
Unlocking Business Success with Neal Isaacs: Insights on Buying, Selling, and Scaling Your Business
Jonathan Breeden: [00:00:00] on this week’s episode of The Best of Johnston County Podcast, our guest is Neil Isaacs of VR Brokers of the Triangle. Neil is a business broker who helps buy and sell businesses for small business owners every day. We talk about what does a business broker do and how it differs from being a real estate broker. We talk about the things that make businesses more attractive to potential buyers.
How long it takes you to possibly sell your small business. And we also talk about the importance of networking and marketing yourself and your small business to other businesses that might be looking to buy your business. So listen in.
Narrator: welcome to another episode of Best of Johnston County, brought to you by Breeden Law Office. Our host, Jonathan Breeden, an experienced family lawyer with a deep connection to the community, is ready to take you on a journey through the area that he has called home for over 20 years. Whether it’s a deep dive into the love locals have for the county [00:01:00] or unraveling the complexities of family law, Best of Johnston County presents an authentic slice of this unique community.
Jonathan Breeden: Hello and welcome to another edition of The Best of Johnston County Podcast. I’m your host, Jonathan Breeden. And on today’s episode, we have Neil Isaacs with VR Brokers of the Triangle. Neil helps buy and sell businesses every day. And today we’re going to talk about what makes a business more attractive and more valuable, what buyers are looking for and how you can make your business better so that it would be more attractive and more valuable to a possible buyer, and it really starts with planning and planning early.
But before we get to that, I would like to invite you to like follow and subscribe to The Best of Johnston County Podcast wherever you’re seeing it, whether it be on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, TikTok, LinkedIn, Twitter, or any of the other Best of [00:02:00] Johnston County Podcast social media channels so that you’ll be made aware of future episodes of The Best of Johnston County.
The Best of Johnston County Podcast comes out every single monday. And now we’ve had well over 50 episodes. We’re into our second year and we’ve had a lot of great guests. So go back and listen to some of the previous guests that we’ve had on the podcast including County Commissioner Chairman Butch Lawter, Congressional candidate now Congressman Brad Knott, County Economic Development Group Director Chris Johnson, County Parks and Rec Director Adrian O’Neal, Local Dentist Tim Sims, Woody Bailey talking about local IT services and computers for your offices.
Tons of great information on the previous episodes, and there’s going to be many, many great guests to come. So if you love Johnson County as much as I do, this is the podcast for you. Welcome, Neil. Happy to be here.
Neal Isaacs: Thanks for having me.
Jonathan Breeden: Oh man, we go way back. This is going to be like old home days. So anyway tell the audience who you are and what you do currently, and then we’ll go back and talk about some of the many things you’ve done before.
Neal Isaacs: Sure. So, [00:03:00] my name is Neil Isaacs. I want to be a business brokers. We’re a business brokerage firm. We sell other people’s businesses. I like to say we empower owners with their options for exit. Been doing that. I’m working, looking at a decade of being a business broker. Hard to believe.
Jonathan Breeden: That it’s hard to believe.
Neal Isaacs: Yeah.
Jonathan Breeden: You know, the thing is you don’t age, right? I’m aging. You don’t age.
Neal Isaacs: We’re all aging. John.
Jonathan Breeden: You just don’t look like you’re aging. I mean, you know, you look basically the same. You did when I made.
Neal Isaacs: I am 70 next year. And I just. You know, I drink a protein shake every day and I work out a little bit.
Jonathan Breeden: Oh my goodness.
Neal Isaacs: That’s not true. I’m 46.
Jonathan Breeden: So anyway, so yeah, and I guess when we met you owned. For people that lived in this area while the aquatic store.
Neal Isaacs: Yes. Yes. So here we are. It’s 40/42 JoCo, I moved here in 03. I was a marine biologist Ripley’s Aquarium the Smokies I was a shark diver and I found a business for sale in Johnston County and I told [00:04:00] my shark diver boss I’m gonna quit and go buy this business and he’s like, I kind of like you to stay but I mean we got a million people that want this job.
And so I moved down here I bought this business and I ran it for five and a half years I like to joke. I’m probably I’m one of two guys that sold a clam and Garner and Johnston County for $500.
