BUY A BUSINESS
The market is wide open and almost entirely unstructured. A good business draws dozens to hundreds of buyers, the broker working the deal is fielding all of them, and a lot of what people read online makes the whole thing sound simpler than it is. Here is the honest picture of what you are up against, and how to show up so you are the buyer a broker calls back.
THE LAY OF THE LAND
Buying a business in 2026 is a genuinely open market. It is also an unregulated, unsophisticated one, and most buyers arrive without realizing those are the same fact. Understanding that early is most of the advantage.
In most states nobody needs a license to broker the sale of a small business. Anyone with a website can put a business in front of the market, and plenty of people do.
Two engagements that look identical on a marketplace can be priced on completely different math. Nothing requires a seller’s numbers to be presented the same way twice.
Plenty of people online will tell you this is simple: pick a business, send an offer, collect the cash flow. Most of that advice skips the parts that decide the outcome.
When a genuinely good business comes to market, dozens to hundreds of people find out, often within days. The scarce thing is not the deal. It is the attention on the other side of it.
WHAT THE OTHER SIDE LOOKS LIKE
The fee on a small business sale is a percentage of the price, and that has pulled people from every trade into this one. Some brokers came up through finance, consulting or investment banking and read a recast P&L for a living. Others came from real estate, fitness, restaurants or sales of something unrelated, and learned the work on the job.
Neither background tells you anything on its own. What matters is whether the person in front of you can walk you through the numbers, tell you what a bank will actually finance, and stand behind the deal when the other side starts asking questions. Four questions will tell you fast.
THE COMPETITION
When a genuinely good engagement reaches the market, a broker can be working dozens to hundreds of inquiries in the first week. Most of that group opens with twenty-one questions and nothing about themselves. A busy broker cannot spend that kind of time on a stranger, so most of those buyers hear nothing back and conclude that brokers are the problem.
THINK OF IT LIKE A JOB APPLICATION
You would not apply for a job without a resume, then immediately ask the hiring manager about pay, vacation and the 401(k). You show up demonstrating that you are qualified for the role, and the conversation about what is in it for you comes later.
Buying a business works the same way. Your resume is your proof of funds, your buyer profile and your lender prequalification. When you lead with those, a broker sees a serious buyer instead of another tire kicker, and your chances of getting a real conversation go up dramatically.
GET READY FIRST
None of this is a hurdle. It is your resume. Having these four in hand is what lets a broker treat you as a buyer who can actually close, and it is the difference between a conversation and silence.
Follow @smbdealinsiderREACHING OUT THE RIGHT WAY
Showing up ready is most of the battle. These four habits separate the buyers who get calls back from the ones who get ghosted.
Open with your proof of funds, your background and your criteria. Show the broker you are qualified before you ask for anything.
Pursue businesses where you actually live or plan to operate. Brokers prioritize buyers who can realistically close in that market.
Connect the dots between what you have done and what the business needs. Relevant, transferable experience makes you a safer bet.
Reach out clearly and follow up. Brokers remember the buyers who make it easy to say yes, and they call those buyers back.
FREE RESOURCE
A concise starting point for first-time buyers, with a practical checklist and a framework for introducing yourself to sellers and brokers the right way.
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