A business sale broker is paid to do four things you would otherwise do badly: price it, market it without your staff finding out, screen buyers who cannot fund a purchase, and hold the deal together through diligence.
Confidentiality is most of the early value
An owner selling on their own has to tell buyers what the business is before the buyer will engage, which is how staff, customers and competitors find out. A broker markets a blind profile, takes the NDA, and only then names the company. Website Closers and Acquire.com both build automated NDAs into the process; a marketplace listing without one is a public announcement.
Screening is the part sellers underestimate
Most enquiries on any business for sale come from people who will never buy anything. Filtering them is unglamorous, time-consuming and the reason a busy owner runs out of energy for their own sale. Acquire.com vets buyer identities and available funds before they can contact a founder, and describes doing so as the thing that saves the seller time.
When the broker is not worth it
When the business is small enough that the fee floor eats the proceeds, when you already have a buyer, or when the business is simple enough to sell yourself and you have the time. A flat $29 listing and a 5% success fee is a different proposition from a five-figure minimum, and on a business worth $60,000 that difference is most of the gain.
Questions people ask about business sale broker
What does a business sale broker charge?
The published US figures in this record run from 5% to 15% of the sale price, with flat floors underneath that decide the price of a small sale. The four main-street and advisory firms read for this record publish nothing.
Do I need a broker to sell to a buyer I already have?
Not to find the buyer. Some sellers still engage one, or a transaction attorney, to structure and paper the deal, and the fee for that should be much lower than a full commission.
Can I use more than one broker?
Only if the agreement is non-exclusive, and most are not. Exclusivity is standard and its length is the term to negotiate, because it takes your only exit off the market for its duration.