Neal Isaacs: So, yeah. So, cause you, you had all kinds of stuff. It was you had aquariums and I sold Nemo and Dory.
Jonathan Breeden: Right?
Neal Isaacs: That movie Finding Nemo came out in 2000 and I opened in oh three and I rode that way. That was the perfect movie. But yeah. Clownfish, Nemo fish, the clams were Tridacta maxima, corals, shrimp, invertebrates, marine ornamentals is what we were selling.
Jonathan Breeden: Oh my goodness. You know, my business coach, Richard James was in uh, the pet supply business and they did some of the aquarium type stuff. And you know, in that same timeframe and [00:05:00] ultimately the invention of Amazon and some of the online retailers really made it hard for his sort of mom and pop shop and Pennsylvania to make a living. So he had to go do something else.
Neal Isaacs: And that’s something I think we’ll touch on today is, you know, businesses come and go and they change over time. And I don’t know that my, if I hadn’t sold it, I don’t know that it would have been a viable product in today’s world of everyone ordering on Amazon.
Jonathan Breeden: Well, that’s true. That’s true. So then you transitioned to Selling Tom Warner cable ads, I think, was it ads?
Neal Isaacs: I sold the business in oh three and I, I remember my headspace was like, okay, you know, I’m, I’m too young to be president. I’m too old to be an Olympic athlete. Like what’s next for me? That’s where I was at 30 years old when I sold my first business. But I did a couple of things, but I ended up for the longest period before I started their business brokers being a media sales rep.
So I was the guy that would say, Hey, do you want to be on ESPN? Do you want to be on home and garden [00:06:00] networks like let’s create some content and put you in the right spot. I did that for five plus years and learned that was really my first taste of corporate America type stuff.
Jonathan Breeden: Right. And you know, and you and I talked about doing some different things back then I was you know, I couldn’t do the business that I had at that point.
And so, you know, I couldn’t figure out exactly who I was going to market to. And if it actually worked, how was I going to get the work done? Now I’m looking back into that kind of stuff for my business with these sort of direct to consumer streaming ads. And we may actually get into some of those in 2025. But yeah,
Neal Isaacs: Another business that’s changed dramatically over time and adapt to stay competitive.
Jonathan Breeden: No, well, that’s true. That’s true because of the way that now they can really target the sets that are seeing these different things, particularly with the streaming ones, maybe not with traditional cable, but with the streaming things, it’s, you know, for those of y’all listening, I spend, you know, it nailed us to spend a lot of time talking to people and marketing and stuff.
The things that the world knows about you right now [00:07:00] and the way you could be targeted and how it’s changed with AI over the last five years is fascinating and scary at the same time.
Neal Isaacs: Absolutely.
Jonathan Breeden: Because I learn about these things as people try to sell me different ways to market to my ideal client and I’m like, you can do that. And they’re like, yes. And I’m like, that’s scary.
Neal Isaacs: Yeah.
Jonathan Breeden: Like they know that much about you that they can really target these ads. And then the ads follow you around the internet. And it’s.
Neal Isaacs: I’m so glad I had that experience in marketing because marketing is at the core of every small business How do we find more customers and it is progressed breakneck speed since I got out close to a decade ago. But just to see kind of the idea of reach and frequency just understanding how marketing works. That was critical that’s part of my path and uh the leap from selling advertising space into being a business [00:08:00] broker I remember that very clearly because it was starting to get kind of easy.
And I met some folks that were there and they were like kind of looking at how much more till I retire. And I thought I could become one of those folks. And at the same time I had gotten to where there were a couple of clients that I had, like they were prospects and then they were customers and then they were friends.
And I was getting some FaceTime with some like legit business entrepreneurs that I was like, wow, this is amazing. And their problems were like so much more significant than mine. Like I remember the biggest problem I had is maybe someone’s TV commercial doesn’t, doesn’t run. That’s not a big problem.
But these folks were like, you know, we’ve got pallets and pallets of merch to move. Like everything you see here is going out tonight and we’ve got more stuff coming in. And I thought, man, that is so cool. So I started to get that hunger to start a business. And then I, kind of explored a bunch of stuff and I just love the business brokerage piece of it.
