Business Broker

Business Brokers

A business broker is a person or firm engaged in the business of enabling other businesses, including internet businesses and websites, to get sold.

Business brokers, also called business transfer agents, typically value the business, advertise it for sale, handle the initial discussions with prospective buyers and assist the owner of the business to sell it. They are paid either a fixed fee or a percentage of the sale price. Business brokers attract prospective buyers in a variety of ways. These include listing limited details of available businesses on their websites, bulk buying advertising space in business newspapers and magazines, and selectively targeting prospective buyers by identifying them and approaching their management or their owners to gauge interest.

The business broker is often the one who handles the confidentiality contracts on behalf of the seller, vets prospective buyers and otherwise advises the seller in the disposal of the business or the business assets. Buyers sometimes retain a business broker to source them a particular kind of business.

In the US, licensing of business brokers varies by state, with some states requiring licenses, some not; and some requiring licenses if the broker is commissioned but not requiring a license if the broker works on an hourly fee basis. State rules also vary about recognising licensees across state lines, especially for interstate types of businesses like national franchises. Some states, like California, require either a broker license or law license to even advise a business owner on issues of sale, terms of sale, or introduction of a buyer to a seller for a fee.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Business Broker"