Category Archives for "Business Brokers"

Business Brokers

When selling a business most business owners seek a business broker to assist them prepare the business and take it to market. But is that necessarily the right thing to do? Our answer is a resounding no.

All Not What It Seems

1) The first thing to bear in mind is that all is not what it seems when it comes to business brokers. In the UK there are no qualifications or certifications required to become a business broker and, amazingly, there is no regulation of brokers! Inevitably, the industry has attracted a lot of less than reputable players. In fact, some of the best known names in the industry are brokers that are repeatedly exposed in the media for how they exploit clients (and hardly ever succeed in selling their clients’ businesses).

The ‘Right’ Broker

2) The second thing vendors need to be aware of is that it is extremely difficult to find a broker with the right credentials – someone with expertise in selling business in *their* industry / sector, who has a high success rate when it comes to selling businesses, who is trustworthy and who charges reasonable fees. Vendors realise they cannot be found by browsing through Google. That’s why we put together the largest knowledge base ever on all the business brokers in the UK. Our data covers all the vital information you need to know before making your choice on the road to what is probably going to be the biggest commercial deal of your life.

These Are All Brokers

3) Business brokers go by many names – Business Transfer Agents being the main variation. But they also call themselves corporate finance firms, M&A advisory houses, M&A boutiques, merchant banks (yes!), investment banks (yes!) and others. Our database includes information on all these intermediaries as well, complete with the geographical areas they cover, their sector expertise, their fees and fee structures, the fairness of their contractual terms, their special skills (MBOs / IPOs / cross border deals / languages spoken / in-house qualified valuers etc) … and much, much more.

Below are links to business broker related articles on this site.

in Business Brokers , Open To Public , Selling A Business - Tactics & Techniques

How To Find The Right Intermediary To Sell A Mid-Market Business

How To Choose The Right ‘Broker’ (intermediary) To Sell A Mid-Market Business How to choose the right intermediary to sell your business from the circa 1,000 firms in the UK who sell businesses? One needs to do better than simply finding “a good ‘un” in order to get the best price.Even among the better firms, […]

in Business Brokers , Business Valuation , Buying A Business , Open To Public , Selling A Business - Tactics & Techniques

Where to discuss M&A and get advice – online communities

Where to discuss M&A and get advice – online communities Whether you’re a buyer looking to discuss deal sourcing, brokers, financing of deals or other buyer related questions….Or you’re a seller looking to talk valuation, how to sell, how to negotiate ….There are online communities where you can meet like minded people, often those who’ve […]

in Business Brokers , Buying A Business , How To Buy A Business , Open To Public

Acquirers: How To Get A Response From Business Brokers

Acquirers: How To Get A Response From Business Brokers And Use Them To Your Advantage Acquirers: How To Get A Response From Business Brokers & Use Them To Your Advantage Business brokers are not responding to queries? Unfortunately, it’s you, not them! In this article, we cover why they don’t respond and what buyers / acquirers […]

in Business Brokers , How To Sell A Business , Open To Public

Business Broker: 10 Facts You MUST Know Before Engaging One!

The Business Broker 10 Facts Every Business Owner Must Know Before Engaging Business Brokers Selling a business is a significant event, whether using a business broker or not. If using a broker, getting the business broker choice wrong, as many business owners do, can be an expensive mistake. Background: We manage the UK’s […]

in Business Brokers , How To Sell A Business , Open To Public

Finding The Right Broker To Sell A Business Is Difficult

Finding the ‘right’ business broker to sell a business is almost impossible* *Unless you talk to us As below, there are over 100 brokers in the UK just under the letter “C”! Which of the 1000+ brokers can find you the right buyer, in the right time frame & get the best price? It’s not […]

in Business Brokers , Open To Public

Success Rate – Business Brokers’ Success % Selling Businesses

How Do You Choose A Business Broker Based On Their Success Rate With Selling Businesses Like Yours? When choosing a business broker to sell a business, it makes sense to choose one with a higher success rate rather than one with a lower success rate, right? No, it’s not! But why choose a broker who […]

in Business Brokers , How To Sell A Business , Open To Public

Should You Hire A Sector Specialist Business Broker?

Sector Specialist Or A Generalist Business Broker To Sell A Business? What is sector specialisation? Pros and cons of using a sector specialist broker to sell your businessShould you use a sector specialist?Dealing with generalist (sector agnostic) brokers who say sector specialisation is irrelevantHow to find a sector specialist? What is sector specialisation? There are […]

in Business Brokers , Buying A Business , How To Buy A Business , Open To Public

Why Your Business Broker Is Not Attracting Any Buyers

Listed A Business For Sale With A Broker And Getting No Calls? Here’s Why. Introduction This light hearted look at the world of business brokers was written pre 2010 and when I was actively looking to buy businesses. The below is what buyers like me used to typically experience when we contacted business brokers to […]

in Business Brokers , How To Sell A Business , Open To Public

How Do I Choose A Business Broker To Sell My Business?

