The number of small businesses bought and sold during 2016 topped the previous year’s total by 8.6 percent, according to the BizBuySell.com Insight Report, a quarterly and annual tracking survey of business-for-sale transactions reported by participating business brokers nationwide. The number of closed transactions documented by the survey in 2016, 7,842, marked the highest yearly total of small businesses being sold since BizBuySell.com, the largest online marketplace of business sales, first started tracking data in 2007. (Note: The survey covers transactions enabled by brokers, not those that were sold directly to a buyer.)


8.6% | Growth rate in business sales transactions between 2015 and 2016
7,842 | Closed transactions reported in 2016


Business sales brokers report upbeat marketplace

63% | Percent of surveyed business brokers who reported

  • An improving small business environment
  • More owners looking to sell
  • More qualified buyers on the market
  • Better financing options

Trend | Sale to asking prices are balancing

$225,000 | Median asking price in 2016
$200,000 | Median asking price in 2016

These figures put the average sale-to-asking price ratio at 92 percent. Such a strong ratio indicates the market is becoming more balanced, with both parties coming closer together in their assessment of fair market value.

Photo via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)


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