About Us
Pro Biz Consulting specializes in working with small business owners to facilitate the sale of their businesses. We have successfully completed over 200 business sale transactions in a highly confidential environment.
Pro Biz is led by a team of successful business owners that have developed proven strategies that produce results that are normally reserved for larger companies. As you review our menu of services, you will notice that we are much more than your average “main street” business broker. Pro Biz is a full service firm that offers a unique set of capabilities to better serve our client base.
Louis R Sauer Founder and President
Lou Sauer is the Founder and President of ProBiz Consulting Inc. Lou’s 30 years of experience as an entrepreneur and intermediary provides him with the credentials to share his knowledge with business owners of diverse industries. Lou has developed expertise in the sale of manufacturing, retail and service businesses. Lou has listed and sold over 200 businesses in Raleigh and the surrounding area. In addition, he has assisted over 1000 buyers in searching for their next opportunity. He also national clients with whom he consults via ProBiz. In addition, Lou has equity positions in several organizations in the Triangle region.
After serving his country in the USAF, Lou attended the University of Maryland and has a diploma in Business Management from La Salle University. He has completed graduate courses in Estate Planning, Pension and Profit Sharing and Advanced Financial Planning via Purdue University. Also, Lou is an accredited Instructor at the Durham Technical College and has written the syllabus for as well as teaching the following courses: “”Building Your Competitive Advantage”, “Start a Business from Your Home”, “Reading a Small Business P&L”, ” Profit Improvement Making the Numbers Work for You!” and most recently, “The Use of Barter to Increase Profits”. In addition, Lou Sauer has served as a guest instructor at the School for Business Brokerage in Winston Salem, NC, and is also the founder of the Appraisal Certification and Training Institute.
Joe Floyd Owner / Franchise Partner
Joe’s primary goal is to provide the support, facility, and assistance needed to make his clients and their companies more productive, efficient, and successful. One of the goals of ProBiz is to provide outstanding customer service that includes personal attention to each client as if we were their direct employees. Joe is responsible for the daily operations of the center and provides the support for internet connectivity and telephone programming. He has almost 20 years experience in corporate business and specialized in concept development, operations, new product development, current product enhancement, and research. Joe is originally from Oklahoma but relocated to North Carolina 20 years ago.
Why are we called Pro Biz Consulting and not Pro Biz Business Brokerage or Pro Biz Business Brokers? That is a great question. And the answer is that we take a consultative approach to business brokerage. We do as much consulting as we do actual brokerage. Business brokerage is often practiced as a “I have to sell you” kind of business, when in fact, we take the approach, “How can we help you?”
The difference is night and day. As soon as you meet a business broker, does he put the “big sell” on you? Regrettably, this is all too common as has given some in our industry a bid reputation.
Business owners are sometimes reluctant to make contact with a broker for fear of being sold. What people want is information. The business owner wants to know if he can place his trust in the company and broker, to keep his finances and methods secret. Can he be sure his employees or competitors won’t get wind of his interest in selling. Can he have confidence in the broker? In the broker’s skill, knowledge, marketing methods?
When you call Lou Sauer at Pro Biz, you’ll be speaking to a knowledgeable professional. He won’t put the “big sell” on you. As a matter of fact, he’ll ask so many qualifying questions, you may wonder if he is trying to talk you out of selling!
That is the consultative approach and that is Pro Biz Consulting, Inc.
You will really feel like Lou understands your particular business and circumstances. You will be invited to ask as many questions so you can think of and all they will be answered and treated with respect. As a business owner, you know a lot about your business. You’ll see that Lou knows a lot about how to sell your business if you decide to partner up with Pro Biz. It truly is more of a partnership effort, as Pro Biz sees it. The idea is simple. We help people. The help a business owner needs is with both information and with someone who will be pro active in helping achieve the goal. You need to know what your business is worth, what the market is for a business like yours, how long it will take, what will it cost and can it be kept confidential. This is what Pro Biz is all about.
Testimonials:
Worked with Lou Sauer and Pro Biz for over a year and he did the impossible!
– Steve Carver
I didn’t want someone local to know my business so I called a half dozen brokers from the Raleigh area with the largest Ads. Three never called me back, two who answered refused to drive all the way to Wayne County and another made an appointment and then never showed up. The one exception was when I called Pro Biz Consulting. They answered on the second ring, Lou took my call and make an appointment and showed up! He met with me and my Board and advised us on what to do. Good Advice.
– Name Withheld
“I am very happy with my business valuation. In June of 2007, I contacted Lou Sauer of Pro Biz Consulting, whom I’ve known personally and worked with for a number of years. I needed a valuation of my business, XESS Corp., for some legal proceedings. Lou was tremendously helpful in developing this. His knowledge and experience in evaluating businesses is second to none.– Dave V.