Corporate Acquisition Group – Scam or Business Opportunity?

UPDATE 7/25/2009: Ty Tymkovich has failed to deliver on his multiple promises to me regarding the status on our valuation refund. He sent me a check for 1/2 of what he owed me.He has lost his brokers license in Colorado.  There are multiple allegations against Ty which I am more ready to believe than I was in the past.

This topic is taking on a life of its ow, so I am launching a new website at http://www.tytymkovich.com where former customers of Corporate Acquisition Group and Ty can post their stories, information, and options.  This site will be launched in the coming days.

The answer is that Ty Tymkovich and Corporate Acquisition Group is on the level and is a viable way to find an investor for your business.  Like any service business they have some customers that complain for various reasons, but Ty and his company deliver what they promise – opportunity.

Ty Tymkovich has been slighted on a number of websites for various things (mostly untrue).  I have dealt with him directly and I can tell you he has always delivered what he promised to me.  Here’s my story of my interaction with Ty and his company:

Its been almost a year since I received an automated phone call from Rick Weber (312-242-3640) at Corporate Acquisition Group explaining he had a person interested in investing in one of my businesses.

Like any businessman worth his salt, I did some Google searching about who Rick Weber and Ty Tymkovich were before I had further conversations with them.  There are a TON of people out there with opinions about Ty and his company, and after reading a lot of them I decided I would at least have a meeting with their representative to see what they had to offer.

I own three companies – a computer repair company, a website content company, and an internet marketing company.  Ty Tymkovich assured me that they had an investor who was interested in purchasing a portion of one of my companies.  The investment would provide me with much needed capital for expansion and increased marketing.  It sounded like a win-win situation to me.

Is a Business Evaluation a Scam?

Before money changed hands, a business evaluation had to be conducted.  For those who don’t know, a business evaluation is a process by which a company is valued based on its assets, revenues, liabilities, and expected future opportunity.  These factors are all considered before a value is assigned to a company.  That value is how a potential investor can decide if you are a good investment to make.

So here was the first potential red flag – I had to pay $7,500 to have a Texas company conduct an evaluation of my business to assign it a value before Ty Tymkovich and Corporate Acquisitions Group would introduce me to any potential investors.  The way it was explained is that if Corporate Acquisition Group was unable to find an interested investor for my business, they would refund the $7,500 to me.

I was skeptical, so I took the opportunity to contact the Texas company they use for the evaluations and I confirmed that they work with Ty Tymkovich and Corporate Acquisitions Group, and that $7,500 was the accurate price for an assessment on a company with an income level similar to what I have.

I concluded that either Corporate Acquisitions Group was either really confident in their abilities, or this was a masterful ripoff.

I contacted Colorado regulating authorities, the Better Business Bureau, and the local Chamber of commerce and none of them had any unresolved complaints.  I decided to write the check and see what happened.

What Did Corporate Acquisition Group Do?

The biggest thing that Ty’s team at Corporate Acquisition Group did for me was allow me to continue running my businesses while they worked to match me up with an appropriate investor.

On average one to two people a month contacted Corporate Acquisition Group about investing in my company, but so far none of them have been interested enough to produce a letter of intent.

I watched as Ty’s team used the internet to find new leads after their initial leads fell through.  Matching an investor with a business is a finicky task that requires a lot of time, energy and attention.  That is frankly why I hired Corporate Acquisition Group to manage the process for me.  I didn’t have the time or patience to do it myself.

Has Corporate Acquisition Group Found an Investor for my Business?

Not yet.  Over the Christmas holiday they had two more contacts – one from a local guy who probably doesn’t have the kind of money we are talking about (given the credit freeze lately) and another from a guy in the Middle East.

Our one year anniversary is coming up in March with Corporate Acquisition Group, which means if we don’t have a qualified and interested investor before March 25, 2009 Ty’s team is going to be sending me a check for the $7,500 I invested in the business evaluation.

I had a conversation with Ty today to start laying the ground work for the refund.  According to the contract, the request for the refund must be made in writing and mailed within 30 days of the expiration of the original year.  At this time I have every indication that Ty is going to honor the agreement we made together.

Because of this commitment to his word, I plan on leaving the listing with Corporate Acquisition Group even if the one year deadline is not met.

Conclusions:

Every company in existence has a few dissatisfied customers, disgruntled employees, or competitors who would do or say anything to get a leg up on their competition – or better yet steal clients.

At this time I believe that Ty is a man of his word and that Corporate Acquisition Group was doing everything it could to find an investor for my business at a time when investment capital is in short supply.

Subscribe to my RSS feed if you are interested in hearing more about Corporate Acquisitions Group because when the time comes I will post an update and let you know exactly what happens at the end of March – unless of course I get an email from Leah Rogers at Corporate Acquisition Group telling me they have an interested and qualified investor first!