Jim is a successful executive looking to retire from his stressful job and wants to start his own business or franchise a brand. He wants to work with reputable business brokers in Florida to start his next venture. Imagine you are in Jim’s shoes and you’re looking to partner with good business brokers in Florida, who are good at their job and help you transition your journey from a buyer to an owner.
Tips on Finding Good Business Brokers in Florida
First and foremost, Florida is a great state to start a franchise business or buy an existing business because of its good weather, low filing fees, and seasonal travelers. Florida consistently ranks as one of the best states for business buyers and business owners, thanks to its pro-business state tax policies, competitive cost of doing business and streamlined regulatory environment.
7 Tips for Business Buyers working with Business Brokers in Florida
Tip 1. The business buyers don’t pay the business brokers, the business sellers do.
Tip 2.Make sure to work with a business broker that works well with your lifestyle and aspirations. You don’t want someone who finds business listings that aren’t the right fit for you.
Tip 3. Ensure that your business broker communicates their findings with you and not make any false promises of income potential
Tip 4. Make sure you’re clear on what kind of fees you will be paying, sometimes, depending on the situation you may want have to pay for a small fee, sometimes you may not
Tip 5. Always work with a notable and licensed business brokerage to maximize your benefits
Tip 6. Before pulling the trigger, do your due diligence and ask your CPA to help you review the businesses’ financial information
Tip 7. Be honest about your financial comfort zones and investment capabilities. There is nothing more frustrating to a broker than to find out that you cannot invest
7 Tips for Business Sellers working with Business Brokers in Florida
On the flip side, if you’re a business owner wanting to sell your business to the right person, we offer the following 7 tips on finding a good business broker in Florida whom you can hire.
Tip 1. What Are the Broker’s Qualifications? Find out before you decide on hiring a broker whether they are certified
Tip 2. Does the Broker Have Good Web Presence? Visit their website to see what listings they have, how easy it is to navigate, and the kinds of businesses they offer for sale
Tip 3. What’s the Broker’s overall performance? How many businesses like yours and the sizes of businesses has this person sold?
Tip 4. How Does the Broker market their listings? Besides posting your ad on their website, how else will your businesses be advertised?
Tip 5: If your broker has a website, check out what his other customers are saying. Does he/she have a testimonial page? What about their Google and Facebook reviews?
Tip 6. What Does the Broker Charge? Do they have a high commission fee?
Tip 7. Ask yourself questions such as: How did the broker establish the asking price for a business like yours? What’s the average asking price received by the broker’s closed listings?
List of Questions you should ask when you are working with Florida Business Brokers
Here is a detailed list of questions you should ask when you’re working/seeking a business broker in Florida. This list applies to both Business Buyers and Sellers.
Question 1:
What sort of Certifications do you have?
For example, when you are talking to brokers in Florida, make sure you learn about their qualifications, ask them if they are a Certified Business Intermediary because having this credential is considered the gold standard in Florida Business. The more credentials a licensed Florida business broker has, the better for you, and the more likely you will find an ideal business to buy and vice versa.
Question 2:
How much traffic does your brokerage website have?
Traffic is key to a Google search… if there are lots of traffic going to a website, which means it ranks high on any Search Engine. The more traffic a website receives, the more impressions, click-through-rates, and conversions the brokers will have.
Question 3:
How many people visit your website to buy a business?
The idea behind this question is the same as Question 2, the more people visit your broker’s or brokerage’s website, the more closed deals they successfully bring.
Question 4:
If you’re located in any major cities in Florida, such as Fort Lauderdale Florida, Tampa Florida, or anywhere in South Florida, make sure you do a wide web search to see how many business listings are available in the State. The more listings a website or city has, the more potential buyers/sellers there might be!
Question 5:
After you find a suitable business broker, ask them questions like how many businesses have you sold or help to buy in the last year? Their answer will clearly indicate how good they are at their job. Find out whether the businesses they sold are related to what you want to sell/buy.
Question 6:
Is the Broker Promoting any of their listings? If so, how?
How does the broker conduct marketing initiatives to get more people on their site? Are they running any ads? Are they using Google Adwords and/or social media ads? The more reputable a company is with their marketing efforts and online presence, the better for you and your search.
Question 7:
The broker’s website or marketing materials may include testimonials from clients who have listed with the broker. Additionally, ask the broker to provide names of owners who’ve sold in the past and who you can contact for references.
Question 8:
How much do you have to pay?
Probably the most important question for your expense is how much will you have to pay your broker? Keep in mind if you’re a business buyer, you don’t have to pay, but if you’re a business seller, you will have to pay your broker.
Question 9:
Has the Broker Ever Been Sued?
Has the Broker ever been sued by any brokerages? What about clients, have they been sued by any dissatisfied clients? It’s very important that you work with someone who doesn’t have any negative experiences and thus ensuring yours will be a smooth-sailing experience.
How to Find Business Brokers in Florida
The Business Exchange has been helping Business Owners and Franchisors connect with potential buyers and franchisees. We have over 1000 listings of Businesses for Sale all over North America. On top of that, we have over 700 listings of Florida Businesses for sale. For a limited time only, we are offering a 30 day Free Trial for Business Brokers in Florida to post their business listings on our website. In the meantime check out our website for all the business listings we have in Florida.