Jonathan Breeden: Right. Well, and you’d already owned a small business and then you went to work for one of the largest companies in the United States and Time Warner, [00:09:00] which is now spectrum, and then you went back into owning your own business. And I wasn’t gonna, I thought about being a real estate agent, but I’m not a guy that sold tropical fish.
Neal Isaacs: Like I don’t do normal jobs and that’s where business brokerage, which is kind of the redheaded stepchild of real estate seemed to be a good fit. I really liked the fact that people don’t even know that business brokers exist. That’s a big part of what we do is education. That’s true. And so we have these conversations with business owners like what’s the plan?
Where’s this all this going, you know, you help people with the state planning and family matters they’re thinking about the end for themselves. Hopefully, they are a lot of them aren’t but people should be doing the same thing for their business and they’re not.
Jonathan Breeden: And I would agree 100 percent and, you know, I’m fairly active in the community here and you’re the only business broker that I know personally in this community, I know there are others. I know other business brokers in the business broker of selling a law firm world you know, because you meet him at conferences, you know, you listen to them on podcasts and stuff like that, but yeah, but I think people don’t always think [00:10:00] about. You know, when or how or should I sell my business?
Neal Isaacs: Yeah, yes, and that’s typically how business brokerage goes is you have local specialists and then you have people, market specialists and then you have industry specialists. So there are legal brokers, accounting brokers, dental brokers that only sell dentists or attorneys or what have you.
But for a main street business, your buyer the research indicates and we publish these research guides every quarter because we like to stay on top of the latest but the research indicates your buyer is probably within 20 miles It’s a business lesson, say a million bucks or so. So it helps to have a local broker and that’s what we serve any business owner that makes money basically in the triangle.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay. So if I owned a business and I was thinking that I might want to sell it, how soon should I start planning?
Neal Isaacs: On day one, this is what people don’t do, but the earlier, the better. Start with the end in mind. Right. If [00:11:00] not, if worst case scenario, sell it. You end up with a business that runs better without you if you do some planning to make it transferable. I mean, ultimately what business buyers are looking for is they just want a business that makes money, that has some type of process and some people. And that isn’t a hundred percent owner dependent.
So start planning for that. And then you just have more options for exit.
Jonathan Breeden: Right. And so for those of us, or those people that did not start with the thought that they were going to sell it. You know, I would say my experience, you know, we work with a couple of people, even though we do family law, they’ve sold businesses as part of their divorce.
You know you need a uh, at least a two or three year runway because mainly you got to get the books, right? You know, I mean, we’ll talk to systems in a minute, but there are a lot of small businesses where the books are not on the up and up, at least as far as the IRS would be concerned.
Neal Isaacs: Yeah. So, I’ll answer your previous question a little bit more succinctly. The look back period, is like three to five years someone’s going to buy your business. They’re going to look at your books they’re going to [00:12:00] study the last three maybe five years but what they care most about is the trailing 12 months trailing 18 months you will be judged by your PNL trailing 12 month PNL and to your point you can only really fix that it takes time to cement that. And from a banking perspective, like if your buyer is going to get a loan, they’re primarily looking at the tax returns.
The tax returns are carved in concrete. So you, you could change those, but you don’t want to. So if you want, if you don’t like the current status of your business, you’re looking at years to correct it. If you, to change the financial state, to improve your financial state.
Jonathan Breeden: Right, and they need to be correct. And a lot of small businesses run their entire lives through their business, which they aren’t probably really supposed to do, but they do. And so that can make the numbers a little skewed for what they should be or not. And some businesses dealing cash, and maybe that cash doesn’t make it to the bank, you know, but all of that stuff, if you’re looking to sell a business, it needs to be on the up and up.
Neal Isaacs: It does. And actually you can, I’m [00:13:00] not an accountant, but I have a lot of great accountant centers of influence referral partners. And, financial advisors that have ways to mitigate, it’s tax mitigations, right? People don’t want to pay taxes, understandable, and you don’t have to pay more taxes than you’re allowed to.
So follow the rules, following the rules and using the, the ways that are available to save taxes is better than, you know, I build decks and I made too much money this year. So I’m just going to put a really nice deck on my house and call that cost of goods sold. That’s an example of a way to save taxes.
