Presentation by Joe Saad

A Lebanese father comes home one evening and is greeted by his 6 year old son Tony. He bends down, kisses his son and asks him: How was school?

Tony answers: Fine dad.
The father: What did you learn at school today Tony?
Tony: I learned reading, writing and 'rithmatic.
Father: 'Rithmatic, huh? OK, tell me then how much is 2 + 2?
Tony: It depends whether you want to buy or sell, dad.

To a buyer's estimate, 2 + 2 is never more than 3 maybe even less sometimes. To a seller, 2 + 2 is always 5 maybe even 6 or 7 sometimes. To us brokers, 2 + 2 IS and will always be 4.

It is our job to try to bring the seller down to earth and convince him/her that 2 + 2 cannot be 5 or 6, but a 4... as it is our job to demonstrate to a buyer that 3 doesn't exactly come up to the value of a true 2 + 2. Easier said than done, but it is the negotiation skills of good business brokers that finally bring the Sellers and the buyers to a agree that 4 is a logical and reasonable price for a business which components are 2 + 2.

The rare times when a seller agreed with my argument and accepted the concept of listing at the correct and fair market value, I always managed to find a buyer fairly quickly.

The stock market credo is: Buy low, sell high
The business broker's credo: list right, sell fast