Small business owners and business brokers differ on a wide range of issues related to the the sale of a business, according to a recent poll of 500 small owners and 300 brokers across the U.S. commissioned by the online business marketplace, BizBuySell.com. Here are five of the differences.

1. Who the buyer should be

The top profile option selected by owners and brokers for who they perceive will be the best buyer:

  • 41% | Sellers who say it’s the buyer with the best fit (the buyer who will have future success).
  • 41% | Brokers who say it’s the  buyer offering best price.

2. Sales price expectation vs. reality

Traditionally, most small businesses don’t sell for their exact original asking price. Owners and brokers generally agreed that this is the case, but brokers were much more confident they could get the final price pretty close to asking.

  • 69% | Brokers who say the final sale price of a small business generally falls between 80-100 percent of the total asking price.
  • 54% | Owners who say the final sale price of a small business generally falls between 80-100 percent of the total asking price.

3. Seller financing

  • 74% | Brokers who believe seller financing is either essential or important in closing deals today
  • 58% | Owners who believe seller financing is either essential or important in closing deals today
  • 36% | Owners who believe a loan should be paid off in less than two years
  • 68% | Brokers who believe a loan should be paid off in three to five years

4. The availability of qualified buyers

  • 54% | Small business owners who believe less than half of interested buyers are qualified
  • 62% |  Brokers who believe less than half of interested buyers are qualified

5. How long it takes to close a deal

  • 44%|  Owners who believe the transaction should be finalized in less than five months.
  • 54% | Brokers who believe the transaction should be finalized six to 11 months.

According to BizBuySell.com’s most recent “time-to-sell-data,” the time gap between buy and close is shrinking, slightly. Over the past two years, the median time to sell a business stands at about 172 days. While the timeline has expedited a bit (down to 167 days in 2014), it still remains somewhat longer than most owners’ expectations.

Owners’ top 3 reasons for selling a business

While not a comparison of opinions between owner/sellers and brokers, an interesting finding of the survey.

  1. Retirement
  2. Another venture
  3. Burnout or boredom

Photo: ThinkStock.com

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