Martin The Biz Broker

Martin The Biz Broker I help business owners prepare, value, and sell their businesses, and help buyers find and evaluate the right opportunities. Lic # 02372118

I work closely with owners to navigate the process with clarity, confidentiality, and professionalism.

09/01/2026

If you have ever wondered what actually happens after you accept an offer on your business, it is called due diligence, and it is where a lot of deals either get confirmed or fall apart.

Buyers are not trying to catch you doing something wrong. They are trying to verify that what they were told matches what is real. That means financial statements, tax returns, contracts, customer lists, and sometimes a walk through the shop or office to see the equipment in person.

The businesses that sail through this process are almost always the ones where the owner kept clean records from the start and did not wait until listing day to get organized.

If you are a few years out from selling, the best time to start preparing is now, not once a buyer is already asking questions.

What part of getting your business ready to sell feels the most overwhelming to you? Comment below, I am happy to talk it through.

08/31/2026

If you are thinking about selling your business in the next year or two, here is one thing that will save you a lot of headaches later. Get your financials clean before you talk to any buyer.

The number one mistake I see sellers make is going to market with messy books. Personal expenses mixed into the business, no recast profit and loss statement, tax returns that do not line up with what the owner says the business actually makes. Buyers pick up on this fast, and it slows everything down or kills deals outright.

The fix is simple but takes time. Pull three years of tax returns, build a clean recast statement with documented add backs, and have your current year financials ready to go. Owners who do this before listing tend to sell faster and for more money.

Selling a business in Los Angeles or Ventura County soon? What is holding you back from getting your numbers organized? Comment below or message me and I am happy to help you figure out where to start.

08/30/2026

I get asked some version of this question almost every week: "What is my business actually worth?"

The honest answer is it depends heavily on your industry. A restaurant might sell for one and a half to two and a half times its earnings. A dental practice can sell for four to six times. A home services company usually lands somewhere in the middle.

But the industry is only the starting point. Two businesses in the same field can have very different values depending on how dependent the business is on the owner, how many customers make up most of the revenue, and whether the earnings are trending up or down.

If you have ever wondered where your business would land, I am happy to walk through it with you, no pressure at all.

What industry is your business in? Comment below and I will give you a general range.

08/29/2026

How to sell a business starts with one number owners often get wrong: seller's discretionary earnings (SDE), not revenue. SDE is profit plus owner salary, perks, and one-time costs, and buyers apply a 2x to 4x multiple to it. Getting SDE right sets an accurate price, then a broker sells it confidentially.

08/29/2026

What is seller financing when buying a business? It's when the seller allows you to pay part of the purchase price over time in installments rather than all cash at closing. Seller financing reduces the cash a buyer needs up front, can count toward an SBA loan down payment, and signals the seller's confidence that the business will keep performing.

08/29/2026

If you own a small business and you are even thinking about selling someday, there is one number you need to understand: SDE, or Seller's Discretionary Earnings.

It is not the number on your tax return and it is not your revenue. It is the true financial benefit you get from owning the business, salary, perks, and all.

Buyers use this number to decide what they can afford to pay and what the business can support once they take over. Sellers who understand their SDE walk into negotiations with confidence instead of guessing.

The businesses that sell fastest and for the strongest price are the ones with clean, well documented financials that make the SDE easy to verify.

If you have not looked closely at your SDE in the last year, now is a good time to start. Do you know what your business's real discretionary earnings number is?

08/28/2026

Buying a business is exciting. That excitement is also the thing that gets people in trouble.

I talk to buyers every week who found a listing they love and are ready to move fast. My job is to slow them down long enough to look under the hood.

Before you make an offer, check a few basics. Does the cash flow show up in the actual tax returns and bank statements, or only in a spreadsheet the seller made. Does the business run without the owner, or does it fall apart the day they leave. Is revenue spread across many customers, or is it riding on one or two.

A real opportunity holds up when you ask hard questions. A weak one starts falling apart the moment you dig.

You do not need to be an expert to buy well. You just need to check the right things in the right order before you commit a dollar.

What is holding you back from buying a business right now, the money or the fear of picking the wrong one?

08/28/2026

Your sale price is not your proceeds.

Working capital sits between the two.

Buyers set a target based on your own trailing balance sheet. Deliver less than the target at closing and your price drops dollar for dollar.

The two most expensive mistakes owners make in the final sixty days:

Collecting receivables aggressively. You keep the cash, then give it back as a price reduction.

Stretching payables. Same result, opposite direction.

The target, the lookback period, and how aged receivables get valued are all negotiable. They get decided at LOI, not at closing.

By the time you see the number on a settlement statement, the negotiation is over.

08/27/2026

Can I sell a business that is losing money? Yes. Unprofitable businesses sell regularly, but on asset-based value rather than earnings, buyers pay for equipment, the lease, the customer list, location, or turnaround potential. The key is pricing it honestly and targeting a buyer who sees value beyond current profit.

08/27/2026

How much down payment to buy a business? With SBA financing, the down payment is often around 10% of the purchase price, so roughly 50k on a 500k business. The loan covers the rest, and seller financing can reduce your cash further. Budget additional funds for working capital and closing costs beyond the down payment.

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Los Angeles, CA

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