Additional information on each question from 50 Questions to Ask a Business Broker When Selling a Business
Q6. What’s the average size (in revenue or transaction value) of businesses you’ve sold?
Why should you ask this?
A broker accustomed to selling either larger or smaller businesses than yours may not have the right approach for marketing and pricing your business. Ensuring that their typical deal size aligns with your business helps ensure they have the expertise and connections.
A broker’s typical clientele size reveals their preparedness to handle your sale’s complexity and scope. Brokers may specialize in small businesses, mid-sized companies, or large enterprises.
For example, if your business generates $20 million in revenue, a broker who primarily deals with businesses under $1 million may not have the network, expertise, or marketing strategy needed for such a large transaction.
They may also lack experience negotiating larger financial deals, such as those involving private equity or significant strategic buyers. On the flip side of that, if you’re selling a smaller business, working with a broker who typically handles large corporations/sales could result in your business getting less attention as the business network they have is typically looking for larger properties and how they do their marketing may be geared towards the bigger properties and the more cash rich buyers.
