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Even without meaning to be dishonest, sellers or brokers talking to someone who wants to buy a small business often make statements that are not true. And sometimes what is said is known to be a lie. The buyer is smart to carefully evaluate what they hear - six untrue statements sometimes told.

To be successful in buying a small business you must be able to look objectively at the company and determine whether or not it is a business that will be able to grow into the future. The key to long term survival is when a business is able to change and grow along with the needs of their consumer.

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.

In The New Economy that we are buying and selling and businesses in, finding funding can be the most challenging part of a sale. Many buyers will have limited funding and need to finance a good portion of the sale but what happens when a buyer has NO money? Peter Siegel with BizBen explains how.

In an advanced, technologically savvy era, virtually anything can be done, purchased or explored via cyberspace. As the market continues to expand and flourish, eCommerce owners can continue to reap in the selling of their online businesses. Peter Siegel, MBA (BizBen Director) explores this topic.

When buying an eCommerce business several factors come into play: market position, competition, growth areas, recurring customer base factors and ratios, etc. On this BizBen blog post Peter Siegel, MBA (BizBen Director, Financing Expert) addresses some of these eCommerce factors for business buyers.

Our BizBen Panel of Experts was consulted on a problem posed by a visitor to our site, who asked what to do about selling her flower shop, considering that she has a manager who is interested in buying it and would be good at running it, but lacks the funds to make that happen.

80% of all California business buyers never end up buying a business! Many factors contribute to this statistic, but by following the points below and utilizing the ProBuy Method of buying a business you should be successful in locating a business that interests you and completing the transaction!

Maintaining confidentiality is not a simple task. It is a complex, interlocking process that has to be methodically practiced. The methodology that we believe most successful in maintaining confidentiality is using a business intermediary, an attorney, CPA or some other third party to act as a...

Looking to buy a small business? There is good news regarding business purchase financing. More financial institutions are coming back into the market with business purchase financing. After years of being selective many lenders are more open to financing deals they would not have in the past years.

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.

The idea to buy a business with seller financing is clearly understood by most people whose career move is to purchase their own company. But not everyone knows how to structure a deal with the seller carrying back part of the price. Be prepared for three situations when negotiating your purchase.

At What Point Do You Show Key Marketing Info And Materials To Buyers? Robb Hartman, Business Broker at BizBen discusses this topic with others on this BizBen Discussion.

For those who don't know, a non-compete agreement is a contract between a buyer and seller of a business, which after the sale, prohibits the seller from engaging in direct competition with the business they previously sold. Joe Ranieri (Business Broker) adds this topic to a BizBen Discussion Post.

When selling a small to mid-sized business, owners should have their paperwork and financial information ready to go! They should also have a short business plan of past history, current operations, and potential for the future. In this BizBen Discussion several advisors and intermediaries weigh in.

Should small business owners/sellers or brokers/agents give potential buyers direct access to past company tax returns and financials (profit & loss statements) either before or pre the due diligence process? Multiple ProIntermediaries and ProAdvisors discuss this topic on this BizBen Discussion.

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.

Buying a business with a partner/partners, family members can make one think twice about ever doing it twice! However in this BizBen Discussion Post I chat with others about identifying roles, defining goals, attorney visits, and other relating issues.

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.

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.

What qualities should you look for in a escrow and bulk sale service when buying/selling a business? I often get asked this question by other brokers and business sellers. See what I tell others and what other BizBen Advisors have to say on this topic in this Discussion.

A huge part of any exit strategy is properly planning for that moment in time when employees find out the business is for sale or, preferably, has been sold. Your workers have been kept in the dark for as long as possible. Some won't be a bit surprised. Others may be devastated.

Sometimes business brokers just can't win with their clients, because if an offer comes in too fast & too early then they must have lowballed the price & the seller is suspicious, and if not enough offers come in after putting the business on the market - they may look unproductive to their clients.

Who really represents the buyer? The selling broker or agent through dual agency? Many brokers and agents weigh in on this Discussion on BizBen. Bottomline is all business buyers need to know who really represents them and has their best interest at heart when seeking and negotiating on deals.

Business buyers many times ask in my ProBuy consulting sessions - how long should I ask for due-diligence when buying a small business? The answer really depends on several factors. They include: type of business, demand for the business, complexity of the business. Advisors weigh in on this topic.

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"?