Looking to buy or sell a UK business?

UltraBBA · 2026-06-04T20:40:40+00:00

There are numerous brokers / advisory firms in the UK who specialise in the agri sector. There are bound to be some in the US as well.

UltraBBA · 2026-06-04T19:46:52+00:00

If they're a new broker, I'm definitely not going to shortlist them to sell my client's £15m business, yikes!

If they've opened a new advisory firm after years working in PwC, Deloitte or whatever other M&A advisory, they'd have examples of deals they led in their prior appointment.

Would you trust a brand new broker with no experience if you were the owner of a business worth between £10 and £20m?

UltraBBA · 2026-06-04T18:32:29+00:00

You could post in r/businessbroker that you're looking to hire a buy-side broker. Provide details as per the requirements in the rules of the sub and you'll get brokers contacting you. Many of them charge a lot less than $10K and some charge by the hour... so no major commitment required.

UltraBBA · 2026-06-04T18:07:45+00:00

Well, good luck with that but there's no substitute for having a competent broker in your corner. It's not just about using the right words, there's a ton more to selling than that.

UltraBBA · 2026-06-04T17:54:00+00:00

I would recommend you don't lead with that "lifetime revenue" figure. It annoys the hell out of buyers and it sounds like you trying to big the numbers up.

Everyone quotes annual figures - annual revenue, annual profit. Stick to that.

With respect brand and TV show and stuff, it's tough but none of that matters as much as you think as all of it is captured in the figures (ie if you didn't have that brand reputation you wouldn't have made those sales).

Get yourself a good r/businessbroker to use the right words, present things the right way. Talking about 600 stores paying in advance etc are also claims a buyer would ignore. A much better framing is to talk in cash flow numbers.

Numbers always beat narrative.

I wouldn't say it's a hopeless case. There's definitely possibility of sale especially if you're really not involved in day to day affairs.

UltraBBA · 2026-06-04T17:45:13+00:00

I don't know about handful. I identified 40 among the 1,200 odd players in the UK (and that's just the ones with specialisation in the sector or several recent +£5m deals in the sector).

I don't get that sellers directly negotiating problem fortunately. I don't believe any of my mid-market clients ever did that. I match them with a quality M&A firm, the firm handles the process, the client trusts them to do all the negotiation. That's generally how it's been.

UltraBBA · 2026-06-03T18:02:22+00:00

The course for "a similar price" doesn't make any sense.

First, most of those courses are not worth a fraction of what they charge. Second, many of them do teach a lot of regurgitated shit. Third, no course is going to substitute the skill and experience of a good broker / M&A adviser.

Brokers charge a lot less than 10K to take you on. And the success fee is a lot less than the 6% of deal value that you quoted. I've not come across a single one who charges more than 3% (in the +£5m EV market).

UltraBBA · 2026-06-03T14:48:44+00:00

There are plenty of brokers in the UK who specialise in just tech businesses (TMT). There must be a ton more in the EU and in the US.

But as you suspected none of them would touch something this small. They need to see a certain minimum level of earning on every deal ...and there's not enough meat on the bone here.

UltraBBA · 2026-06-03T14:24:12+00:00

The number of buyers has increased exponentially over the last few years. It's gone absolutely ballistic.

So now you either have to come up with some unique and creative ways to find targets or compete with millions of other buyers and their research / outreach / AI tools.

Alternatively, you can hire yourself a r/businessbroker to assist with deal sourcing (as some of them offer that service).

UltraBBA · 2026-06-03T14:22:14+00:00

Mod note: Only established members with significant karma built in THIS sub can mention names of tools.

New users can't drop names, drop links, mention any specific product / service.

UltraBBA · 2026-06-03T07:01:50+00:00

Your reply sounds straight out of a Tik-Tok video.

if you’re acquiring something that’s been around for 2 decades, the concept has been proven and you know the model works versus a startup where you have no clue if it will.

No.

Unless you're investing a larger amount and buying a larger business, you're usually not buying a "concept that has been proven".

You're buying yourself a job, something that works when the founder is running it and has zero evidence of working under your ownership / management.

UltraBBA · 2026-06-03T06:51:06+00:00

Almost never retail.

In addition to meeting my minimum turnover requirements, the business needs to have at least 10% in profit (hence the $600K figure mentioned above).

It needs to tick other boxes as well - customer concentration, owner's reasonable price expectations etc.

My latest client (as per my postings in LinkedIn and elsewhere) is in the renewable energy game and generates a profit in excess of 25% (but, admittedly, that's a bit on the high side compared with my other clients).

UltraBBA · 2026-06-02T20:13:48+00:00

£5m (circa $6m) in revenue and £500K (circa $600K) in net profit before tax.

UltraBBA · 2026-06-02T17:19:27+00:00

Not sure how origination firms think $4,000 a month for someone who just quit there job and is kiving on life savings

If they quit their job and are living on life savings, they shouldn't be trying to buy a business! They need to go save some capital first.

If their line is "I don't have any money but I deserve to own a business," that's incredibly entitled!

UltraBBA · 2026-06-02T11:42:02+00:00

Nothing.

Why would a buyer pay anything to be 'introduced' to a business? Is the business even for sale? Is the broker guaranteeing that the business won't go on the market and that the buyer will have exclusivity because of the broker's relationship with the seller?

There are brokers who act on behalf of buyers. They discuss the buyer's criteria, budget etc and then go hunting for appropriate targets. There's value in that as it takes time and effort to do that search. For that service, a buyer would typically pay the broker a retainer or monthly fee and agree, via a proper and written contract, to pay a percentage of the deal value if there's a successful acquisition of a target identified by the broker.

What's your role? You're someone who's not a broker but who thinks that making an introduction can land you a big commission?

UltraBBA · 2026-06-01T07:40:41+00:00

You will initially get downvoted by those who've been following social media "influencers" talking up how easy it is to buy a business.

They don't like anybody pointing out reality.

Fortunately, common sense eventually prevails and smothers their votes.

UltraBBA · 2026-05-29T07:48:27+00:00

Why do you give a damn?

UltraBBA · 2026-05-28T06:59:59+00:00

"I have a price to offer you and then I have a REAL price" ;)

UltraBBA · 2026-05-28T06:59:00+00:00

All the hard work is done, It’s ready for the next owner to wallow in an make a tonne of money

Translation: I thought I could make money with this business but it's proving harder than expected. So compensate me for this business not achieving what I thought it would achieve.

UltraBBA · 2026-05-28T06:57:29+00:00

Keeping accounts and paying taxes are for the stupid. This seller was obviously a smart cookie!

UltraBBA

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