Market for Small Business Heats Up in 2017

​BizBuySell released its Fourth Quarter 2017 Insight Report, which revealed that small business transactions reached a record high in 2017. Successfully closed transactions in 2017 totaled 9,919, up 27% from 2016’s 7,842. The 27% growth rate is the largest since 2013.

​Business brokers cited strengthening revenue and profit numbers as the strongest reason for the increase in transactions. Indeed, the median revenue for businesses sold in 2017 was up 5.8% from 2016. Median cash flow increased nearly 7% over the same period.

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Indicators suggest that momentum among small business transactions will continue into 2018. In fact, in BizBuySell’s December survey, 80% of business brokers expect an improvement in the number of business-for-sale transactions. Furthermore, 90% of brokers believe prices will be consistent with those of 2017 or will improve.

Contact one of our team members if you would like more information on the specific statistics in your industry or geographic market.

​[Note: For readers that have studied our other market trend posts, it is important to note that BizBuySell tends to track small business transactions that are most often acquired by individuals seeking to serve as owner-operators. Thus, they have different attributes, including valuation multiples and sale processes, than the middle market and private equity transactions that we often cover in our market updates.]