How To Choose The Right Business Brokers To Sell Your Business? This page is about choosing a business broker to sell a small business (under £500K in net profit per year). Larger businesses, so called ‘mid-cap’ businesses, are not typically sold by business brokers. They require a higher level of skill and are typically handled […]

in Business Brokers , Business Valuation , Open To Public

Interpreting What Your Business Broker Is Really Saying

What Business Brokers Say & What They Really Mean Let’s say you haven’t used this advice on choosing brokers and you’ve found a business broker or business transfer agent in Google and believed the broker’s claims. Maybe you did worse and didn’t find them in Google but, instead, fell innocent victim to a seductive-sounding cold […]

in Business Brokers , Open To Public

Business Broker Jobs, Careers In Selling Businesses

Jobs and Careers In Business Broking Looking For A Job As A Business Broker Taking Up A Career As A Business Broker Setting Up In Business As A Business Broker Looking For A Position In A Business Broker Firm? Are you looking for a job as a business broker? Business Transfers Agents are often called business […]

in Business Brokers , How To Sell A Business , Open To Public

Reviews, Feedback, Testimonials on Business Brokers & Business Transfer Agents

Client feedback on business brokers & business transfer agents they used Update: This page has, quite unexpectedly, become the most viewed page on this site! Our summary advice for any small business owner (sub £2 million in turnover) is to not use a business transfer agent or broker to sell your business. You’re better off […]

in Business Broker Reviews, Feedback, Complaints , Business Brokers , Open To Public

Business Transfer Agent

Business Sales Agents / Business Transfer Agents – All You Need To Know What is a business sale agent? What is a business broker? Some FAQs What is a business transfer agent / business sale agent? There is no textbook definition for ‘business transfer agent’ (business broker). However, anyone who calls himself a business transfer […]

in Business Brokers , How To Sell A Business , Open To Public , Selling A Business - Tactics & Techniques , Selling Businesses - Legal Matters and Contracts

Motivate Business Brokers To Do A Better Job At A Lower Price

Save thousands of pounds – motivate business brokers to do a better job at a lower price It’s not cheap to hire a competent business broker (business transfer agent) to sell your business. In fact, it’ll cost you between 5% – 10% of your selling price (read more about business broker costs & fees). Yes, […]

in Business Brokers , How To Sell A Business , Partially Public Content , Selling A Business - Tactics & Techniques

How Hard Do Business Brokers Work To Find You A Buyer? (you’ll be surprised!)

Is your business broker charging you for “research” that he’s not really doing? Note: Only part of this article is available to non-subscribers Subscribers to my newsletter know I advocate avoiding business brokers who take businesses on, email details of the business to a database, post them for sale online … and sit back. That’s not […]

in Business Brokers , Open To Public

UK National Directory Of Business Brokers?

UK directory of business brokers (business transfer agents)? …and why you’ve got very little chance of finding the most competent ones in Google or in business directories. Update: Dated Feb 2020 This page was created five years ago. There is now a UK National Directory of Business Brokers. It has separate sections for business brokers […]

in Business Brokers , Partially Public Content , Selling Businesses - Legal Matters and Contracts

Business Broker Fees, How Much Do Business Brokers Charge?

How much do business brokers charge? Fees, charges, commission? Note: Subscription may be required to read some parts of this article. Subscription is free. How much does it cost to sell a business? This page is about business broker fees, but bear in mind that it’s not just fees, there are other costs. Sellers need […]

in Business Brokers , How To Sell A Business , Partially Public Content , Selling A Business - Tactics & Techniques

Precautions To Take Against Business Brokers

Gotchas With Brokers: What you need to be cautious about when hiring a business broker Note: Subscription may be required to read some parts of this Gotchas With Brokers article. Subscription is free. 4. Business brokers’ claims of eager buyers / large database of buyers << This is a continuation of our article from here […]

in Business Brokers , How To Sell A Business , Partially Public Content , Selling A Business - Tactics & Techniques , Selling Businesses - Legal Matters and Contracts

Are You Aware Of These Tricks Business Brokers Play?

Top broker sharp practises that business sellers need to watch out for Note: Subscription may be required to read some parts of this article. Subscription is free. If you’re selling a business and intend using a broker, you need to know that not all you see in the press about brokers & Business Transfer Agents […]