Scott Bushkie is a savvy deal maker out to change the face of business brokerage.  Bushkie founded his company, Cornerstone Business Services, just four years ago at the age of twenty-six.  Today he heads the fastest growing business brokerage firm in the Midwest.  

An independent thinker, Bushkie broke with the tradition of main street business brokerage.  He built a firm that sets itself apart by serving lower middle market clients with the same dedicated service and comprehensive sales process typically found only in large merger and acquisition (M&A) firms. Bushkie defines the lower middle market as businesses with enterprise values between about $1 million to $10 million.

What Bushkie saw was that while most large private companies do sell, many small and mid-sized businesses are needlessly closed or liquidated.  According to the SBA, about one third of all small business closures involve successful, viable companies.  Bushkie aims to change those statistics. 

“It’s sad for me to think that so many people put in their blood, sweat, and tears to create a living for themselves, but in the end they don’t know what they have,” Bushkie said.  “They’re potentially leaving hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table that could have improved their quality of life or their children’s lives.”

In high end M&A, advisors will typically work with just a few clients. When Bushkie chose to work in the $1 to $10 million niche, he chose to serve small and mid-size companies with the same quality and focused service given to larger business owners.  In doing so, Cornerstone provides a successful closure rates on par with big corporations.  Cornerstone has a closing rate of 76% compared to the market average of just 25%. 

Other brokers are showing a great deal of interest in Bushkie’s ideas.  So far two of his advisors are converts from the traditional “list all you can and sell a few” business model.  They cite unparalleled levels of support as a key motivator for making the switch.  At Cornerstone, a broker’s job is to build relationships and make a sale.  Support team members create the marketing materials, advertise the opportunity, screen buyers, and coordinate closing details.

Headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Cornerstone Business Services has offices in Milwaukee and Detroit, and plans are underway to open additional locations soon.  Sales have doubled nearly every year since the company’s inception.  Bushkie’s growth strategy remains aggressive, with intent to add three new locations a year for the next five years.  

Bushkie points to Michael E. Gerber, author of The E-Myth Revisited, as a critical influence on his business plan.  Gerber draws a distinction between working in your business and working on your business.  Bushkie spends the bulk of his time working on the business, strategizing growth plans and looking to the future.  Meanwhile, he entrusts his team members to execute his vision. 

From the beginning, Bushkie was also committed to following Gerber’s advice on developing a “franchise prototype.” 

“The more you think of your company in terms of building a franchise, the more you ask yourself questions about how you do things,” Bushkie said.  “Processes become clearer and people are able to understand your vision and what their role is within that vision.”