I recently held a talk on small businesses and how ill prepared they are for a sale in most instances. A few weeks later I was approached by one of the attendees for a valuation and possible listing. Great was my surprise that this small business owner had actually taken it to heart and was prepared for the meeting in the best possible way. All documentation, financials, management accounts, VAT returns, etc. for the past 5 years! Needless to say that it made my job as a business broker much easier as I could immediately see that this was a well run business which should sell quickly. Thank you very much for a pleasant meeting. You know who you are.

It is also great to see that many businesses in the area are recovering from the world wide economic downturn. Isn’t it amazing to see the human resilience in the face of adversity? We are slowly but surely receiving more listings on very good retail businesses below the R1 mil selling price, although we would like to have a larger selection than that which we currently have. In line with our philosophy of only listing good businesses with verifiable financials we would therefore ask that anyone wishing to sell in the area between Plettenberg Bay and Mossel Bay pse contact us for a confidential discussion and possible listing. Businesses we are looking for and where we have qualified buyers include retail, manufacturing and distribution. Pricing would be from around R800 000 upwards.

We look forward to hearing from you and would love to see more positive stories from entrepreneurs on SA Business. Please contact us on +27(0)44 382-3071 or errol@fs-group.co.za web: www.fs-group.co.za

Until next time, keep your feet on the ground and reach for the stars!

FS Group.

Buyers - buying property
Consider the time and petrol used when driving up and down looking for on show boards on a Sunday or the awkwardness of being taken around by an estate agent to view properties. Now, think for a minute of how video can benefit you…you could view videos of the inside and outside of many properties in the comfort of your own home. That way, contact only needs to be made once you’ve seen the inside and outside and still feel interested - no more unpleasant surprises or disappointments, what you see in the video is what you get when you see the actual property!

Sellers - selling property
Consider the time and wasted hope used when agents bring potential, most often non-serious, buyers around? How frustrating having pushy agents and awkward buyers walking through your home, analysing (and most often criticising) every nook and cranny! Now, think for a minute of how video can benefit you…your agent could have a show day for you at their office, and hand the video, showing the inside and outside of your property, out on disc for the potential buyers to view at home on their TVs or computers. Only then, once they’ve seen the video and are still interested, will you be bothered, and this time it will be by a serious buyer, one who has already gotten a very good idea of what your property is really like! Plus, video can be marketed on the web, so imagine the reach you will now have?! - the world is your oyster!

Real estate agents - marketing property
Consider the time and petrol used when trying to organise a simple viewing of 5 properties - is it even possible to organise this amount of viewings one after each other, at a day and time that suits everyone involved - I didn’t think so! Now, think for a minute of how video can benefit you…you could organise a meeting with the buyer (ultimately the most important person - how else do you get paid?) at a time that is convenient for them - invite them to your office and show them the videos of all of your properties, matching their criteria, on your computer. You can show a buyer the inside and outside of more properties in half an hour, than what you could traditionally show over an entire weekend. Once they’ve seen the videos of the properties and selected the ones they like the look of, you can begin organising traditional viewings - at least you’re now sitting with a serious buyer, who will have no disappointments or unpleasant surprises when physically viewing the properties - your time and petrol will now be worth it!

Basically, video has countless benefits for all players within the real estate market. So, whether you’re a buyer, seller, real estate agent, developer…or anyone interested in property…if you’re not marketing or viewing property on video, why not??

Uchoose Property Marketing (Pty) Ltd. specialises in the filming, editing and advertising of property videos for real estate agents and private sellers in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Sample of a property video created by Uchoose Property Marketing - click to view!