That’s probably going to devalue your business. If that was put into a retirement account, that was put into some type of depreciation. There’s other ways to do it. That’s what we want our clients to talk to their accounts about.
Jonathan Breeden: Well, and the other thing a business buyer is going to be looking for is it’s going to be looking at sort of the net profits or the total owner’s benefit of the business, you know, which is not always, [00:14:00] you know, a net profit, but there’s, you know, the other things owners can pay themselves a W-2 wage.
Neal Isaacs: You can pay your kids a W-2 wage.
Jonathan Breeden: You can pay your, pay your kids a W-2 wage if they work for you.
Neal Isaacs: There’s all kinds of correct ways to do it. That’s what we want to encourage business owners to educate themselves with working with their team and to do it correctly.
Because if I’ve heard one banker caught stealing from the business, which literally you’re taking the money. You’re not reporting it. You’re breaking the law you’re hurt. You’re taking your future consideration of sale today. It’s a short sighted, but if you don’t know how it seems like, Yeah, I’ve got money here. Why do I report it? But you’re really stealing from your future.
Jonathan Breeden: Well, and if you’re going to be a small business owner and you’re going to want to sell, you’re going to have some sort of operating system that is repeatable for the owner who’s going to buy it.
I know you’re a fan of EOS. I am as well. You know, we, we’ve been Todd Bailey and EOS implementer it’s going to be on this podcast and [00:15:00] may have already been on when this episode runs. I don’t exactly know which order they’re going to run, but talking about that program as a system by which to organize your business, how do you see that system or any system help?
What does it do for a small business?
Neal Isaacs: So, let’s go back to my origin story. When I was right across the road selling tropical fish, selling Nemo and Dory. I mean, I could barely take a vacation. If I could, if I left for a week, I would, we didn’t have cell phones back then. But I’d be worried. I’d be calling my manager.
I was lucky to have a manager, but I’d get back and have to put everything back together. To simplify the great work that, Todd Bailey and other EOS implementers do it’s like, hey, how dependent is your business on you? Can you take a vacation? That’s a question. We ask business owners, how long does it take your business to fall apart when you’re not there because every business buyer?
Here’s the secret. Are you ready for the secret? John?
Jonathan Breeden: I am. love to see
Neal Isaacs: Every business buyer wants easy money they want to buy something that makes money and they don’t have to work, right? That’s what every business buyer wants and we know [00:16:00] as business owners that doesn’t exist but the more we can make our businesses Less owner dependent, the more we can empower our teams and just put the right money into payroll and other things.
So that’s, it kind of, it’s more than just us, the more value there is. And I think EOS and other, systems like that can really help owners focus on that.
Jonathan Breeden: No, no doubt. No doubt. And, Gina Wickman came up with EOS and the first book in the series is "Traction". And then I think the next book is "Get a Grip" and, you know, and they talk about, getting the right people in the right seats with a vision and a core value and, implementing and everybody having a responsibility. And, you know, we don’t have time in this podcast to go through it. You can do hours and hours. You listen to the Todd Bailey episode.
It’s really good. Read those books. Those are well, but ultimately I think that’s where I have seen businesses, fail when it came time to sell, you know, and in the state plan situation or even in a divorce is that it was to owner dependent and there was [00:17:00] nobody else there that could do it because the owner was doing all the work in the business had not worked enough on the business.
So it was not repeatable or scalable.
Neal Isaacs: 100%. And it’s natural that that happens because as, as entrepreneurs, we make something out of nothing. We are responsible for getting it from zero to one. That’s a Peter Thiel book. But ultimately it takes a different skill set to scale up. So it’s hard for entrepreneurs to let go of how to do it, but they have to empower others.
But what it means for the community, The Johnson County community is you build a business, people start coming there. They love to come there and then none of us are going to last forever. But what if you could build a business that wasn’t about you, that had a team that, ran it, now you have a succession plan for your business.
Now, after. Maybe you aren’t available to be there, or maybe you just want to do something else. Now the business can continue to serve the community and what the businesses that we sell, the employees stay employed, they feed their [00:18:00] families. The customers can continue to use their services. The government can continue to tax the business.
I mean, all these are great things as opposed to, you know, I ran it for a little while and then I just kind of ran out of steam and I couldn’t carry it anymore. so it ended.
