Why Do Business Brokers Compare Different Businesses When Selling?

Business brokers are integral to the process of selling a business. They actively seek the right buyer in a marketplace crowded with contenders. One of their primary responsibilities is comparing similar companies to better estimate the true value of the assets they sell.

The comparison process is a key task in selling a business. It’s important to determine the business’s positioning in the marketplace and assess its value. When business brokers have comparable companies to evaluate, they can calculate a fair and reasonable value for the business they’re selling. Doing so can make the transaction smooth and equitable.

Understanding Business Value

Business brokers are experts in analyzing all aspects of the businesses they represent. In comparing similar businesses, they get a better picture of their financial performance, position in the current marketplace, and growth potential. This analysis is especially useful when they have several comparable businesses in the same general area to measure against.

By comparing multiple sale prices and value estimates, business brokers are better able to set the right price for the businesses they represent and find willing buyers.

Monitoring Market Conditions and Buyer Sentiment

The business marketplace is always in flux. Business brokers weigh various businesses’ values against the general condition of the marketplace, including common trends and expectations. Knowing the business landscape as well as they do, business brokers compare businesses so they can make proper adjustments to pricing and marketing the business.

Comparing properties gives brokers the ability to recommend the best positioning and strategies for selling a business. They can strengthen the business’s bottom line and increase the chances of a successful transaction.

Positioning Businesses for Success

Business brokers are tasked with putting companies in the best position for a sale. That often means making adjustments and optimizing current operations to be more attractive to potential buyers. 

By comparing a business’s operations to other similar firms, business brokers can identify the positives of the company along with areas for improvement. This gives them the ability to establish successful models or highlight some of the unique traits of the business they’re selling. 

Establishing a Fair Selling Price

Perhaps the biggest reason business brokers use comparisons is to set a competitive price for the business being sold. Comparing a business to others can give brokers a better sense of how the company measures up in price and market appeal. In turn, they can set a price that maximizes the company’s value while staying within market expectations. 

Using comparisons to set a price can increase the chances of a timely and successful sale while getting the seller the best return possible.

Building Trust and Transparency

Finally, business brokers who present comparisons to their clients reinforce their credibility and trust. They prove their knowledge of the marketplace and research expertise, which resounds with both current clients and potential new ones. They earn a reputation for accuracy, forthrightness, and depth of knowledge.

Comparing businesses is the most direct and effective way for business brokers to arrive at a fair value for the companies they represent.

What Business Brokers Do to Close Deals Quickly

Whether you’re buying or selling a business, getting the deal closed is the ultimate goal. But the path to closing a deal quickly can be littered with obstacles and delays if you don’t have business brokers on your side.

Good business brokers who can get you to closing quickly at the price you want must master several skills to pull off such a feat.

Here’s a look at what business brokers do to close deals quickly.

What Is a Business Broker?

A business broker is someone who can help you buy or sell your small or medium business. A business broker typically has deep knowledge about businesses and experience buying and selling them.

Business brokers take care of many tasks, including:

• Determining how much your business is worth

• Marketing your business

• Screening potential buyers

• Negotiating deals

• Managing the due diligence process

Business brokers who have honed these skills can close deals quickly.

How Business Brokers Close Deals Quickly

Business brokers who can get you to closing quickly must display their full set of skills honed over the years. They must efficiently match a buyer to a seller, stay ahead of any potential issues, analyze the market, communicate openly and often, deploy advanced negotiation techniques, and promptly prepare all documentation.

Here are the steps business brokers follow to close deals fast:

Qualify Buyers

To avoid wasting time with unqualified leads, business brokers thoroughly screen buyers to match them to a seller.

Develop a Business Presentation

Business brokers create a comprehensive business profile with accurate financial data, key operational details to help potential buyers understand the business without giving away the name, and a narrative that highlights what makes the business stand out in its industry.

Market the Business

Business brokers develop marketing materials and target their marketing through online listings and their vast industry network.

Communicate Clearly and Often

Business brokers must develop a high level of communication to keep buyers and sellers up to date, appropriately relay wishes between the parties, and promptly resolve any issues that arise.

