BizBuySell’s Demographics of U.S. Small Business Buyers & Sellers
BizBuySell.com just released a special report from a survey with over 1700 small business sellers and 1300 prospective buyers. The report takes an in-depth look at the current small business for sale market including age, gender, ethnicity, motivations, military experience and more. Below are a few of the highlights from the report.
Sellers
- 49 percent of sellers plan to exit their small businesses in the next five years, but only 29 percent are currently prepared for the sale process.
- The number one motivation for purchasing a small business is the chance to be your own boss, cited by 63 percent of all buyers.
- Small business ownership tends to run in the family. More than one-third (39%) of sellers have a parent or grandparent who owned a small business; 16 percent have both a parent and grandparent business owner in their family tree.
- According to the survey respondents, nearly half of business owners (49%) plan to sell their small businesses in the next five years.
- What’s driving all of this desire to sell? Based on the large concentration of sellers in their 50s and 60s, it’s no surprise that retirement is the most common reason for planning an exit.
Buyers
- Most prospective buyers are currently employed full-time (64%), with small slices of the community retired (8%), out of work and actively seeking work (8%), self-employed (6%), employed part-time (5%), and out of work and not seeking a job (3%).
- Another common thread across many of today’s prospective buyers: they aren’t strangers to the small business life – almost half (46%) have owned a business before.
- Today’s prospective buyers are looking to make a move quickly, with 45 percent planning to purchase a small business in less than a year.
- Across the board, buyers express an interest in owning established or independently owned businesses, more so than new or existing franchises.
- 26% New Franchise
- 35% Existing Franchise
- 93% Established/Independently Owned Business
- Top Businesses Buyers desire by Sector:
- Restaurants 26%
- Retail 23%
- Internet Business 21%
- Manufacturing 20%
- Bars or Taverns 19%
To read the entire report click here.
source: bizbuysell.com