Jonathan Breeden: Well, that’s a good point.
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Jonathan Breeden: So how do you and your team, VR brokers. serve business owners who want to sell?
Neal Isaacs: Yeah. So typically when we get a call, it’s somebody who’s been thinking about selling for a long time. We know when we get that call, they’ve debated on even having that first conversation. So we start with, Hey, everything’s confidential. That’s another thing that’s different than real estate. We, you don’t want your employees to know you don’t want your [00:19:00] landlord to know. This is exactly what I was thinking when I started to sell my business.
We have processes to keep this confidential. So. Let’s start with the financial piece. I know your business is more than just the numbers, but let’s start with the numbers to get kind of a range. Once we have a range, and EOS is really good about this, we can improve parts of the business to get to the top of the range.
But let’s start with evaluation. Let’s see what it’s worth today. Let’s see if that aligns with your goals and what it typically works out with. I’ll just use a round number of million dollars based on your financials, based on other businesses that have sold like yours. You can get a million dollars for your business. If you sold right now, does that work for you?
And then people say, yeah, I need to retire. That’s not enough or that’s that sounds okay. Usually they want more or once in a while, they’ll say, wow, I can’t believe I can get a million dollars for my business, but that’s the beauty of, being the owner. You get to decide what to do next. It’s kind of a pick your own path thing.
If they’re not happy with it, then we talk about, well, this is why it’s worth a million and these are things you can do [00:20:00] to improve it. And so that next time we do this, maybe it’ll be worth 2 million, 5 million or 10 million.
Jonathan Breeden: Right. And so what are some of those things that you would that you most commonly recommend to increase the value of the business?
Neal Isaacs: Well, revenue, I mean, it’s pretty obvious but more revenue If it’s managed well, will inevitably result in higher cashflow. And, but at the same time we look at, are they spending the money on the right things, right? So we talked about not spending enough on payroll. We’ll look at how much the owner is spending on payroll. And oftentimes they’re not spending enough. They may have really high margins, but they’re keeping all of it for themselves. And that’s why they’re kind of limited. limiting the growth of their business. So that’s called benchmarking. Are you spending the right amounts in the right category of your expenses? And that’s all on the financial side.
And then on the personnel side building that team. Making sure that people are in the right places. One thing I will say is I am not a huge fan of when owners start giving equity to their team members I think there’s ways to do it but we do come [00:21:00] into situations where the owner says I like my manager so much. I gave him some equity, you know I want to sell the business and we’re like, well, now your manager’s involved in this sale. Like bring him in here. Let’s let him know you’re trying to sell the company.
So preserving equity is one of those things that we talk with the business owners about. And then just processes and procedures, documenting everything. Back to that idea of can you take a vacation? To take it out of your head, put it in an employee manual or policies and procedures. That’s the hard work, the blocking and tackling, but that really does translate to value in the longterm.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay. Well, that’s cool. So how do you market these businesses when it is technically largely confidential?
Neal Isaacs: it is. So that’s where it gets tricky. And as an intermediary, we put a code name on the business. So, you’ll see on the businesses that we have for sale, it’s called, you know, Plumbing Company, Triangle Market. You know, $4,000,000 of revenue, $800,000 of EBITDA. It’s a teaser, if you will. And then we have hundreds of [00:22:00] people that say, which plumbing company is that?
And we say, right this way, here’s an NDA, tell me about you. Do you have any business inquiring? About this business? And if it makes sense, then we go to the next stage, which is, you understand this is confidential, you understand the employees don’t know. This is the name of the business. Here’s a, we call it a confidential business review, a very detailed report. That we’re very protective of we want to get it to the buyers that have been screened we don’t want that to go out to the general public.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay, and i’ve looked at buying other law firms. So I know how that works. ultimately chose not to because I felt like it would be my time would be better spent. Working to scale and make my office better than trying to convert somebody else’s office and I think that ended up being the right decision for me at the time.
And that’s saying I wouldn’t buy one in the future.
Neal Isaacs: But that’s one reason I’m not a huge fan of the specialty practices. Cause you’re trying to blend that culture. You just gotta, it’s gotta be the [00:23:00] perfect fit to buy another dentist, to buy another attorney firm. You built your practice a certain way that your practitioner you’re buying out may have a different philosophy.