Negotiate Strategically

One of the most valued skills business brokers have is an advanced negotiation technique. A business broker’s strategic negotiating skills can keep a business deal from falling apart or a business owner from losing out on the full value of a business. Negotiation skills can bridge the gap between the buyer’s and the seller’s expectations and help maintain a positive relationship.

Facilitate Due Diligence

Business brokers can avoid delays by making sure the due diligence process runs smoothly. They can organize financial and legal documents and facilitate the creation of other required documents from attorneys and other professionals.

With their finger on the pulse of industries and markets, business brokers understand how to create a sense of urgency to expedite the process.

Business Brokers Help Your Business Get Sold

Business brokers don’t simply follow a checklist when brokering the sale or purchase of a business. They must master the skills of communication, negotiation, emotional intelligence, adaptability, and market analysis to close deals quickly.

Tips for Marketing Your Business to Potential Buyers

When you’re ready to sell your business, do you know how to market it to find potential buyers? It can be more challenging than you might think to sell a small or medium business. The reasons a business doesn’t sell can range from being overpriced to operating in the red. However, some just lack good marketing.

Business brokers, who can handle the sale of your business from beginning to end, know how to market small and medium businesses to get to closing. Business brokers can help with:

• Valuing and pricing your business

• Developing a marketing strategy

• Creating marketing materials

• Screening and qualifying potential buyers

• Maintaining confidentiality

When you’re ready to execute your exit strategy and sell your business, use these tips to market your business to potential buyers.

How to Market Your Business for Sale

No matter how good your business is, marketing it effectively can be the key to finding the right buyer at the right price. Marketing generates awareness about your company, products, and services and can showcase your company’s value proposition, attracting potential buyers.

You can find potential buyers by following these key marketing tips:

Define Your Target Buyer

Research and understand what type of buyer might be most interested in buying your business. Then tailor your marketing to that business persona.

Obtain a Professional Valuation

Business brokers can properly value your business to understand your company’s market value and guide your pricing strategy.

Develop a Value Proposition

What makes your business stand out? Build a narrative around the innovative products, brand or customer loyalty, customer service, customer base, or market position that sets you apart from competitors.

Present a Professional Online Presence

From your website to your social media, use high-quality images and graphics to communicate your company’s strengths, financials, and growth potential.

Network With Potential Buyers

Business brokers maintain vast networks of buyers, investors, and professionals to help you reach a pool of potential buyers to talk up your business.

Highlight Growth Potential

Buyers want a company that is growing, but they understand that businesses aren’t perfect. You can emphasize expansion opportunities and the potential for increased revenue and profitability. However, you can also be transparent about business challenges.

Maintain Confidentiality

You want to be able to market your company to potential buyers without letting employees and customers know about the sale. You can use non-disclosure agreements to safeguard information shared with potential buyers.

Throughout your marketing efforts, consider consulting with an attorney to remain in compliance with regulations and contracts.

Business Brokers Can Streamline Your Marketing

Some business owners opt to go it alone when marketing their businesses for sale. However, effectively marketing your business can take you away from running it, potentially drawing away opportunities to increase its value. Business brokers know businesses, have experience buying and selling companies, and are adept at marketing. They can handle your marketing needs — from valuing your company to locating and screening buyers to developing marketing strategies and materials — all while maintaining the confidentiality of your business.

How to Create a Solid Exit Strategy

Every business owner is different, but one thing you share with others is that you will leave your business someday — one way or another.

Planning for that day should happen three to five years before you want to exit your business. However, by setting your exit strategy at the start when you build your business plan, you can get the most out of your business and make a smooth transition.

Adding a group of professionals, including business brokers, to your team early can help you plan a solid exit strategy to walk out the door with your goals accomplished and your business in good hands for the future.

Here’s how you can create a solid exit strategy.

What Is an Exit Strategy?

An exit strategy is a detailed, step-by-step plan for leaving your business while maximizing its value. A well-thought-out exit plan accounts for all stakeholders, finances, and operations, and it provides a road map to your company’s goals and new directions, whether you’re at the helm or not.

Whether you plan to sell your business to a family member, a close associate, an employee, or an outside buyer, building your exit strategy can be a lot of work. Business brokers can guide you through the planning process and the later exit, leaving you to run your business to maximize its value.

