Dublin, CA – May 6, 2009–Nearly 1,800 small and mid-sized businesses were sold in California in April, the most transaction activity for any month this year, according to Peter Siegel, MBA, Founder and CEO of BizBen–Small Businesses for Sale in California, (www.BizBen.com), which tracks sales of small and mid-market businesses in the state. Siegel called the latest figures a “hopeful sign that life is coming back into California’s marketplace of small businesses for sale.”

The total of 1,768 closed escrows in April marks an increase from the 1,356 small business deals completed in March.

Citing the thousands of buyers who’ve “entered the market because they have experienced, or are fearful about the loss of their jobs,” Siegel noted that the heightened demand is “partially balanced by an increase in the availability of funds needed to complete business acquisitions.

“Some of the  traditional lenders are still not participating, but resourceful buyers and brokers are finding  institutions ready to  meet requests for financing the purchase of small businesses.” Siegel  added  that “as the credit freeze continues to thaw, we should see more transactions taking place.”

And he observed that “Many sellers are getting the message that to do business in this market, they need to work harder and smarter to complete their deals.”

Among the seller strategies which help them find buyers, are the willingness to carry back some of the purchase price in the form of a promissory note, and to price their businesses with the recession in mind.

“If a company is experiencing a decline in revenues, it usually means that it won’t bring the sales price it would have when business was better,” said Siegel.

BizBen, the state’s leading onl ine marketplace for buyers and sellers of small and mid-market companies, has been California’s exclusive source of small business sales statistics for more than 10 years. In addition to offering nearly 8,000 business purchase opportunities, BizBen features a number of resources, articles, news items, practical tips and a blog page–all providing information, ideas and opportunities for business buyers, small business owners/sellers, buyers brokers, and agents. Three books that Siegel authored on buying and selling small businesses are widely used by people involved in this market.

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Contact Information

Peter Siegel
BizBen.com – California Small Businesses For Sale
http://www.bizben.com
866.270.6278

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 at 7:40 pm and is filed under Area Activities, For business owners. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.