Wondering if businesses are selling currently? Short answer: YES.
Expanding on the short answer – quality businesses, priced appropriately, are selling. If you are considering selling your business, now more than ever, professional representation and guidance matters.
As for data and insight into the current market – good news – you found it! The Q3 Market Pulse Report from the IBBA was just released – you arrived at the right place!
At Washington Business Brokers we are proud, long-running members of the International Business Brokers Association. It is the premier organization for business brokers and transaction experts. For context, there are ~2,500 members..nationally. We are a small tribe of experts.
The IBBA conducts a quarterly survey on private business sales, it has insight by transaction size into market multiples, deal structure, time to close, and commentary on the market from hundreds of Business Brokers and M&A Intermediaries. This report, combined with BVR’s quarterly DealStats Index that we also participate in and share, provides an incredibly rich amount of data and market insight.
Read on for insight into:
Market Multiples.
Deal Structure (mix of cash / financing / contingent payments aka earn-out’s / rollover equity).
Industries seeing the most deal activity.
Who is buying (good overview of the buyer pool at various deal sizes).
Time to close.
Commentary on the market from deal experts.
Check it out:
Are you a business owner and unsure where to start? Review our 2022 guide to selling your business.
Time for some straight talk.
Businesses ARE selling. We had two closings in November and another two businesses go under contract. One business went under contract in 18 days! The other took 44 days.
Observations:
- An appropriate, defensible, market-based valuation is critical (review trailing 12-month cash flow)
- Stable outlook / market / customer mix increases probability of success
- Focus on pricing and cash flow – are you sacrificing margins to maintain sales? A valuation range is driven by cash flow and profit..not top-line revenue
- Clarity on owner role vs team
- Organized financials & records are foundational to a deal getting done
- Interest rates are not the primary driver in small-to-medium business sales
Want to discuss your business, the sale process, valuations, or the market?
Reach out for a confidential, no commitment chat. You will come away with knowledge and concrete steps to immediately improve the value of your business (whenever you choose to explore the sale process).
That is it for today – more to come in a future post. Please forward or share this content if you find it valuable. As always, thank you for reading!
At Washington Business Brokers we are experts in valuation, optimizing a business for sale, buyer identification and qualification, negotiation, deal structuring, and closing.
We do not sell you on selling your business or buying one. Instead, we listen, provide options and expertise, and ultimately partner with you to accomplish your goals. We will be ready when you are.
If you would like to better understand the value of your business or learn more about the process of confidentially selling:
call or text 206.703.3555
email [email protected]
or schedule time for an exploratory, free chat
Conversations are always confidential and there is no commitment. We will be ready when you are. Put our team to work for you!