Key Steps to Building a Solid Exit Strategy

Having an exit strategy puts in writing the outcomes you want to achieve over the lifespan of your company. This helps you and your team set goals and is attractive to potential buyers who value an exit plan as a commitment to your vision for your business. Here are key steps to consider.

Your Goals

Determine the business and personal outcomes you expect when you exit.

The Market

Analyze industry trends, economic conditions, and potential interests of buyers to determine when you might leave.

Your Management Team

Buyers want to know the business can run without you. Set clear responsibilities, delegate work, and empower decision-making. 

Value of Your Business

Get a business valuation and maintain a strong balance sheet. Knowing the value of your business can help you identify where you can build more value before you exit.

Succession Plan

Whether you plan to sell the company to a family member, employee, or outside buyer, identify and prepare someone or a team to run the business in your absence. 

Due Diligence

Gather and order financial records, contracts, and legal documents for potential buyers to review.

The Right Exit Strategy Starts With a Plan

Having a plan that covers these key steps can help you have a smooth exit whether you leave in five or 20 years. Working alongside business brokers early can go a long way to getting the most out of your business when you’re ready to step out the door. Business brokers have deep knowledge about markets, an understanding of buyer psychology, and experience in exit planning strategies. Having business brokers lead a team of professionals — accountants, attorneys, and financial advisors — can help build and execute your exit plan while you continue your business.

The Secrets of Successful Business Negotiations Revealed

When you begin thinking about selling your business, consider there is way more to the process than finding the right buyer and upfront price. You want to get the best deal, and business brokers can help you uncover the secrets to winning negotiations.

Negotiating is a skilled process that uses a collaborative approach to reach a win-win outcome for you and your buyer. Effectively negotiating your deal can be the difference between walking away with a satisfactory deal or a great deal.

Business brokers have deep knowledge about businesses and years of experience negotiating deals that get you to the closing table faster and at the price you want.

Here are the secrets to successful business negotiations.

What Is a Business Negotiation?

A business negotiation is a process where you and one or more parties are trying to agree on terms of a deal, such as selling your business. The preferable outcome is for the agreement to be mutually beneficial to you and your buyer.

The Secrets Business Brokers Use to Negotiate

Getting to a favorable agreement for both sides requires communication, compromise, and understanding of what each of you wants. The key elements of negotiating a deal that business brokers can help you with include:

• Being prepared

• Understanding what your buyer wants

• Keying on finding mutual ground

• Listening intently

• Building rapport

• Having a best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA)

• Staying flexible

• Presenting more than one option

• Managing your emotions

What holds all this together for you is understanding the value of your business. Business brokers can handle business valuation from beginning to end and can help guide you to finding value in your company.

Start Working With Business Brokers Early to Value Your Company

Analyze your financial statements, such as your profit and loss statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement. Review projections for future profits and your business plan. 

Gauging the value of your business before going into negotiating gives you the best chance of understanding what you should get out of the deal and helps you learn what your buyer needs.

Key Elements of a Successful Negotiation

Knowing the value of your business can prepare you to stick to your key points, communicate, manage your time, make concessions, and be prepared to walk away if necessary. Consider these key steps:

Understand Your Goals and Priorities

Outline what you want to accomplish and what you’re willing to compromise on.

Research Your Buyer

Know what the buyer is looking for and be prepared to meet that need.

Prepare a Plan B

This is your BATNA. Knowing you have an alternative gives you leverage.

Stay Focused on Your Interests

Try to understand the buyer’s demands, consider options, and adapt your position to seek out solutions.

Think Long Term

You want to arrive at the best deal possible, but consider the possibility that you may have future interactions with your buyer.

Taking on experienced business brokers can prepare you to negotiate a great deal for selling your business or to walk away and prepare for the next deal.

Business Brokers Bring Value to Negotiations

Good business brokers have negotiated hundreds of deals and understand businesses across many industries. Pulling business brokers into your team early — when you first begin thinking about selling — can add value to your negotiations to get you the deal you want at the price you want.

What Every Seller Should Know About Business Valuation

Working day in and day out in your business, you probably assume you know everything there is to know about it, including how much your business is worth. However, a M&T Bank survey in 2022 found that 98% of business owners didn’t know the value of their business.

There are many reasons to know how much your business is worth. You may want to buy out a business partner. You also can use a valuation to help guide the strategic planning for your business. Most often, business owners need to know the value of their business when they’re ready to sell it.

