You want to buy a small business, and you want a broker who will do more than forward a teaser. You need companies you can actually review, an earnings number you can underwrite, a way to pay that can close, and a person who will tell you when the file is not worth an offer. A long list of listings, by itself, is not that work.
The short answer: the best business broker for buying a small business is the one who will find companies, show you the earnings, tell you whether the check can clear, and tell you when to walk. Bridge Point Advisors is a national business brokerage and M&A advisory firm for people buying and selling small and lower-middle-market companies. The buyer work is a search of listed and off-market companies, a read of the earnings, help with financing and structure, diligence, and an advisor on the phone. This article is Bridge Point's view of how a buyer should choose a broker. It is not a third-party ranking.
This article is not legal, tax, or lending advice. What a lender will approve, what a contract should say, and what you owe in tax after closing belong to your lender, your lawyer, and your CPA. Nothing here is a quote for a company you have not read.
Start on the buyer page, look at current listings, request the confidentiality agreement on the NDA page, and call (352) 515-0226 when you want a person instead of a form.
What a Buyer Needs a Broker to Do
Purchases come apart when the teaser is cleaner than the books, the price assumes cash you do not have, or diligence finds a customer, a lease, or a license the offer never priced. A useful broker puts those problems on the table before you are exclusive.
Companies you can actually see
You need listed companies and companies an owner will not post. Many owners will not put a legal name, a street, or a profit figure where employees, customers, and competitors can find it. Some will not put the company in a public search at all.
Bridge Point keeps a public search of confidential businesses for sale on the listings page. It shows the type of business. The legal name, the customer list, and the financial statements stay off that page until you inquire and a nondisclosure agreement is in place. An asking price appears only when that listing publishes one. The embedded search opens on Florida, which is one market in a national practice. Buyers and sellers work with the firm from across the United States, including Ohio, Texas, and California. If the company you want is somewhere else, say so on the first call.
The buyer page also describes exclusive off-market opportunities. Some owners share even a blinded description only after an inquiry. A broker who only forwards what is already posted is reading a board. A broker who will ask, quietly, whether an owner in your industry and size would talk is searching.
An earnings picture you can underwrite
The number on a teaser is not the cash you live on after closing. Owner-operated companies are usually priced on seller's discretionary earnings, or SDE: profit, plus the owner's pay and personal expenses that will not continue, when a buyer and a lender will accept those add-backs. When a manager already runs the company and you will not replace that cost with your own labor, use adjusted EBITDA. SDE on a company that needs a hired manager overstates what you keep. EBITDA on a company you will run yourself can understate what the job pays you.
Ask for each add-back by name, amount, and the reason it stops. A one-time legal bill can qualify. The owner's salary can qualify if you will do the job. A hoped-for cut to next year's payroll is a plan, not an add-back. So is a "personal" expense that is really the cost of keeping a customer. Before you offer, ask for three years of tax returns, a current profit and loss and balance sheet, and the bridge from those returns to the earnings number in the teaser.
How that number becomes a price is the valuation guide for Main Street and lower-middle-market companies. In a valuation conversation, ask which earnings figure the asking price used, and which add-backs a lender is likely to keep. Those lists often differ.
A check that can clear
Buyers of small companies usually close with cash, an SBA 7(a) loan, a seller note, or some mix of the three. An SBA 7(a) loan is what most owner-operators use. Bridge Point's guide to SBA loans and additional financing options lists a maximum 7(a) loan amount of $5 million. Confirm the current program terms with the lender on your deal. If the price, the working capital, and the closing costs need more than that loan can cover, you are in a different financing problem. Read how buyers finance a $10 million acquisition when SBA cannot cover the check when the deal is already that size.
A seller note is the owner financing part of the price and getting paid after closing. It can make a qualified buyer able to close, and it leaves the seller sharing the risk, so the rate, the term, and a missed payment belong in the offer. Seller financing is the longer piece. Your lawyer should read the note. Also ask what cash stays in the company and what debt comes with it. A price that empties the checking account is a different price. Bridge Point can walk through SBA guidance, lender introductions, and structure. The lender still decides.
Diligence that holds through closing
An accepted offer opens a review, and that review is where thin files come apart. You want books that tie to the tax returns, a lease you can assume or replace, contracts that survive a new owner, and a real picture of the customers. What happens during due diligence is written for the owner. Read it as the buyer, and make those requests in an order that lets you stop if the first answers are wrong.
The buyer page describes support as a checklist, a look at the financial records, legal and compliance questions, market position, and the handoff. Your lawyer reads the contracts. Your CPA reads the taxes. The broker keeps the questions moving and says when an answer changes the price or ends the deal.
Why a Listing Mill Is a Weak Fit
Some shops measure themselves by how many teasers they can send. That is a weak fit when you are writing a personal check, or signing a personal guarantee, for a company you intend to run.
