OpenCap Global & Finders

by Mr. Luis A. Pretelt Romero, from Panamá

What is a “finder” anyway? In Business Consulting, a “finder” or “hunter” is a person who indicates a specific business opportunity to another company, as a potential customer. If a deal is completed and terms are met, this finder is usually rewarded with a finder’s fee that equals a percentage of the referred business sales. In our busy and fast passed world, connections and good relationships in your environment are essential to doing good business. Both parts, the company and the finder must have a solid trust-based relationship or partnership and this relationship has to be formalized through a written agreement between both parties, where they agree on all possible outcomes prior to the first business opportunity.

What is the profile of a finder within Financial or Business Consulting?

A finder must have several attributes in general terms:

a. Must be a well rounded business person that has experience in the market where he/she is acting. Reputation is everything and you want to surround yourself with business savvy people with a good personal ethics guide.

b. A finder has to have a good handle on financial operations, how it works, the process that they follow, knowledge of all the financial institutions & players within each operation, because a finder is the initial trust person of the client. They need to able to guide them through the process to make sure they know what they are doing, where they are going and what the outcome will be.

c. People Skills: a finder/hunter find himself between the client and the company. This person needs to be able to have great negotiation skills and read each person involved in the business transaction as well as being able to read the situation in which is person finds themselves throughout the process. This is key to the success of the deal.

d. Has to be a very open and responsible person. Because they are in such a delicate situation they can easily find themselves in a conflict of interest between the parts. This has to be disclosed always in the correct manner to avoid misunderstandings or even illegal situations.

e. Finally, a finder has to root for the deal. No matter what, he needs the deal to get completed in order to cash in. He will make sure he does everything in his power to negotiate the best deal for all involved.

What is the finder role within the deal?

In summary the finders role is to present a good business opportunity to the right partner or company at the right moment. In the financial world, the finder’s fee can be paid by the buyer or seller. This is usually negotiated prior to presenting the business opportunity. One thing is clear, the finder has to choose a side, he either receives from one or the other, never from both parts.

Finally, a finder’s fee or commission is also negotiated prior to presenting the buyer/investor with the seller. This guarantees fair terms for both the finder and the other party. The benchmark of a finder’s fee varies from business to business.