Selling a business is no small matter. There’s a lot to know and a lot to keep track of. Having business brokers by your side long before you plan to sell your company can help you get to closing and get the most out of your business.

When you’re ready to sell, business brokers can help you find the right value for your business. Here’s what you should know about business valuation.

What Is a Business Valuation?

A business valuation is a process used to determine the total value of your company and its assets at a specific time. Through the process, independent appraisers or business brokers qualified to evaluate businesses will assess your business’s assets,  cash flow, market position, future earning potential, and comparable businesses in your market.

The business valuation is a price you and a buyer might be able to agree on.

Knowing the worth of your business can help you negotiate the price you want to get when your company sells. It also can help you recognize what buyers might see as valuable or areas you can work on to increase the value of your company.

How Business Brokers Evaluate Your Business

Many approaches can be taken to valuing a company. Here are three main approaches business brokers may use to determine the worth of your company.

Income Approach

This approach determines your company’s worth by calculating the income your business will generate in the future and discounting it back to a present value. This method is useful when you’ve established stable and predictable earnings.

Market Approach

A market approach values your company based on prices of comparable businesses that have sold or the value of similarly situated companies.

Asset Approach

This valuation focuses on the net asset value of your business. With this method, you would subtract all liabilities from your total assets to determine your net asset value. The asset approach is typically used for companies that are underperforming.

To facilitate business brokers valuing your company, you must present profit and loss statements and balance sheets for the last three to five years, licenses, deeds, any tax filings and returns, an overview of your business, and your business plan.

Plan With Business Brokers

To attract the right buyers and arrive at closing with the maximum negotiated price you’re comfortable with, consider getting business brokers on board long before you plan to sell. Business brokers can help you understand business valuation and find value in your company that you might not have known existed.

Great Benefits of Using Business Brokers to Sell Businesses

Whether you’re preparing to sell your first business or your upcoming sale is just the latest of many, selling a company is a time-intensive process that can quickly become overwhelming. However, when you work with a business broker, your broker can save you stress, effort, time, money, and more. Here’s a closer look at some of the key benefits of working with business brokers when making a sale.

1. They Might Already Have a Buyer in Mind

Depending on your industry and your business itself, finding buyers can be a challenge. One of the main draws of business brokers is that they maintain networks of active, interested buyers. This means that once your business goes on the market, your broker can quickly connect you to multiple potentially interested buyers.

2. They Keep Things Confidential

If your employees, clients, or customers learn that you’re selling your business, you might experience significant disruption. Your best employees might worry about losing their jobs and start applying elsewhere, and your customers might turn to competitors instead. 

It can take significant time to sell a business, and if your company starts experiencing major issues before you find a buyer, a successful sale can become next to impossible.

However, when you have a business broker, you can avoid letting customers and competitors know you’ll be selling. Brokers can conceal identifying details of your business. Once your broker has verified that a potential buyer is qualified, they can ask the buyer to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

3. They Can Accurately Value Your Business

There’s a lot to consider when you’re preparing to sell a business — so much so that it’s easy to overlook the basics. A successful sale starts with an accurate valuation. Overvaluing your company means you’ll find few, if any, buyers. Undervaluing means you’ll potentially cheat yourself out of tens of thousands of dollars.

Business brokers value businesses on an almost daily basis. And because they’re uniquely attuned to market dynamics, they can help you price your business for a quick sale or advise you to sell later if you want to maximize profit.

4. They Can Handle the Logistics

Selling a business is far more complex than selling a vehicle — or even selling a home. From start to finish, the process is filled with logistical challenges:

• Creating a marketing strategy

• Communicating with interested buyers

• Vetting buyers

• Negotiating a deal structure that’s beneficial to both of you

• Ensuring all necessary documents are appropriately filed

• Addressing the tax implications of a sale

Even if you’ve sold companies before, tackling these challenges while continuing to run your company isn’t an easy feat. Business brokers can give you the peace of mind that comes with knowing that the sale  — with all of its intricacies  — is in good hands.

Is Working With a Business Broker the Right Choice for You?

