AIBB’s Growth Is Good News for Business Brokers
AIBB’s Growth Is Good News for Business Brokers
The future of AIBB as the peak professional body for business brokers in Australia is proceeding strongly, according to Andrew Morris, the current National Chair. The increasing number of younger members is an exciting development that will help develop the profession.
“When I joined AIBB, we only had about 270 members. Most of us were older as that was typical business broker then,” Andrew recalled.
“Now we have almost 400 members, but we are continuously increasing with a younger, more vibrant membership.”
The evolution of AIBB is occurring in many different areas.
The Business Broker Identity
Andrew explained that originally, business brokers were real estate agents who sold businesses (even if there was no real estate involved). This arrangement worked initially, but it became apparent that the skills and resources needed to be a successful business broker were not the same as real estate agents.
This divergence of required capabilities has contributed to some of the reputational damage that modern business brokers are working to repair.
“AIBB, as a separate, national association devoted to business brokers is focused on our specific needs,” Andrew explained.
“We are filling the gap the state-based real estate institutes (REIs) don’t cover. And, in the process, adding professional status to business broking.”
Focus on Training
AIBB now provides courses to train new brokers in the basics and more advanced topics, specifically tailored to business brokers.
“Now we are providing quality compulsory professional development (CPD) as an ongoing requirement for all members, just like accountants and lawyers do,” Andrew continued.
CPD providers need to be approved by the various Offices of Fair Trading in each state, and AIBB was recently accredited in Queensland.
“Our online forums, which focus on specific, relevant topics for our members, are always well-attended and provide another avenue for members to gain new knowledge or brush up on existing ideas,” Andrew explained.
“There’s the annual conference. This year, we’ve invested heavily in lining up quality speakers to help our members gain new insights and develop their skills. We have two US-based speakers from the International Business Brokers Association (IBBA) who will have different perspectives,” said Andrew.
Providing More Resources
“We are progressively rolling out new contracts specifically developed for business brokers,” Andrew began.
“Because of our REI historical connection, brokers have used REI documentation, which is based on asset sales (typically residential or commercial property). Often, there are parts of that which don’t suit a business sale, so we are developing documentation for business sales specifically for each state.”
“We’ve done that in Western Australia already, South Australia is almost complete, and then we’ll focus on Queensland.”
“These will only be available to our members, so it’s another reason for brokers to become AIBB members,” he continued.
A new resource centre is being developed to provide an orderly access point for all broker resources, including state-based documentation such as the new contracts.
“We’ve just launched our help desk. Members can contact us with any questions and get answers from our experienced members. We’ve already had quite a few inquiries,” stated Andrew. “Myself and other members are supporting that.”
“And we have invested heavily in developing BizStats into a modern, user-friendly resource, which will be a game-changer for brokers preparing valuations. We plan to release it at the conference, so we are working hard to get it completed,” remarked Andrew.
Professional Presence
Lifting the profile of the AIBB in particular and its members is a priority.
“We recently participated in the Start Your Own Business Expo, which was held in Sydney in conjunction with the Franchising Expo. It was an opportunity to educate the attendees on the role of business brokers and how we can assist with exiting their business before they even start,” Andrew observed. “Rajiv Rajan and I spoke to about 200 attendees for almost an hour. It was well received.”
“The next one is in Brisbane, and Rajiv & I will be speaking again. We’re happy to get out there and present whenever we have the opportunity. We need to place the role of professional business brokers squarely within the business community,” explained Andrew.
With many Australian business brokers now attending the annual IBBA conference in America, there has been an increase in collaborations.
“Our status as a professional association has been enhanced by our collaboration with the IBBA. This gives us access to even more training resources, but the establishment of AIBB as the premier professional association for Australian business brokers internationally will solidify our position even more,” explained Andrew.
And a quick note on the Awards at the upcoming conference,
“The annual awards programme has also been upgraded to make the criteria more stringent to enhance the significance of the awards for recipients,” he continued.
Working Alongside the Real Estate Institutes
Whilst the AIBB is focused solely on business brokers, licensing is still held as as real estate agents in most states, so working with each state's body is important.
For instance, currently in Queensland;
“While we were going through the accreditation process for our CPD with Queensland’s Office of Fair Trading, we mentioned that we were developing our ethics guidelines for AIBB members. They are interested in reviewing these and providing input while considering adapting these for REIQ members too” said Andrew proudly.
“And, as a side note, REIQ has now introduced its own CPD programme for its members and will be rolling out the programme to South Australia and Victoria. AIBB is clearly leading the way,” Andrew observed.
And, the final words on the future of AIBB from Andrew: “I’m incredibly enthusiastic about where we are going.”
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