Three Reasons to Use a Business Broker

If you are thinking of selling your business, you may be considering whether you should handle it all yourself or involve some outside agency, such as a business broker, to help. We’re here to recommend you use a business broker. There’s lots of reasons, but let’s take a look at three that might convince you.

Confidentiality/Anonymity
When you put your business up for sale, there’s a few things that can happen. You can suddenly have all your time taken up with the work of selling the business and have little left for running it. Also, any employees you may have who hear about this may become nervous about their future there. And your customers and suppliers might wonder how things will go ‘after the sale’. All of these can have a negative impact on the actual value of your business. But a business broker acts as a buffer between you and sales process. They create summary value documents to advertise your business without revealing which business it is, so you can release the information when you choose. This lets you get on with running your business, while they do the specialized job of selling it, confidentially and anonymously.

Finding Buyers
The hardest part of selling your own business might be finding someone to buy it. Unless you are selling it to a friend or relative, tracking down a legitimate buyer can be pretty difficult. And not all sales to close associates work out. They may not be as enthusiastic or dedicated about running it as you were, and this can lead to friction. A business broker will usually have a list of people looking for a business and be able to think of several good fits quickly. If not, they know how to advertise a business for sale and how to screen out people who are either financially unable to buy or not really interested but ‘just looking’. Once again, this lets you get on with business while they find a buyer and find out if they are a good fit.

Valuation/Negotiation
You have put a lot of work into your business, but do you know what it is really worth? Are you undervaluing it? Or more likely, overestimating its value based on your emotional connection? And when someone makes you an offer what will your reaction be? Anger they are bidding so low? Excitement they are bidding so high? What if they know more about actual value of your business than you do and you don’t find out until after the sale? Business brokers make a living buying and selling businesses and can make an objective estimate of the value before putting it on the market. They can do a financial analysis without being swayed by emotion and have the experience and expertise to do it accurately. They can also act as buffer between you and buyers, explaining any high or low offers they bring to you and helping negotiate a fair deal without conflict.

There are many other reasons, from helping with paperwork and lending to assisting with due diligence, but even these three should show you that a business broker can be well worth their fee. To get in touch with one go to Sunbelt and find a local office. They’ll be glad to help you out and see your business sold for what it’s really worth.

Don Pippin Jr CBI CMSBB
Certified Business Intermediary