Ultimately, whether you decide to work with business brokers or sell your business on your own is up to you. However, if you do choose to work with a broker, you’ll likely find that the sales process becomes smooth and efficient. And most importantly, you’ll have more time to focus on running your business.

Steps to Selling Your Business With a Professional Business Broker

Whether you’re looking to retire or you just want to move on to a new business venture, selling your company brings a tremendous sense of accomplishment. However, the logistics of selling that company can quickly become overwhelming. 

As you may already have discovered, the challenges of selling a business are quite different from the challenges of running one. But when you work with business brokers, you can rest assured that the sale is in the hands of competent professionals — and that you’ll have the time to keep your company running smoothly right up until the sale. 

Here’s an overview of how the sale process works.

Step 1: Choosing Your Broker

A successful sale starts with the right broker, so you should take your time when making a selection. Here are some tips to help you ensure you choose the right broker:

• Make sure the broker has experience in your industry

• Make sure they have experience selling businesses of a similar size to yours

• Verify their licensing information

• Ask them about their marketing plan

• Ask for past client references

Take your time with this process. You should also make sure your broker is someone you feel comfortable talking to — communication skills are an essential part of what business brokers do!

Step 2: Business Valuation

Business brokers can take the time to evaluate your business and give you a highly accurate, fact-based business valuation. While you can get a general idea of your company’s value through online calculators and similar tools, a precise valuation is an essential part of the sales process.

Step 3: Finding Potential Buyers

While business brokers excel when it comes to marketing businesses, many do not need to publicly list a company to find a potential buyer. That’s because brokers maintain active networks of people interested in buying companies like yours. That means they can quickly assemble a short list of would-be buyers for your consideration.

Step 4: Choosing a Buyer

Your broker can handle communications with potential buyers, but ultimately, the choice of buyer is up to you. Your broker can discuss your available options and help you select your preferred buyer.

Step 5: Negotiation and Deal Structuring

This is an area where experienced business brokers can more than make up for their fees. Your broker can negotiate a price and various contingencies with buyers, and once you agree on the terms of the sale, the broker can draw up the necessary contracts.

Step 6: Post-Sale

A broker’s job doesn’t end when the sale is finalized. Selling a business often comes with significant tax implications, and your broker can help you navigate them.

Are Business Brokers the Right Solution for You?

While working with a business broker might not be the right choice for everyone, it makes the sales process simpler and leads to increased profits in the majority of cases. When you take the time to find an accomplished broker with experience in your industry, you’ll be well on your way to a stress-free, successful sale.

How Do Business Brokers Enhance Business Sale Success?

The sale of your business is arguably one of the most complex financial transactions you’ll ever negotiate. The process of getting a business valuation and setting your asking price is just the beginning; potential buyers will likely want to negotiate contingencies, financing, timeframes, and almost any other aspect of the sale you could imagine. 

If you want to maximize your chances of negotiating a sale that’s favorable to you, working with business brokers is critically important. Here are a few key ways in which they can make a difference:

1. They Can Give You a More Accurate Valuation

Before you sell, you need to know your business’s true value. If you put it on the market without knowing its worth, you might shortchange yourself by thousands. Alternatively, on the opposite extreme, you may even go for months without any offers because you’ve accidentally overvalued the company.

An online business valuation calculator can give you a general idea, but business brokers excel when it comes to giving you precise numbers.

2. They Can Screen (and Connect With) Buyers

As brokers handle business deals for a living, they can quickly tell who’s serious about purchasing your business and who isn’t. Perhaps more importantly, though, is that they also know how to find interested buyers. Brokers usually maintain a network of people interested in purchasing specific businesses, which means they can often expedite the sales process.

3. They’ll Handle Negotiations for You

If you want your business sale to be as successful as possible, you need to be a savvy negotiator. There’s almost always some level of compromise on both sides during a sale, but if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing, it’s entirely possible to be taken advantage of. 

Business brokers know what elements of the sale can be compromised on and which ones cannot. And because the amount they earn depends on the final sale price, you can be assured that they’ll be just as motivated as you to secure a high sales price.

4. They’ll Save You Time

Some business owners who opt to sell their companies themselves seriously underestimate the sheer investment of time and energy the process requires. If you’re an owner-operator, you might find that the many tasks associated with a sale, such as the ones below, make it difficult to focus on running your business:

• Responding to inquiries

• Screening potential buyers

• Performing due diligence

• Negotiating terms of the sale

• Ensuring the sale complies with all applicable laws

If you start to have trouble balancing the sales practice with running your business, your business’s value may decrease, which can drive away potential buyers.