Jonathan Breeden: Correct. Correct.
Neal Isaacs: The businesses that we sell that it’s back to owner dependency. It’s less of a factor there.
Jonathan Breeden: Right. So does the buyer pay you or does the seller because I know how real estate works and they sort of the buyer the seller pays both sides.
Yeah, you know commission to both brokers, but how does yours work?
Neal Isaacs: Yeah, so we represent sellers only buyers are our customers and one Interesting piece about business brokerage is there’s very little buyer representation so all buyers are our customers. Rarely are they, do they have representation? It’s different in other markets. In florida go to Florida and it’s very much like real estate.
There’s business buyer brokers. They’ll get you in a car and go visit businesses to buy and it’s more set up for co-brokering in North Carolina there’s very little of that. So our business buyers are our customers and we’re working with them explaining [00:24:00] I represent the seller but I can help you in service to my client to empower you to get through this deal.
Here’s a great attorney. Here’s a great CPA give me your diligence list. I can share material facts, but I can’t tell you the lowest amount that the seller will accept. That’s where my agency, you know, I have a fiduciary responsibility. So we’re doing I don’t want to say twice the work, but we’re working on both sides in service to the seller client and buyers are unrepresented. That is in many cases.
Jonathan Breeden: That’s scary, to me.
Neal Isaacs: It’s much harder to buy a business than to sell a business. There’s no doubt about that.
Jonathan Breeden: Right. Right. Yeah. I mean, that is. Yeah, that is scary.
Neal Isaacs: It’s scary.
Jonathan Breeden: But Hey.
Neal Isaacs: That’s gotta put on your big boy pants.
Jonathan Breeden: Yeah, right. No, that’s true That’s true. I mean, you know and sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t So, well, that’s cool. I know you’re working on becoming a certified exit planner.
Neal Isaacs: Yeah.
Jonathan Breeden: What is that?
Neal Isaacs: Yeah, so I’m an intermediary I’m a transaction agent and you asked like how long do people need to prepare to sell a [00:25:00] business typically when people come in if they’re like I want to sell within a couple years. Then we’ll start that conversation because we know it takes about a year to sell and it takes about a year to go from maybe i’ll sell to get me out of here. That’s kind of a two year window and after they sell you know, we want them to be successful, but we’re so focused on that transition.
We’re kind of onto the next deal with, with a SEPA certified exit planning advisor, it’s a longer window. So now we’re, partnering with the financial advisors, the accountants, other CEPAs, actually. To do more long term planning and to just dive deeper into the financial planning the accounting planning it’s more about preparing for the exit than the actual exit itself it’s very complementary to what we do as transaction agents.
Jonathan Breeden: Oh, that’s cool.
Neal Isaacs: Yeah.
Jonathan Breeden: Well, let’s transition here and briefly talk a little bit about you know, you’re working the community. You are almost everywhere. And I mean, you’re the biggest cheerleader for the town of Garner that I know and then the Garner Chamber of Commerce. Talk about your involvement [00:26:00] with the Garner Chamber of Commerce and what you do for them and, and how you see that Chambers can help other businesses.
Neal Isaacs: Yeah. So why do I network? You know, I’m a business intermediary. I sell other people’s businesses. Most people don’t even want to talk about that. In similar ways to a divorce attorney, people aren’t going to say, Hey, I want a divorce. Hey, I want to sell my business. They want to talk about that, but they don’t want to kind of, they don’t want to talk about it at the same time. So my networking in the events that I do and the work that I do with the chamber, it’s community service. And it’s also a way for me just to be present. In the business community to serve others.
So, you know, we do a coffee events every month. Hey business owners You want to meet other business owners? Come get a coffee on us. We hosted it Lorraine’s which is a Garner business my work with the Chamber I’ve been a part of the Chamber even back to the when I was selling advertising And when I started this business, I said i’m just gonna go all in with the Chamber, Hey, It’s a place for business owners to connect with each other.
I like that. I was an ambassador for like five, six years. I’ve served on the board for two [00:27:00] or three years now. I’m on the executive level of the board. When you take a role like that, whether it’s chamber, rotary, QL, any type of service level thing, it’s a little bit odd because you’re in the room with the people you want to do business with.
