05 Oct Making a Living on Main Street with Ed Pendarvis
In our continuing series of webinars with leading industry veterans and experts, we were joined by Ed Pendarvis in our webinar entitled “Making a Living on Main Street.” The webinar focused on how Main Street brokerage firms have evolved over the years. He also explored some of today’s biggest opportunities and also largest threats.
Mr. Pendarvis has enjoyed a highly successful career and is the Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Sunbelt Network. He had a successful career in real estate sales and development prior to joining Sunbelt in 1983. During his tenure with Sunbelt, Mr. Pendarvis has participated in or managed the sale of 1,000+ businesses. A winner of the prestigious Tom West Award in 2006 for his contribution to the IBBA and the business brokerage industry, Mr. Pendavris has served on numerous associations and as a guest instructor in business brokerage in several states. Additionally, Mr. Pendarvis is a fellow of the IBBA, a Real Estate Broker, a member of the IBBA Board of Directors, where he serves as membership chairman, and serves on The Citadel School of Business Administration Advisory Board.
His “how-to” book for the business brokerage industry, “Buying a Business to Secure Your Financial Freedom,” was published by McGraw-Hill in 2005. Additionally, Mr. Pendavris on two occasions was awarded “The Order of the Palmetto,” which is the State of South Carolina’s highest civilian honor. In this article, we will look at what Mr. Pendarvis feels you need to do today to build a successful future in the profession.
Mr. Pendarvis believes there are many variables involved in creating a successful and lasting brokerage business. One of the key steps he feels that you should take is to have several brokers in the office. He feels that having multiple brokers in the office is essentially stating that Business Brokers and M&A Advisors are “not sole practitioners because you’re building your asset base.”
His view is that in order to dominate your market, particularly on Main Street, it is vital to have brokers. However, having brokers is only one part of the equation. He points out that training must be viewed as an essential part of the process. Highly trained brokers will be much more effective than those that are lacking in training. Like every profession, Business Brokers and M&A Advisors must have proper training to achieve success.
Another key point that Mr. Pendarvis makes is that you should network and not be afraid of getting to know other brokerage professionals. His perspective is that there is so much business to go around. Therefore, it is rare for Business Brokers and M&A Advisors to interfere with one another in the marketplace. In fact, it is quite common for brokers to assist one another. When you overlook networking, you are missing out on a big piece of the puzzle towards building a thriving business.
In our next article, we will further explore Mr. Pendarvis’ thoughts on what steps you should take to build a successful business. In particular, we will focus on Mr. Pendarvis’ views on Main Street.