Is Working With a Business Broker Right for You?

Some business owners believe they can save money by negotiating the sale of a business themselves. However, unless you already have extensive experience in sales, a business broker’s fee will almost always pay for itself and then some. When you take the time to find a broker with a proven track record of selling businesses in your industry, you’ll be well on your way to a successful sale.

Leading Business Broker Strategies for Maximizing Sale Value

If you’re considering selling your business, it’s essential to find a way to make your company stand out, especially in today’s competitive sales landscape. However, unless you have prior experience selling businesses, you may not know exactly how to do so. 

On that note, check out the following list of some top business broker strategies for maximizing your business’s sale value:

Get an Accurate Valuation

If you want to increase your business’s sales value, you should start by getting its current valuation, as looking closely at it can give you a clearer idea of where you can focus your efforts.

It’s critical that you make sure the valuation you get is as accurate as possible. Online calculators can give you a solid estimate, but a business broker can look closely at your business and give you a more precise result.

Take Steps to Improve Profitability

Increasing your business’s profitability is always a good thing. However, if you can do so right before you sell, you may be able to considerably increase its sale value. Here are a few suggestions:

• Reduce overhead costs if possible

• Evaluate current policies and procedures for any inefficiencies

• Assess your business model and adjust as needed

• Try to grow your customer base

Of course, you should also make sure that potential buyers are able to see your newfound new profitability, too. Organized financial statements are particularly important to have on hand.

Consider Diversifying Your Revenue Streams

Such a tactic may not be feasible for every kind of business. Nevertheless, when you’re running a business, diversity generally leads to greater stability. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, either; even a slight variation of what you do currently can make a difference. For example, if you run a vintage clothing store, you might consider offering subscription boxes as well.

Cultivate Your Brand

Though you might not be able to assign an exact dollar value to a strong brand identity, building a strong brand is nevertheless one of the most effective business broker strategies for increasing your profitability before a sale. A recognizable brand lends credibility to your company, making it easier for your customers to stay loyal.

Keeping your brand consistent across every customer experience is critical for your success. You should communicate the same essence and brand personality wherever your logo appears, such as:

• On your website

• In your brick-and-mortar locations

• On your social media pages

• In your email marketing campaigns or ad campaigns

You can build a brand (or strengthen one) on your own. However, you may get better results if you work alongside a marketing professional. These individuals will know how to connect with your business’s target audience, a key ingredient in your company’s long-term success.

Don’t Rush the Process

Once you’ve decided to sell your business, you might be eager to get it on the market right away. However, selling your business is not a process you should rush, and neither is maximizing your business’s value. When you take the time to get an understanding of your company’s value and use the right business broker strategies to increase that value, you’ll almost certainly be rewarded with a profitable sale.

Business Brokers Specialize in Selling so You Can Continue Operations

Moving on is in the future of every entrepreneur or small- and medium-business owner. There’s no shame or guilt in admitting that. Thinking about it up front shows your business acumen and how much you care about your company, employees, and customers.

That’s because selling your business is no small matter. You may be counting on the proceeds from the sale to fund your retirement or next adventure. Also, your employees have families to care for, and customers still need their products or services.

Whether moving on to another venture or retiring, consider engaging business brokers, such as Sunbelt Business Brokers, to help plan your exit years before you hang up your hat. Business brokers can use their special skills to handle the complex process of the sale while you remain focused on operating your business.

What Are Business Brokers?

Business Brokers, or business transfer agents or intermediaries, are individuals or companies that can help you sell or buy a business. Sunbelt Business Brokers have spent years acquiring experience in business valuation, confidentiality, due diligence, compliance, and marketing, as well as skills in negotiating, closing, selling, or buying a business.

Consider the tasks and responsibilities business brokers carry out to sell your business:

• Estimating the value of your business

• Marketing your business for sale

• Vetting potential buyers

• Negotiating the terms and price of the sale

• Structuring the deal

• Completing the due diligence

• Closing the transaction

Selling your business is no time to go it alone, no matter the level of your business skills. You also don’t want to wait until the nameplate is being changed on the door. Getting business brokers onboard years before your exit is your best chance for a successful outcome for all involved.

