The great majority of business brokers are what we call general business brokers. They sell businesses mostly priced under $500,000. That figure does not include the inventory of the business or the actual real estate if it is owned by the business. Almost all surveys of average selling prices of businesses sold by business brokers show that the average selling price is less than $300,000.
Industry Breakdown:
General Business Brokerage – Businesses priced under $500,000, annual revenues of less than $750,000, and with fewer than 10 employees. This category represents almost 80 percent of all businesses.
The Larger Business – Business priced between $500,000 and $3 million, annual revenues between $750,000 and $2 million, and fewer than 100 employees. This category represents about 11 percent of all businesses.
The Mid-Size Company – Businesses priced between $3 million and $20 million, annual revenues between $2 million and $30 million, and between 20 to 100 employees. This category represents approximately 9 percent of all businesses.
The Larger Company – Businesses priced over $20 million, annual revenues over $30 million, with over 100 employees. This category represents slightly over one percent of all businesses.
How Many Businesses Are There?
Business Size:
- 1-4 employees: 6,600,000 = 62%
- 5-9 employees: 1,900,000 = 18%
- 10-19 employees: 987,000 = 09%
- 20-49 employees: 680,000 = 06%
- 50-99 employees: 250,000 = 02%
- 100-249 employees: 132,000 = 01%
- 250-499 employees: 32,000 = <1%
- 500+employees: 34,000 = <1%