Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
When you should avoid using a broker
Because business brokers charge a sizeable commission for selling your business, using a broker is not always necessary if you want to sell your small business.
And brokers can have hundreds of other clients, with often only a small number of staff to handle all enquiries. Anecdotally, 96 per cent of businesses listed with brokers never sell.
In the end, nobody is going to love your small business as much as yourself, so why not handle your sale yourself?
Being able to respond to background checks and due diligence queries directly is another plus, rather than having to wait days for your broker to forward questions from your buyer.
>See also: How to sell your small business through a broker
Because you do not have to factor in broker fees, you can offer you can find yourself selling your small business without a broker for more.
And because you are not tied into a broker, there is no penalty if you do change your mind and take your business off the market.
That said, Clinton Lee, a consultant who specialises in helping sell businesses, believes that all but the smallest businesses would benefit from