BusinessesForSale.com recently conducted a global survey of business buyers, sellers and brokers to understand attitudes towards business acquisition.
The survey canvassed hundreds of buyers, sellers and brokers from around the world and found that entrepreneurs were more preoccupied with price and value – i.e. which business offered the largest return at the lowest possible risk?
Survey findings on the state of the market
Buyers would be more likely to buy a business if:
- 86% of buyers said that an offer by the owner to remain at the company in an advisory capacity would make them more likely to buy a business
- 85% said the same for seller finance
- 68% would be more likely to buy if the seller to seem desperate to sell and willing to knock down the price
What is crowd-funding? 61% of buyers hadn’t heard of crowd funding, but 44% of those that were aware of it had considered it as a means to buy a business
Bricks-and-mortar retailers, unless they have a strong online presence, were harder to sell than five years ago, according to 61% of brokers. Only 13% disagreed
What the survey uncovered about being an entrepreneur
- 98% of business buyers polled considered themselves a positive thinker to at least some extent
- One in 10 buyers didn’t consider themselves entrepreneurial people; 41% said they were entrepreneurial only to some extent
- Female business buyers were less likely to describe themselves as entrepreneurial, creative, positive thinkers, effective salespeople and accomplished in strategic planning, managing client relationships and managing other people
Should business skills be taught?
- 57% agreed that teaching business skills more extensively in schools, colleges and universities ‘would make a huge difference’ in fostering an entrepreneurial culture
- 29% said it would make a ‘modest difference’
- 14% ‘said, true entrepreneurs don’t need training – they just need less regulation and easier access to finance’
Barriers to success include:
- 31% of sellers thought that red tape had worsened during their time in business
- 36% said the same about the tax burden
- 54% said the cost of overheads had worsened..