A manufacturer is the hardest kind of small business to sell well, because the buyer is diligencing machines, inventory, environmental history and customer concentration on top of the accounts. A broker who has only sold restaurants will mishandle all four, and the cost shows up in the price rather than the fee.
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What the firm must have handled before
An orderly asset schedule with maintenance history. A working capital target and a post closing true up. An inventory count with obsolescence written down. And an environmental question, because any site with solvents, coatings, fuel storage or a long industrial history will get one. Ask for two closed manufacturing sales and speak to those sellers.
Buyer reach beyond the region
Manufacturers sell to strategic acquirers and to private equity backed platforms, and neither browses local listings. A firm whose whole plan is a listing site is offering you the individual buyer market, which is the wrong pool for anything with real plant. Ask how many funds and trade buyers they will approach by name.
What it should cost
A success fee on a declining scale, often with a retainer, and a minimum that binds on smaller sales. Published US commissions on this site run from 5% to 15% across firms that print anything, and manufacturing specialists rarely print at all. Ask three the same written question and compare the minimum and the tail, not just the headline rate.
Questions people ask about manufacturing business brokers
Should I use a national or a local firm?
National reach matters more for manufacturers than proximity, because the buyers are consolidators and funds. A local firm with a genuine national buyer list is fine; a local firm with a local list is not.
Will a buyer want the building?
Some will and some will not. Deciding early whether the property is in the sale or leased back widens or narrows the buyer pool, and a lease back at market rent is often the better total outcome.
How long will it take?
Longer than a service business. Site visits, an inventory count and environmental questions add weeks, and nine to twelve months from preparation to closing is realistic.