Why Use Business Brokers?

One of the biggest keys to selling your business when you want, how you want, and at the price you want is to continue its operation with no disruption. Your employees feel assured about their jobs, potential buyers view your company as strong and stable, and you can continue to build your company’s value.

Business brokers can handle all the tasks necessary to sell your business, including recommendations on growing the value of your business, allowing you to focus on running your business. Use Sunbelt Business Brokers’ business valuation calculator along the way to monitor the growth in your business’s value.

Business Brokers Help You Reach Your Goal

As a business owner, adding business brokers — and other professionals, such as attorneys and accountants — to your team may seem like an expense. However, it’s an investment in your company and your future.

One of the greatest specialties of business brokers, such as Sunbelt Business Brokers, is maintaining the confidentiality of sellers. Without confidentiality, word of a sale could get out, negatively impacting your business. Customers may start to buy elsewhere, employees may move to competitors, and buyers may lower their offers.

Onboarding business brokers early can keep you from wasting time and money trying to manage a sale on your own. With this assistance, you can continue operating your business to get to closing at the terms you want and for the best price possible.

Skilled Business Brokers Take the Time to Understand Your Business

As a business owner or founder, you might think no one knows your business as well as you do. However, when the time comes to sell your company, consider seeking out business brokers, such as Sunbelt Business Brokers.

Business brokers will take the time to get to know and understand you and your company, making them pivotal to maximizing the strategy and profitability of the sale.

Sunbelt Business Brokers has deep experience working with small and medium businesses, handling every detail of a sale from beginning to closing. That experience, combined with understanding your business, is key to getting you to close quickly and with the best possible sales price.

What Are Business Brokers?

Business brokers, often called intermediaries, are individuals or companies that can help you buy or sell a business. Selling a business can be a long and complex process and can take six months to a year.

Business brokers, such as Sunbelt Business Brokers, often know your industry and possess specialized skills to get you quickly from the thought of selling your business to being sold — and at a higher price than you may have expected.

How Understanding Your Business Helps

A key to a successful sale is bringing business brokers into your company long before you plan to sell. Skilled business brokers like Sunbelt Business Brokers use that time to listen, watch, learn, and provide objective guidance.

Here’s how that helps you optimize the sale of your business:

Valuation

While an online business valuation calculator can give you an estimate of what your business is worth, business brokers know an accurate business valuation takes skill. To get the most precise valuation, business brokers combine experience and specialized knowledge with a full understanding of your business and how it works.

Once you understand where your business’s value lies, you can work with your brokers to set a strategy for getting top dollar at closing.

Competitive Advantage

Skilled business brokers who take the time to understand your business know how the intangible assets can distinguish you from competitors, making your business more attractive to potential buyers. Consider these intangible assets:

• Intellectual property

• Brand recognition

• Customer loyalty

• Reputation

Knowledgeable business brokers know how to weave your intangible assets into a narrative that sets you apart in the marketplace and draws buyers to you.

Matching

Business brokers maintain a vast network and spend time with potential buyers. As a result, they have a deep understanding of the businesses those buyers are seeking. These business brokers can match you to buyers they are acquainted with in their network, giving you the possibility of reaching the negotiating table faster.

Selling a business you created and nurtured into a successful company can draw your emotions to the surface. Business brokers, who have handled many previous deals and now understand your business, can be an objective beacon to get you through to a better deal than you could have obtained on your own.

Understand What You Want From the Deal

When looking to maximize the profit from the sale of your business, reputable and skilled business brokers are willing to take the time to learn about you and your company to deliver that goal. So consider taking your time to know and understand the business brokers you plan to hire to sell your business.

4 Things New Owners Face After Buying an Operating Business

Purchasing an operating business has its advantages. You have an existing customer base, existing employees, and likely existing inventory as well. 

However, as experienced business brokers can tell you, purchasing an operating business comes with its challenges, too. Here’s a look at some of the difficulties you may face right after buying an established company.

1. Assessing Current Employees

Sometimes, purchasing a business with an existing team of employees can be advantageous. They already understand how the business works and can perform daily duties, which means you don’t have to invest time and money into recruitment and training.

