Businesses for sale

I follow real estate and saw the following headline:

“Rents take a leap as retail vacancy rate plummets to 3.02%”

I can imagine retail brokers across that particular region checking in with each other before retail space is leased or offered for lease, in order to maintain that magical 3.02% vacancy rate.

Let’s listen in on a phone call at that well-known business brokerage that also handles retail leasing now:

Broker: Good morning, ABC-XYZ Realty. How may I help you?

Owner: I own that shopping center down the street. A tenant just moved out and I want you to find me a new tenant.

Broker: What’s the square footage of the space?

Owner: 1234 square feet.

Broker: Let’s see. I know DEF-TUV Realty just listed 2345 square feet of retail space. And yesterday, GHI-QRS Realty found someone for that 4567 square feet across town. If we bring this space officially onto the market, the vacancy rate is going to go to . . . (background sound of calculator keys) . . . 3.13%. I’m sorry, we at ABC-XYZ Realty have a professional commitment to maintain the high standards of the industry, including not disturbing officially released statistics. We cannot put your retail space on the market, unless it maintains the 3.02% vacancy rate.

Owner: I’m disappointed that I can’t offer my space for lease, but I understand. We are dealing with the truth here.

Of course, the above dialog may actually not have taken place. Maybe certain forms of it did. But people’s actions follow upon their beliefs.

Am I being absurd? Yes, but only to make a point.

Statistics, however they are compiled and however accurate they may be, provide a snapshot of a situation which can change over time. We are swimming in and swamped with statistics, and sometimes need a gentle reminder to use them as tool, while protecting ourselves by not always let them control our thinking and determine our decisions. They certainly are not interest rates for fixed rate bank loans, which are also quoted in percentage terms but do reflect accurately a part of the lending terms of the loan.

As you look for businesses for sale on Acquireo in your quest to buy a business, remember that you have greater control of the success of the economy of your business than anyone else. The statistics told me so.