A business broker acts as a professional intermediary. They handle valuation, discreet marketing, buyer screening, negotiation, and coordination with attorneys, accountants, and lenders. The global business broker service market was valued at approximately $7.6 billion in 2025, and continues expanding as more owners seek professional support for complex transactions.
Selling a company differs from selling a product. Stakes are higher, the paperwork is heavier, and transactions take longer. A good intermediary does more than find a buyer. They build pricing strategy, support negotiation, and organize due diligence to keep deals moving.
So, what does a business broker do? In the current U.S. market, intermediaries help match qualified buyers with sellers while protecting value. They are common for small and mid-size transactions where owners need discreet outreach and practical deal management.
Most main-street advisors focus on transactions under $1M. M&A advisors and investment bankers usually handle larger deals above $1M. This split matters because buyer pools, financing options, and timelines differ by scale.
Intermediaries structure communication so buyers and sellers stay focused on terms, not personalities. They screen buyers, summarize offers, and translate priorities such as price versus risk, timing versus certainty, and cash at close versus earn-outs.
Confidentiality prevents employee turnover, customer loss, vendor disruption, and opportunistic competitor moves. Discreet outreach uses controlled blind profiles and NDAs to create demand without public exposure.
Understanding these market realities, financing, buyer sophistication, and timing, explains why experienced representation, like that offered by Elite Exit Advisors, often improves outcomes for sellers and interested buyers.
A skilled intermediary turns a complex sale into a repeatable, step-by-step project. On a day-to-day basis, that means organizing tasks, setting timelines, and keeping every party focused on closing. The role is hands-on and procedural, not simply promotional.
At its core, this role unites buyers and sellers, provides valuation guidance, and markets opportunities discreetly. Advisors may represent either side and they pre-qualify prospects so only serious buyers move forward.
Good advisors identify value drivers, polish the narrative behind the numbers, and reduce avoidable deal risk. They improve readiness so offers become bankable, diligence-ready terms that can actually close.
A structured sales process helps owners reach closing without unnecessary distraction or risk. Below are the core tasks an advisor handles during a U.S. sale, explained in plain terms so non-experts can follow each step.
A blind profile is a short, anonymous teaser used to spark interest while protecting the owner and brand. It highlights size, location, cash flow, and growth potential without identifying details.
The Confidential Information Memorandum (CIM) is a fuller package. It usually contains a financial overview, operations summary, growth opportunities, and key risks. The CIM helps serious buyers evaluate value before signing detailed NDAs.
Outreach combines targeted networks, curated databases, and controlled inbound responses to reach qualified prospects discreetly.
Screening verifies financial capacity and intent so only potential buyers advance. This saves time and reduces interruptions for owners and staff.
Advisors schedule calls, management meetings, and site visits to minimize disruption. They also manage the timeline: LOIs, financing milestones, diligence requests, and closing deliverables.
During negotiations they guide terms, price, and structure to prevent misunderstandings that stall deals. For diligence, they track requests, set deadlines, and coordinate with attorneys and accountants so the process stays organized until close.
Price sets the conversation between seller and buyer and often decides whether a deal lives or dies. Valuation is the foundation of any sale; set it too high and demand dries up, set it too low and you leave money on the table.
Experienced advisors balance attraction with room to negotiate. They use market conditions and industry experience to justify a practical asking price that brings qualified buyers to the table.
Market conditions, buyer demand, financing availability, and recent comps, move multiples up or down. Clean, consistent financials, low customer concentration, and limited owner dependency push the value higher.
A good advisor translates valuation into a clear market narrative so the asking price is defensible and easy for buyers to understand. That bridge reconciles what an owner needs with what the market will pay.
A controlled outreach strategy helps owners attract serious buyers without stirring the market. Maintaining strict confidentiality protects staffing, customer retention, and vendor terms while preserving value during the sale process.
Advisors use blind listings and carefully worded summaries to describe size, location, and cash flow without naming the company. This targeted marketing draws interest from qualified prospects while limiting public exposure.
NDAs are requested before financials or identifying details are released. First, a short summary is shared. Next, qualified parties receive a Confidential Information Memorandum (CIM). Deeper documents come only during due diligence.
Screening verifies financial capacity, relevant background, and seriousness indicators before granting access. This prevents unqualified visitors from wasting staff time and reduces leakage risk.
Elite Exit Advisors follows these steps so sellers retain control, reduce operational risk, and attract serious buyers who can move a transaction to close.
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Fees and agreements shape how a sale moves from listing to close and who pays for what. Clear terms help owners set expectations, protect confidentiality, and keep the process on track.
Most sellers pay a success fee that is due at closing. This aligns incentives: the advisor earns only when the sale completes and funds change hands. Success fees are standard because they tie pay to results and limit upfront cost for owners.
Smaller deals commonly carry higher percentage fees. For sub-$1M transactions, expect roughly 8–12% of the sale price.
As deal size grows, percentage rates usually decline. Large transactions often use tiered schedules (Modern Lehman-style) so the marginal rate falls on higher tranches of value. That keeps total fees sensible for big deals.
Selling a company often takes 6–12 months or longer. Delays come from financing, diligence, or legal reviews.
Listing agreements usually define term length (6–12 months for smaller sales, 12+ months for larger ones), exclusivity, marketing approach, confidentiality rules, and termination terms. These items protect both owner and advisor.
Co-brokering splits the success fee between two advisors when both bring buyers. It expands reach but adds confidentiality coordination and fee sharing.
Selling a firm involves more sensitive financials, ongoing operations, and complex deal structures. Unlike a simple property transfer, this sale needs staged disclosures and deeper buyer vetting.
Value note: a reasonable commission often pays for better buyer quality, smoother negotiations, and higher net proceeds. In many cases, professional process management more than offsets the fee.
With Elite Exit Advisors, you get a clear, confidential sales plan that helps you avoid common pitfalls and reach a reliable close.
Consider hiring when transactions are complex, confidentiality matters, you lack transaction experience, or you have limited time to manage outreach.
Brokers are not just salespeople. They act as transaction managers and negotiators who protect value and structure terms.
Not all brokers share the same expertise. Results depend on disciplined screening, strong marketing materials, and structured deal management.
Hiring representation is not always a waste of money; better buyer quality and tighter execution often improve net proceeds.
We begin with discovery and valuation guidance, then create a confidentiality-first outreach plan.
Next steps include positioning, targeted marketing, buyer screening, negotiation support, and diligence coordination with lenders, attorneys, and CPAs.
Sellers select our team for process clarity, strict confidentiality, and outcome-oriented negotiation support.
We keep parties aligned so timelines stay realistic and momentum continues toward closing.
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If you are ready to discuss timing, goals, and a practical path to market, book a call with Elite Exit Advisors to start a confidential conversation.
A business broker is a transaction professional hired to run the sale of a business from start to finish. They set a market-realistic price, market the company confidentially, screen buyers, manage offers, coordinate due diligence, and push the deal to closing with lawyers, accountants, and lenders.
If you’re selling a business and don’t want to guess at pricing, field unqualified buyers, or manage a months-long process yourself, hiring the right broker is a practical way to reduce risk, protect confidentiality, and increase the odds that the deal actually closes.