However, it’s essential that you evaluate the current team to determine whether the existing employees are good for the business. If your team includes unmotivated employees or those who seem to go against the grain of the culture you’re trying to create, you may be better off dismissing them.

Evaluating the current team can also help you decide whether you need to hire more people to support growing operations. In some cases, you may also determine that you need to downsize.

2. Evaluating Efficiency

Even the most successful businesses can stand to become more efficient. One of the best things you can do right after buying an existing business is to conduct a thorough efficiency audit. The sooner you can start optimizing, the sooner you’re likely to see reduced expenditures and increased profits.

You also may want to track efficiency and growth moving forward. You can often accomplish this by looking at financial records or by periodically using a business valuation calculator to see whether your company’s total value has gone up.

3. Evaluating (and Maybe Overhauling) Technology

Some established businesses may not have updated the technology they’ve used in years. More often than not, updating technology can save you time and money. For example, a lot of newer tech allows you to automate payroll, customer notifications, and other functions. 

Of course, incorporating new technology might come with an upfront cost. You can end up paying more in terms of both the money it costs to purchase the tech and the time it takes to train your employees to use it.

4. Evaluating Business Relationships

In addition to other aspects of the existing business, you must also evaluate your relationships with vendors, suppliers, and other companies you may do business with. It’s particularly important to look at competitors to ensure you’re getting quality products for the best price. 

Keeping the same partnerships might seem easier. However, if you can find a better deal elsewhere, it’s worth the effort to make a transition.

Buying an Operating Business Can Be Challenging — but Worth It

When you buy an existing business, you have the opportunity to assess it and optimize it accordingly. However, implementing the necessary changes is often more complex than it sounds. The good news is that when you work with experienced business brokers, they can advise you on how to best move forward once the deal is finalized.

Business Brokers Let You Focus on Operations, Not Sales Negotiations

Whether you’re preparing to move on to your next business venture or getting ready to retire altogether, selling your business can be exciting. However, it takes more time, work, and business savvy to negotiate a sale than most people realize. 

Business brokers specialize in finding qualified buyers and making sure you get every penny your company is worth. But that’s far from the only benefit they can offer you. Here are several reasons why you can benefit from working with a business broker.

Negotiations Involve More Than You Think

Negotiating a sale price for a business isn’t like haggling over the price of a set of dishes at a yard sale. Typically, negotiations take time and involve several steps, including the following:

• Assembling financial information

• Having the business appraised

• Agreeing on contingencies (like buyer financing or transfer of office lease)

• Deciding whether the buyer wishes to keep the same staff on board

• Determining “covenants and promises” (like non-compete agreements)

• Planning transitions (like vendor contracts or ongoing projects)

If you have experience selling businesses, it may be possible to do so yourself. However, if you’re unfamiliar with the process, the buyer’s business broker may be able to take advantage of you. Business brokers handle sales on a daily basis, and they have the skills needed to build a deal that’s favorable to you.

Successful negotiations start before you even make contact with a buyer. Business brokers are uniquely equipped to appraise your business, assess the market, and decide on a reasonable asking price. 

A business valuation calculator can help you get a general idea of what your business is worth. However, for more precise valuations, you must rely on the expertise that brokers can offer.

When You Broker Handles Negotiations, You Have More Time for Your Business

Going through negotiations can be incredibly time-consuming. And if you’re involved in your company’s daily operations, that means you’ll have far less time to attend to your duties. When you’re trying to attract buyers, the last thing you need is a sudden dip in performance or revenue. 

Many buyers also ask business owners to make what’s called a “business as usual” promise while the sale is being finalized. That means the current owner must continue offering the same services, inventory, hours, etc. If you’re handling all negotiations, keeping the company functioning normally might be a real challenge.

If maintaining the business during negotiations proves to be difficult enough, the sale itself may be in jeopardy. If this buyer backs out, you’ll have to repeat the entire process again with a new one.

The Right Business Broker Makes All the Difference

A business broker can help you maximize your profits while still giving you enough time to focus on operations. Of course, you should carefully evaluate any business brokers you consider. 

It’s particularly important to make sure they have experience with companies in your industry. When you take the time to select the right broker, you’re making an investment in the success of your future sale.