack the paper trail buyers need. We have various posts on this very topic and it’s important for sellers to organize their accounting in order to sell it. Read more

Los Angeles, Ca. LA’s Best Insurance Services acquired Mid-C Insurance Services on May 30th, 2008. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Mid-C Insurance was established 50 years ago and specializes in Personal Lines Insurance Coverage’s. Owner Christie Cummings said “We had several suitors interested in our agency but LA’s Best was the best candidate because they wanted to continue doing business the way our clients are accustomed to doing business.”LA’s Best Insurance has several locations in Southern California and specializes in Auto and Home Insurance.  Broker/Owner Daniel Corchado was elated to complete this acquisition and added “In this soft market this acquisition will help us attain our growth goals for 2008 and we look forward to serving the clients of Mid-C without interruption”.

Ganis Consulting www.ganisco.com a Los Angeles based Insurance Consulting firm that specializes in selling insurance agencies brought the parties together and assisted in closing the transaction. “We’d like all Insurance Agency Owners to know that if they want to sell or are considering selling in the next year to give us a call”.

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Insurance Agency Sellers might encounter 1-2 qualified buyers after having an agency on the market for 2-3 months. You’ll talk to 50 interested buyers, but the people that can actually write a check are few and far between. When you sell your agency, the number one priority is preparation. The first impression a prospective buyer gets from your agency is you. The second impression is your accounting, bookkeeping and operational methods. Read more

By looking at our site you can guess our answer to this question is a definite yes. When you sell your business without an intermediary you’re not using every tool available. If you have a buyer with certain objections, they’ll never tell you their concerns and will most likely walk from the deal. When you have a 3rd party communicating with potential buyers, they’ll tell us all of their objections which we can overcome. Below are just a few of the benefits to using an intermediary when selling your agency. Read more

“What is my insurance agency worth”? is the number one question we field from owners. The best way it’s ever been explained to me is “insurance agencies are like snowflakes, no two are alike”. This statement hits the nail on the head because every agency has different types of value. In our initial interview with agency sellers we ask key questions to determine the value of your agency. When you’re selling insurance, you look for the buyers hot button and close the sale based on their particular needs or “hot buttons”. Read more

Many calls we take from  prospective buyers for Personal Lines Insurance Agencies specifically request Mercury, Safeco, Travelers and Hartford as carriers they’re looking to acquire. If these books have profitable loss ratios and a solid agency infrastructure they’re by far the most valuable Personal Lines books available. Carriers such as Allied, Firemans, Chubb and Kemper are also very popular. Read more

Most agency owners will sell an insurance agency once in their lifetime. Many insurance agency buyers have purchased more than one, have more experience with the process and have an advantage when it comes to negotiating. When selling your agency you need to assemble a team consisting of your CPA, Attorney and Insurance Agency Consultant or Business Broker. Each person plays a vital role in the process. This post will discuss the CPA’s role in the selling process. Read more