But you’re not shaking them down to do business, but you’re rubbing shoulders with them and your peers with them. And you’re all in this service mindset. Inevitably, you’re going to build relationships so that you can do business in the future and you’ll get referrals from them.
And, I like that, that service mindset. And you know, I just think the Chamber is a great organization and it helps when business owners start, especially they need a lot of help. And the Chamber serves a great role there. It also has a great partnership with the town of Garner that they, it’s an amazing partnership. And, you know, the mayor of Garner comes to a lot of our events and stuff like that.
And that’s only because of the service that we do and because he’s great mayor and everything. So it all kind of ties together.
Jonathan Breeden: No, no doubt. No doubt. No doubt.
Neal Isaacs: And I’ve, you know, I enjoy being involved with the Garner chamber of commerce and the Clayton Chamber of Commerce and Triangle East Chamber of Commerce and [00:28:00] meeting other businesses and sharing information and sort of being a connector.
Jonathan Breeden: You know what I mean? You know, when I think of Neil Isaacs, I think of Neil Isaacs as a connector. You know, a lot of people. You know, you can help people connect. I do the same thing, you know, between the two of us, there’s not a lot of people in the business community around 40/42 and Garner that we do not know.
And so, and that’s just, you know, some of that is, I’m an extrovert, I like to be around people. Some of that is just being a resource in the community by being able to connect people. And I know you do a great job of that and I try to as well.
Neal Isaacs: Not everybody needs legal services today and not everybody needs to sell a business today, But everybody wants that next connection for their own business for their own personal stuff and we can provide that today that’s the fun part.
Jonathan Breeden: No doubt. No doubt. Well the last question we ask everybody on this this podcast I know you owned a business in Johnson County and you’re working on several deals selling Johnson County businesses. What do you love most about Johnson County?
Neal Isaacs: I love the breakneck growth. So, when I [00:29:00] owned Aquatica and that was a long time ago, I opened that in 2023. And the recording is 2024. So 21 years ago there’s a different landscape out there, all the stuff that’s happening. I mean, the 40/42 market in particular, it’s like the fastest growing part of Johnson County. And it’s, and a lot of people have concerns about the traffic and the planning or what, what have you but I love the fact that it’s just. Always a great opportunity. If there’s a business owner and they have a business here, it’s kind of hard to mess it up, right? You have a lot of great opportunity because there’s more people coming here all the time.
Jonathan Breeden: It does help to be in a growing market, you know, and it’s, allowed me to grow my business over the years and we do provide a great service here and we do work very hard, but it does help that there’s just more people to provide our services to every single year as this area continues to grow.
And that leads to more young families and more young families you know, breaking up for whatever reason and that need our family law services here and more people that need wills and [00:30:00] that kind of stuff.
Neal Isaacs: I love the opportunity of Johnson County, and I think we’ve got a long. Long way to go of continued growth and I can’t wait to see where it goes.
Jonathan Breeden: Well, if somebody wanted to reach out to you about VR brokers and what you do or your certified exit planning, how would they do that?
Neal Isaacs: Yeah, so I run a YouTube channel. John, you’re talking with a D-list YouTube celebrity today. I don’t know if you’re aware of that, but I’m on YouTube at Raleigh Business Broker and I do educational content for business owners, business buyers, and other business brokers at Raleigh Business Broker on YouTube.
People can reach out to me, sell. SELL, like, I wanna sell my business. Sell@vrbiztriangle.com and VR Biz Triangle VR is is the firm. VrBizTriangle.com is our website. We can learn more about us.
Jonathan Breeden: Cool. Cool. Well, that’s great. Well, we would like to thank Neil Isaacs for being our guest today on The Best of Johnston County Podcast. As we mentioned earlier. If this is your first time listening, feel free to Like, Follow, and Subscribe to this wherever you’re seeing it, [00:31:00] so that you’ll be aware of future episodes of The Best of Johnston County Podcast.
If you’d also give us a five star review down at the bottom of where you’re seeing this podcast, so that more people become aware, and would you tag us in your Instagram stories, The Best of Johnston County Podcast, that will also raise our visibility in the community.
Until next time, I’m your host, Jonathan Breeden.
