How to Find Small Businesses for Sale in Your Area?

You’re ready to take the plunge and buy a small business. The problem is, you have no idea where to look. Those of you who live in smaller cities know that you’re in for a wild ride because you’ll have much fewer options. However, even those of you who are in metropolitan havens can still find yourself in a pickle when it comes to finding a small business to buy. The challenge is real, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to find a small business to buy.

Look online for businesses to buy

There are sites designed specifically for people who want to sell their business. Some of you may prefer to go the old-school route and check out Craigslist if you’re in the market to buy a business. Let’s be honest for a minute; you’ll need to make sure you’re very careful and do your due diligence if you’re buying a business off Craigslist or any of these sites.

Another place you can look is eBay. Yes, you can buy businesses on eBay. It sounds a little strange to go to the place where you buy antiques to buy a business, but it’s far more common than you may realize. eBay has hyper-local listings, and the platform is great for protecting both buyers and sellers in case something nefarious were to go down.

Here’s a search hack you can use

If you want to search Google for a franchise for sale in your area, you can cut and paste this “franchise for sale” + your city. You want to make sure that the quotation marks and the plus sign are there because that will tell Google to only look for this exact phrase along with your city name.

Newspapers are still the go-to source for local transactions

How long has it been since you’ve picked up a newspaper? Do they still sell those things? Yes, they do, and those looking to buy a small business often turn to them. If you’re the type who loves the feeling of paper in your hands, buy a copy at your local convenience store. Almost all local newspapers these days have an online site that you can check out.

Sometimes, the local papers will let you look at the classified ads section for free, while others will require you to pay a monthly fee. There are also probably throw-away papers in your area that might have classified ads, too. A quick search online should provide you with a list of local publications that may have business listings for sale.

Consider hiring a business broker

A business broker is exactly what it sounds like. It’s someone who helps business sellers find buyers. You can think of a business broker as someone who is similar to a real estate agent.

You should be aware that a business broker will take a commission. The broker might charge closing costs or tack on other fees. You’ll want to talk in detail about all of this if you end up wanting to buy a business from them. If you’re lucky, maybe it’ll only be the seller who has to pay, and you won’t have to worry about that.

Keep an eye out for “For Sale” signs

Some of you will immediately think this is the most obvious way to spot a business for sale, and it’s true; it is. Just keep an eye out for those famous For Sale signs that we’ve all become accustomed to.

Keep your eyes peeled while you’re driving down the street or riding the bus. Take a look around in the establishments that you go to and see if there’s any indication that they might be selling their business. The real gems in the business world are often right under your nose, and sometimes, they don’t advertise because they’d rather sell to a customer than a stranger.

Ask around and shake the bushes

If there’s a business that you’ve been eyeballing, ask the owner if they’d be willing to sell it to you. It doesn’t hurt to ask and if the owner is getting up there in years, they might be ready to sell. You can get a feel for when a business is ready to go up for sale, and if you’re one of the first people to make a move, you might be able to buy it for a very good price.

Always do your homework before buying a business

Anything that seems too good to be true probably is. Take the time to research any business before you buy it. The last thing you want to do is to plunk down a large chunk of change only to find out that you’ve been ripped off.

The post How to Find Small Businesses for Sale in Your Area? appeared first on Startup India Magazine.