18 Mar BizBuySell’s Quarterly Insight Report
For last week’s webinar, we were joined by two members of BuyBizSell to discuss the latest Quarterly Insight Report. Doug Whitmire, the Director of Sales at BizBuySell, leads sales efforts for brokers, owners and franchisor customers. He has over 25 years of experience with online marketing platforms. Joining Whitmire was Adam Debussy, Senior Marketing Director for BizBuySell. In this article, we’ll take a look at their recap of the Quarterly Insight Report. This special publication includes transaction trends and survey data collected from brokers and buyers as well as businessowners.
A review of the Quarterly Insight Report led quickly to the conclusion that now is a positive time for sellers. Or as Whitmire stated, “It looks like this is a really great opportunity to sell your business, and we’re starting to see more sellers…take action and have great success.” The report found that Q4 actually surpassed the pre-pandemic numbers of Q4 of 2019, which, of course, is a major shift. It is typical to see transitions dip in the fourth quarter; however, 74% of brokers stated that their sales were steady in the fourth quarter. Whitmire noted that there was strong momentum carrying into 2022.
In terms of what buyers are currently looking for, a whopping 60% of surveyed buyers indicated that strong financials were simply a “must have” when considering a business. This number is in stark contrast to 18% of buyers who responded that discounted opportunities were a top consideration. Phrased another way, buyers are currently zeroing in on quality. Whitmire noted that in terms of what is preventing more transactions in 2021 that unrealistic expectations are a serious factor. He stated, “Everyone thinks their baby is worth a billion dollars.”
Overall, the survey points to the fact that the current environment is a tough one for owners. 52% of businessowners felt that they had been negatively impacted in a variety of ways by the pandemic. Of those who were impacted, 64% were negatively impacted by labor shortages, 75% experienced supply chain problems, and 72% were faced with rising costs.
In our next article, we will continue to examine the results of BizBuySell’s Quarterly Insight Report and Whitmire and Debussy’s key takeaways. Business brokers and M&A advisors who want to understand what buyers and sellers are thinking will want to use this valuable report as a resource to learn where the industry is currently headed.
