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A problem owners encounter when offering a California business for sale is that not all so-called buyers are qualified to make the purchase. It's frustrating and costly to waste time showing non-qualified buyers the business. Here are ways to identify time wasters so the focus is on real buyers.

Owners often ask agents to sell business offerings for them. It's usually more difficult than selling houses when working to find a buyer for a business, to satisfy contingencies and close escrow. Business sales intermediaries either agents or brokers may want large fees, but often are worth it.

When selling a California business, owners should use our salability checklist to determine whether the effort will be successful. Ten factors must be considered to properly prepare a business for sale. Three of the factors account for more than 50% probability of achieving success in selling!

Lee Petsas, a Southern California business broker addresses how he handles potential business buyers when they request information on a business for sale listing. He gives his strategies and tips for handling and directing business buyer inquiries.

Knowing how to advertise a business for sale without revealing too much is an important skill for anyone who wants to find a buyer for a small or mid-sized California business at a good price. One caution about giving too much detail is that it might identify the company and ruin confidentiality.

A business buyer in the BizBen ProBuy Program asks how to handle the inventory amount in the purchase price of a business. Other questions answered in this article: Do you add the inventory value to the business value? Should the owner be expected to take back a note for the value of the inventory?

A business plan is a living document that should serve several purposes for your business. When you are buying a small business, a business plan will assist you in obtaining business purchase financing by showing lenders and investors how you plan to repay their loan by running a profitable company.

There are a handful of key asset categories in allocating or breaking down the purchase price allocation of a business sale. The allocation is required to complete the transaction. Lee Petsas, a Southern California business broker reviews this topic in detail for buyers and sellers of businesses.

Many California small business owners know that when selling a California business it's vital to get a landlord commitment and have relevant financial information ready for review. Peter Siegel, MBA with BizBen.com discusses three common mistakes California owner/sellers need to avoid.

Ready to leave your mark as a business owner? Acquiring a profitable existing business is a strategic and rewarding start to your entrepreneurial journey. It's often more efficient, less risky, and cheaper than starting from scratch.

Many business owners fail to maximize their business' value because they don't have a proper strategy in place to do so. Failure to maximize your businesses value will make it harder to attract the most qualified buyers. Have a plan that ensures your business is as attractive & valuable as possible.

It is not uncommon for business Owner/Sellers to get uncomfortable when a potential Buyer requires a SBA loan to purchase the Seller's business. Often times Owner/Sellers will say "the Buyer is the one getting the loan; why am I the one under the microscope?" This blog post addresses this topic.

Should business opportunity offering include the real estate? There are no right or wrong answers to the question about whether the seller of a business should include the real property, or sell the company only and continue on as the landlord/lady. Peter Siegel With BizBen.com explores this issue.

If inventory is an asset of the small business, why is it treated differently from other assets in setting the business value and conducting the transaction? Tim Cunha, San Francisco Bay Area Business Broker explores this topic about how the inventory amount affects a business valuation.

There can be many reasons why Brokers take awhile to get back to potential Buyer & to other Brokers and Agents if they are cooperating on the listing. Broker's reasons include: unprofessionalism, too busy, the listing is no longer available, the buyer doesn't sound viable, etc. We discuss them all.

50% of all California small business for sale transactions fail to complete. Why do businesses for sale fall out of escrow? Joel Miller (a senior care business specialist) discusses his 5 top reason why businesses fall out escrow along with other brokers, advisors on this BizBen Discussion.

Was just asked the question from a business owner what the "typical commission" amount is for a broker and if upfront fees are common? Thought this might be a great Discussion topic on BizBen for both business owner/sellers and potentially for business buyers (buyer representation).

Can business buyers actually get full representation from a broker? With 70% of all California brokers not cooperating with each other it may be a good idea to have someone on your side representing your interests. Is buyer representation a reality? ProIntermediaries discuss this topic on BizBen.

What are the Pros & Cons of selling a business yourself? I get asked this question all the time and would like to share with other Intermediaries on BizBen all the angles of business owners taking the initiative and selling their own business.

A couple newer brokers asked me today what thy thought the escrow process costs and if there is a large variation amongst escrow or closing companies when it comes to closing fees? Multiple ProIntermediaries and ProAdvisors discuss this topic on a BizBen Discussion.

Every day I speak to business brokers, business owner/sellers and I hear some pretty amazing stories about potential buyers of small businesses. I tend to ask them what buyer traits do you listen for to see of a potential buyer is serious? What traits or buyer actions are "deal killers"?

A buyer who I have been consulting with on the BizBen ProBuy Program is looking to buy a liquor store (and possible other "cash" oriented businesses). They asked me how they should verify cash being generated by the business and how to go about conducting due diligence etc.

Applying for a business acquisition loan can be challenging for someone who hasn't been through that process in the past. If one has a mortgage one knows that the value of the property being pledged has to at least equal the amount of the loan, SBA loans to buy a small business are very different.

When considering buying a business that is losing money one has to be very careful. There are reasons that the business could be losing money that aren't fatal or extremely difficult to fix and there are other reasons that should send you running in the other direction. Peter Siegel, MBA explains.

Many business buyers complain to me about business intermediaries not getting any financial information about the business they may be interested in purchasing. There are multiple reasons for this but I agree that financial information should be readily be available to interested buyers upfront.

It seems like these days that's all I hear from buyers in the BizBen ProBuy Program is they want a absentee or semi-absentee business to buy. I understand why, but most buyers don't understand how difficult that is to accomplish this feat successfully. I address this with other Advisors on BizBen.

When seeking SBA loan financing many potential business buyers have wrong information about the process of securing the best financing to buy a business. Peter Siegel, MBA a business purchase financing expert delves into the myths regarding SBA financing and business purchase financing.

What percentage of businesses for sale that are advertised and/or sold are pocket listings? What is the best way to find out about pocket listings? Are they advertised? Are they a big part of the businesses sold marketplace? In this Discussion ProIntermediaries and ProAdvisors discuss this topic.