Narrator: That’s the end of today’s episode of Best of Johnston County, a show brought to you by the trusted team at Breeden Law Office. We thank you for joining us today and we look forward to sharing more interesting facets of this community next week. Every story, every viewpoint adds another thread to the rich tapestry of Johnston County.
If the legal aspects highlighted raised some questions, help is just around the corner at www. breedenfirm. com.
What does it take to sell a business or prepare it for long-term success? On this episode of The Best of Johnston County Podcast, host Jonathan Breeden chats with Neal Isaacs, a seasoned business broker and founder of VR Brokers of the Triangle. With nearly a decade of experience, Neal helps small business owners navigate the complexities of buying and selling businesses while creating lasting value. From his unconventional career path to practical tips, Neal shared valuable insights for entrepreneurs.
From Shark Diver to Business Broker
Before becoming a business broker, Neal’s career took an unexpected path. Starting as a marine biologist at Ripley’s Aquarium, he spent his days diving with sharks before purchasing a local aquatic store in Johnston County.
Neal thrived during the Finding Nemo craze, selling clownfish and $500 clams, but eventually sold the business and transitioned into corporate media sales. It was during this time Neal realized his passion for entrepreneurship while working with business owners managing large-scale operations. Inspired, he pivoted to business brokerage—a role Neal describes as empowering owners with their exit options.
What Makes a Business Sellable?
Neal emphasized the importance of planning early, even if selling isn’t on your radar yet. A scalable, transferable business is valuable to both you and future buyers.
Here’s what buyers prioritize:
- Independence from the Owner
Buyers want a business that makes money without heavy owner involvement. Systems like EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) or hiring strong team members can make your business more appealing. - Clean Financials
Buyers and lenders scrutinize 3–5 years of financial records, especially the last 12–18 months. Neal explained, “The tax returns are carved in concrete,” highlighting the importance of transparency. - Documented Processes
Neal posed a critical question: “How long does it take for your business to fall apart if you’re not there?” Documenting procedures ensures continuity, making your business easier to sell.
The Role of Confidentiality
Unlike real estate, selling a business requires discretion. Neal explained how VR Brokers keeps sales confidential using code names and NDAs. This protects the seller’s identity and prevents disruptions with employees, landlords, or competitors.
Preparing for a Successful Exit
If you didn’t plan ahead, Neal says it’s still possible to prepare for a sale with a two- to three-year runway.
Key steps include:
- Fixing Financials: Buyers care about net profit and clear, accurate books.
- Building a Team: Empower staff so the business doesn’t rely entirely on you.
- Avoiding Short-Sighted Strategies: Misclassifying personal expenses as business costs may reduce taxes but hurts your business value.
Networking: The Power of Community
Neal is a firm believer in networking. As a board member of the Garner Chamber of Commerce, he hosts monthly coffee events to connect local business owners. “Networking is about being present in the community and serving others,” Neal said.
Through these connections, Neal builds relationships that help foster opportunities for businesses. For him, being a “connector” aligns with his role as a broker: helping others navigate challenges and find the right opportunities.
Opportunities in Johnston County
For Neal, Johnston County offers immense potential. Reflecting on his time as a local business owner, he’s witnessed the area’s rapid growth. “It’s kind of hard to mess it up,” Neal said of the 40/42 corridor, emphasizing the opportunities for small businesses in the region’s booming market.
Final Thoughts
Neal’s advice for entrepreneurs is simple: success starts with preparation. Whether scaling or selling, focus on systems, clean financials, and a transferable business model. And don’t underestimate the power of community—networking opens doors you may not know exist.
Want to learn more from Neal? Check out his YouTube channel, Raleigh Business Broker, where he shares educational content for business owners and buyers.
Don’t miss this episode of The Best of Johnston County Podcast—a must-listen for entrepreneurs, small business owners, and anyone curious about business sales. Be sure to like, follow, and subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or other platforms!
AND MORE TOPICS COVERED IN THE FULL INTERVIEW!!! You can check that out and subscribe to YouTube.
Connect with Jonathan Breeden:
- Website: https://www.breedenfirm.com/
- Phone Number: Call (919) 726-0578
- Podcast: https://breedenlawpodcast.com/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BestofJoCoPodcast
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