Business brokers near me: what to check before the first call

Published fees, checked

What to ask a local broker

1. What have you sold in this trade, in this county, this year?. Not deals closed overall. A broker's value near you is a buyer list for your kind of business, and the way to test it is with a number and a date.
2. What is the commission, and what is the minimum in dollars?. None of the main-street brokers read for this record publishes either. The minimum is what usually binds on a business under $500,000.
3. How long is the listing agreement, and is it exclusive?. Six months and twelve months are both normal and they are not the same commitment. Ask what happens if you want out at month three.
4. What does the tail clause cover?. A tail makes you owe the commission if you sell to someone the broker introduced, for a period after the agreement ends. Ask how long and how an introduction is evidenced.
5. Who actually runs the sale?. In franchised networks the person pitching and the person handling diligence are often different. Ask to meet the second one.

When locality is the thing you are buying

For a business a buyer has to stand inside, a restaurant, a workshop, a clinic, a route business, the broker's local buyer list is most of the commission. Those buyers are looking in a county, not on the internet, and reaching them is a job that a listing site does not do.

For a business a buyer will never visit, locality buys nothing at all. A SaaS product, a content site or a remote services business sells to somebody three time zones away, and the routes built for that publish their prices in full: $25 to $29 to list, and 5% to 8% on closing.

How to test a local firm's claim

Ask for closed transactions in your trade, your price band and your county in the last twelve months, and ask to speak to one of those sellers. Not listings, not lifetime volume, not the network's national numbers. A firm with a genuine local buyer list answers immediately; one with a website carrying your town's name changes the subject.

Then ask where they advertise. A broker who markets only to walk-in enquiries is selling to whoever happens to be looking that month, which on a thin local pool is the difference between a six-month sale and a two-year one.

What no local firm will tell you on its website

The fee. Neither of the main-street firms read for the record on this site names a rate on the pages a seller reads first: First Choice Business Brokers uses the word once, in navigation, and Viking Mergers answers a dozen other seller questions in a FAQ without answering that one.

So the comparison has to be built by you. Ask three firms for the commission, the minimum in dollars and anything payable before the sale, on the same day, and compare them against your realistic price rather than against each other.

Common questions

How do I find a good business broker near me?

Start with closed deals rather than marketing: transactions in your trade, your price band and your county in the last twelve months, with a seller you can call. Then check the terms, commission, dollar minimum, exclusivity length and tail clause, because none of them is published by any main-street firm in this record.

Do business brokers have to be licensed?

It depends on the state and on what is in the sale. Where real property or a lease is included, a real estate licence is commonly required. A licence tells you somebody passed a real estate exam; it says nothing about whether they have sold a business like yours.

What do local business brokers charge?

Nothing published. No main-street or advisory firm read for the record on this site names a rate, and the range quoted across the trade is 5% to 10% of the final sale price. On a business under about $500,000 the firm's dollar minimum is usually what actually binds.

Is a national firm better than a local one?

For a business a buyer must visit, only if its local office genuinely has local buyers. National branding does not transfer to your county on its own, which is why the question to ask is where last year's buyers came from.

Coverage by selling route

• Small business brokers: who they are and what they charge
• Software business brokers: who they are and what they charge