Frank Chebalo has been the owner of a Murphy Business Broker franchise since 2016. But his experience in business brokerage goes back more than a decade.

After a successful career in broadcast engineering and management, Frank left a VP position with the New York Times Broadcast Media Group in 2007, joining a successful business brokerage firm in southern Virginia. Four years later, Frank opened his own brokerage business, operating independently out of Virginia Beach.

As his business grew, Frank found himself with a growing list of clients and staff. While this was great news for his bottom line, he started to wish that he had the resources of a larger brokerage network. That led Frank to transition his office from an independent firm to a Murphy Business broker franchise.

“Having been in the business for nearly a decade, I was familiar with Murphy and its leadership group, so I immediately felt comfortable with what they had to offer. There’s this wealth of expertise and knowledge there, and then you have these world-class systems and resources. It just seemed like the right choice.”

Since its transition to a business broker franchise, Frank’s firm has merged seamlessly with the Murphy model and identity. As a result, he has more time for his clients and fewer challenges hiring and training new staff.

In a recent conversation, we chatted with Frank about his experience as an independent broker, what led him to transition to a Murphy Business, and his advice for up-and-coming business brokers.

Why a Murphy Business Broker Franchise?

“Murphy does a phenomenal job of training people and educating them in the business brokerage process.”

Frank’s brokerage firm was thriving before its transition to a business broker franchise. So why make the switch to Murphy Business? According to Frank, the decision came from a couple of key factors.

First, he wanted more time for his clients and less time spent on back-office duties. Frank knew this work was crucial to his business. But it was limiting the time he had for one-on-one conversations with clients, a critical component of business brokerage.

“Our job is to help business owners solve a problem, and that takes a high level of customer service and communication. One way to go about that is to offset a lot of the busy work and minutiae. That way, you can focus on the client and serve their needs. And one of the things Murphy excels at is taking care of that back-office work.”

Second, he wanted access to the resources that come with being part of a franchise group that would make it easier to hire and train qualified brokerage staff.

“When I hire someone, I want to make sure that they’re equipped with the education and tools to succeed on behalf of our clients and do a good job of representing our brand. Murphy does a phenomenal job of training people and educating them in the business brokerage process.”

Frank was confident that Murphy had the tools his firm needed. But he knew the transition to a business broker franchise would take careful planning — and so did the team at Murphy Business.

The Benefits of a Murphy Business Franchise

“As an independent broker, I had to do all that back office work myself. Now I have that time back, so I can put that time into my clients, where it’s needed.”

During the transition to a business broker franchise, Frank was concerned about maintaining his brand. But after working closely with Murphy’s corporate office on the transition, these concerns quickly disappeared.

“The process that Murphy put together for the change has worked exceptionally well. Having been established for six or seven years, our brand merged seamlessly with the Murphy identity.”

Since the switch, Frank has enjoyed the back-office support that originally led him to a business broker franchise in the first place.

“Now that we’re with Murphy, we’ve got a great online system to keep our clients’ data confidential and manageable, in a way that’s much more streamlined than before. As an independent broker, I had to do all that back-office work myself. Now I have that time back, so I can put that time into my clients, where it’s needed.”

And when he’s hiring new staff, Frank no longer needs to worry bout bringing them up to speed.

“Thanks to Murphy, they’ve got the training and the tools they need to get a difficult job done and to get it done correctly.”

Advice for Up-and-Coming Business Brokers

“The training, the guidance, and the toolset Murphy has — especially for brokers who are just starting out — it’s second to none.”

Toward the end of our conversation with Frank, we asked him about his thoughts on the future of business brokerage. Like many other business broker franchise owners, Frank sees extraordinary potential for growth over the next several years.

“People talk about the Baby Boomer wave, and if you look at the numbers, they’re just staggering. Right now, we have more and more individuals who have delayed retirement. But that wave is coming, and all those businesses will have to be exchanged out to new people. So, the service we offer is only going to increase in demand.”

We also asked Frank for his advice for anyone who’s thinking of buying a business broker franchise. Here’s what he had to say:

“I’d tell them about some of the pitfalls of going it alone. Being independent in this business is absolutely doable. And I can say that because I’ve done it. But you can do things much more easily in partnership with Murphy. Over the years, and this is known industry-wide, the organization has attracted the best of the best. So the training, the guidance, and the toolset Murphy has, especially for brokers who are just starting out — it’s second to none.”

Learn more about business broker franchise opportunities with Murphy Business! Call (727) 725-7090 for detailed information about our franchise offering.