You’ve decided that you want to be an entrepreneur and you’re looking for a small business for sale. Maybe you love the idea of being your own boss and growing a successful business, but don’t want to start from scratch with a brand-new business idea. Buying an existing business is a great way to avoid all of the initial investment, elbow grease, and testing the market that comes with a start-up. If you buy a business that’s been around for a while, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. There’ll already be at least some structure in place, not to mention a track record of financial discretionary earnings, that you will be able to count on, as long as you keep running the business in the same manner or better than the previous owner.
Why Work With A Business Broker?
If this is the entrepreneurial path for you, you’ll need someone to help you purchase a small business that's for sale. Working with a business broker is your very best bet for not only finding a great business to buy, but for helping you get the best deal possible, and actually get to the closing table.
Using A Broker Costs A Buyer Nothing
The most important thing for a buyer to be aware of is that you pay ZERO commission when purchasing a business with our help. The seller normally pays all of the commission. If we are working with you as the buyer, then the listing broker shares the commission with us, and that’s how we get paid. You pay us nothing for all of our services, but keep in mind that we do all of our work for free, until you purchase a business.
Work With A Broker Who Enjoys Working With Buyers
We won’t sugar coat it for you…most business brokers in our industry prefer to work with sellers. They like to list businesses for sale, wait for a buyer to come along, and then repeat the process. We’ve been told by many different buyers, who we’ve worked with in the past, that other brokers wouldn’t even return their phone call when they had expressed interest in the business they had listed for sale. Unfortunately, this is something we commonly hear, and at Green & Co. Business Brokers, we LOVE buyers. We enjoy helping people realize their dreams of entrepreneurship, and we find it extremely rewarding.
Let Us Negotiate and Be A Buffer
Having a good business broker by your side is important, because they will help you negotiate the best deal possible for the business you are interested in. Once you find a small business available for sale that’s the perfect fit for you, you’ll enter a complicated negotiation process. A business broker can tell you what you need to consider and what you should be asking for in the negotiation. Furthermore, much of the process to close and the familiarization after the closing will require the buyer and seller to have a good working relationship and to collaborate closely together, so having a broker as a buffer between the parties during negotiations is essential.
Your Best Interests
A business broker is a great way help you buy an established business, but you should make sure you’re working with a good one. Some buyers tell us that they want to work directly with the listing broker, because they know more about the business that’s for sale. While that might be true, at the end of the day, we are simply intermediaries, and all of the answers to questions you have about the business should be coming directly from the seller, and not from the listing broker. Our best piece of advice is to work with a broker who understands and values your goals and interests.
Other Broker Benefits
Working with a business broker also has other great benefits, including, but not limited to preparing all of the legal contracts for the purchase of the business and real estate (if it’s included with the sale), helping coordinate the due diligence process, referring you to great SBA lenders, licensing and permitting specialists, and closing agents who have a proven track record of great customer service, efficiency, and knowledge of business acquisition transactions.
If you are looking to become your own boss and buy a business, we would love to help you achieve your dreams and goals. Contact us today, to be put in touch with one of our brokers who loves working with buyers.