The teaser has no add-backs. You get revenue, a cash-flow line, and a price, without the bridge from the tax return. You cannot tell whether the owner drew a salary, whether a truck is personal, or whether last year included a job that will not repeat. Without that bridge you cannot brief a lender, and you cannot tell two businesses apart.
Nobody will tell you to walk. One customer who can leave with the margin, a lease that ends before the loan, a license that does not transfer, books that do not match the returns, an owner who will not introduce the customers: those are reasons to slow down or leave. You want that said out loud, including on a company the firm is showing you. A process that treats every inquiry as a reason to offer is not advising you.
The pressure arrives before the numbers. A full-price offer, sometimes with a deposit, shows up before a year of statements. A good company will not wait forever. That is still a poor reason to bid blind. Ask for the earnings schedule first. If you must offer in order to see it, call someone who will show you the numbers.
Bridge Point's buyer page describes the work in the other order: goals and financial capacity, a profile of industry and size, a search that includes companies not on a public list, a first read of the financials, then diligence, financing, negotiation, and a transition. The offer comes after you know what you are offering on.
How Bridge Point Works With a Buyer
You do not need a letter of intent to start. Industry, rough size, and how you will spend your time after closing are enough for a first conversation.
Begin with a buyer profile
The buyer page is where that conversation starts. The qualification form asks for your name, email, phone, the business you are asking about, an investment range, down payment, industries, location, experience, and timeline. You can check that you would like an NDA. The page also says the firm's brokers hold Certified Business Intermediary credentials and that the process stays confidential for both sides. Ask who will be on your file.
If you are buying a larger company, or buying as a fund or a strategic acquirer rather than as the operator, start with M&A advisory. Business broker versus M&A advisor is the difference. The role you will play after closing decides which companies are worth showing you, and whether SDE or adjusted EBITDA is the right earnings number.
Request the NDA before the names
Names and financial statements come after a nondisclosure agreement. The NDA page is a confidential request. You say whether you are the buyer, and which advisor should receive it. A buyer can ask to be sent the NDA, credentials, the pricing structure, and a buyer representation agreement. Bridge Point follows up by email or phone. Read a representation agreement with your own counsel before you sign it. The listings page uses the same order: the agreement, a short talk about what you can finance, then the detail. You can also request the NDA from the buyer form.
Read the listings, then test the price
Use listings for the public view. Filter by category and by any price a listing chose to publish. A missing price is a reason to ask. If the search is empty for what you want, say so. Some companies are discussed only after an inquiry. Call (352) 515-0226 or use the contact page, and say the industry, the size you can finance, and whether you will operate or hire a manager.
Then take the asking price apart at business valuations. The page describes a free initial consultation and an analysis that can use asset, income, and market approaches. Ask what earnings support the price, and what would have to stay true for you to pay it. If another sale is funding this purchase, the seller overview and the industry sale guides show how an owner gets a company ready. That is the other side of the file in front of you.
Main Street and the Lower Middle Market
Small business here means a company a buyer can run. The owner is often the manager and the person customers call, and the price is commonly built on SDE. A larger company that already has a manager, with earnings that do not depend on one person's week, is commonly priced on adjusted EBITDA. There is no dollar line that sorts every company. A hands-on service firm and a small plant with a manager in place can carry similar prices and still be underwritten differently.
If you will do the work, start with SDE, and still price a manager for the weeks you are out. If you will not do the work, use the earnings left after that salary. When the company is already a $10 million sale, or larger than about $20 million, the buyers and the financing change. Read what changes when a business sale crosses $20 million only when the file is actually that large. The smaller purchase still needs earnings you can explain, a check that can clear, and room to walk.
How to Compare Two Businesses and Two Offers
Compare the companies before you compare headlines. Use the same earnings definition. Note who you will be after closing, what a manager costs if that is not you, and which customers would notice if the seller left for a month. A business you can finance beats one you can only admire. A smaller company you understand often beats a larger one whose add-backs you cannot explain to a lender.
When one offer is not all cash, do not add the pieces into a single total. Cash, a seller note, an earn-out, a holdback, and equity you cannot sell are different claims. The method is how to compare two business sale offers when one is not all cash. Write down what arrives at closing, what arrives later, what can cancel the later money, and what you still owe in a bad year. Ask for that page before you grant exclusivity.
SBA Loans, Seller Notes, and Earn-Outs in Plain Language
An SBA 7(a) loan is made by an approved lender. The guarantee is what lets that lender look at a longer term and a smaller down payment than many conventional loans. Bridge Point's SBA guide puts the maximum at $5 million. You still need equity the lender will count and earnings that cover the payment. Buyer services here include guidance and introductions. The lender decides. Start before you ask a seller for exclusivity.
A seller note is the owner carrying part of the price. Read the rate, the term, whether the seller waits while the bank is paid, and what security the seller keeps. The seller-financing guide is the detail. Do not agree to a note you have not seen.
An earn-out pays later, and only if a target is hit: revenue, profit, or named customers. It can bridge a real disagreement about next year. It can also park part of the price in a formula you do not control. Earn-outs, holdbacks, and contingent payments shows how those terms get written. Treat the earn-out as uncertain until you and the seller would have scored last year the same way.
