What size businesses do business brokers sell?
Business brokers and business transfer agents are here to guide you throughout the business sale process, although before signing up with them, you may consider whether your business is the right fit in terms of size, value, and turnover.
There’s a wide range of brokers and business transfer agents that operate within the market and service different types of businesses. While some business brokers will specialise in selling businesses of a particular size or in a dedicated sector, such as retail or hospitality, some will operate within a strict geographical range.
When searching for a business broker, check their track record, background, and most importantly – their specialisms, to give your business the best chance of selling. Like any other industry, you will find that there are flexible providers that sell any sized business, niche providers, such as healthcare specialists, and upmarket providers that only cater to businesses that generate substantial turnover.
- Previous sales and acquisitions experience
- Sector specialisms and average success rate
- Sales value expectations and growth potential
Is my business too small for a business broker?
Each business broker and business transfer agent will have their own rules in terms of businesses that they’ll take on, such as a minimum and maximum business value. These benchmarks are set so business transfer agents can ensure that their trade remains profitable.
At Selling My Business, we sell businesses of all shapes and sizes, from those worth circa £10,000 up to multi-million pounds. For it to be worthwhile for a small business to find a buyer through a business agent, the business must be saleable which means that it should be profitable and have growth potential.
Paul Williamson, Managing Director at Selling My Business, shares a case study on how he sold an online business that was once worth £15,000 - £20,000 as part of a multimillion-pound deal. The buyers built the business into an online empire after investing in company operations and improving search engine optimisation. The growth potential of the business meant that although the business was initially worth around £20,000, it subsequently transitioned into a mammoth-sized business, now worth millions.
If an owner of a small business wishes to get their original investment back as losses are growing each year, the only way that it can successfully attract buyers is by generating income. While some people simply buy a business for supplementary income, many buy a business to make a living, so profitability must be a core selling point.
Is my business too big to sell through a business broker?
While there are criteria that set out the minimum value of a business, business brokers may also have a maximum value. This will largely be determined by whether the business broker is experienced or inexperienced in handling larger deals and finding buyers with greater resources and a higher risk appetite.
The Selling My Business team are fully rounded in their experience, from selling small fish and chip shops and hair salons, to multi-million pound leisure parks and garden centres. For more information on whether we can sell your business, get in touch with a business transfer agent at Selling My Business.