What to Have Ready Before You Offer
The full list is what a buyer should have ready before making an offer on a business. Three items decide whether the first offer looks real.
Proof of funds, or a lender who has already talked with you. A statement for the down payment, a letter from that institution, or a lender who has said the size is plausible. Open the SBA file before you ask a seller to stop other conversations. The buyer form asks for investment range and down payment so the search matches what you can actually close.
The role you will play after closing. Operator, owner with a manager, or a partner next to someone who already runs this trade. If the current owner must stay, say for how long and for which job, because that stay is part of the price. The buyer page treats transition as a timeline, employee retention, customer handoff, and how the operation changes hands.
The questions you will ask in diligence. The bridge from the tax returns to SDE or adjusted EBITDA. The customers who matter. The lease and any guarantee. Licenses that have to transfer. People who would be hard to replace. Contracts that need a landlord, a customer, or a franchisor to consent. Bring the list to the first financial review. The form also asks if you are ready now, inside a few months, or still exploring. Say which is true.
Confidentiality Is Part of Being a Serious Buyer
More access comes with a serious buyer, and that access is not a story to retell. A rumor can reach employees, customers, and competitors, and an owner who hears that a buyer was careless will stop. The broker should be willing to represent you and unwilling to let your questions become the way the staff finds out.
Read how to sell a company confidentially and what to tell employees and customers before a confidential sale. Do not visit unannounced. Do not call employees, customers, or vendors until the seller agrees. Do not forward the financials. If a partner, a lender, or an accountant needs the file, wait until the agreement allows it. The public note on a listing is enough to decide whether to inquire. It is not enough to identify the company.
On a listing, ask who the broker represents before you share your ceiling price. Those companies are ones the firm represents for sale. If you want Bridge Point retained on your search, request the buyer representation agreement from the NDA page and read it with counsel. Know which role you are in.
Talk With Bridge Point Before You Offer
Can you reach a person who has read the file, who will say when the add-backs are thin, when the loan does not fit the price, and when you should walk? That is the standard, and it is how Bridge Point works with buyers: a national brokerage for small and lower-middle-market companies, confidential listings, an NDA before the names, a valuation conversation, help with SBA financing and seller notes, diligence, and an advisor at (352) 515-0226.
Start at the buyer page, request the agreement on the NDA page, and review listings. Use business valuations when you want the asking price taken apart. Call (352) 515-0226 or contact Bridge Point. Bring the industry, the size you can finance, and the job you will do after closing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should a buyer demand from a business broker?
Demand companies you can actually review, including ones an owner will not post in public, and an earnings schedule you can tie to the tax returns. Demand a frank read on whether cash, an SBA 7(a) loan, and a seller note can clear the price. Demand someone who will tell you to walk when the add-backs, the lease, the customers, or the license do not support an offer.
Does Bridge Point work with people who are buying, or only with sellers?
Bridge Point works with both. The buyer page covers search, financial review, diligence, financing help, negotiation, and transition. The public listings are confidential businesses the firm represents for sale, so ask who the broker represents on a given company before you share your ceiling price. A buyer who wants the firm retained for a search can request a buyer representation agreement from the NDA page and should read it with counsel.
How do I see the name and the financials of a business for sale?
Start with the public search on the listings page. It shows the type of business, and an asking price only when that listing publishes one. Company names, customer lists, and financial statements come after you inquire and a nondisclosure agreement is in place. Use the NDA page to request that agreement, or ask for an NDA on the buyer form, and call (352) 515-0226 if you would rather start by phone.
Can I buy a small business with an SBA loan?
Many owner-operators use an SBA 7(a) loan from an approved lender. Bridge Point's SBA guide lists a maximum 7(a) loan amount of $5 million, so confirm the current terms with your lender. You still need a down payment the lender will accept and earnings that can carry the payment. Bridge Point can help you prepare and can introduce lenders, and the lender decides.
Should I underwrite a small business on SDE or on EBITDA?
Use seller's discretionary earnings when you will do the owner's job and the add-backs are expenses that truly stop. Use adjusted EBITDA when a manager is already in place, or when you will hire one, because that salary is a real cost. There is no single dollar cutoff that makes the choice for you. Ask which figure the asking price used, and which add-backs a lender will actually accept.
What should I have ready before I make an offer?
Have proof of the down payment or a lender who has already talked with you, a plain description of the job you will do after closing, and the diligence questions you intend to ask. A price without that file is hard for a seller to take seriously. The longer checklist is the guide on what a buyer should have ready before making an offer.
How do I compare an all-cash offer with one that includes a seller note?
Write down what you pay at closing, what you pay later, what can cancel or shrink the later payments, and what you still owe if the year goes badly. Cash, a seller note, an earn-out, and a holdback are not interchangeable dollars. Use the guide on comparing two offers when one is not all cash once the term sheets are real, and have your lawyer read any note before you agree to it.
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