Industries I know from the inside
There are nine industries where I do not need the learning curve. I have run businesses in some of them, worked in senior operational roles in others, and spent years alongside the rest. When an owner in one of these sectors describes their business, I already understand how it makes money, what the pressure points are and what a buyer will ask before they ask it.
That matters more than it sounds. A broker who has to learn your industry during the sale process learns it at your expense, usually in due diligence when a buyer asks something the broker cannot answer.
What that experience actually is
More than twenty years across industrial auction and remarketing, dealing with heavy plant, earthmoving equipment, trucks and transport fleets, which is where you learn what machinery is genuinely worth as against what a depreciation schedule says.
General management of a national e-commerce window furnishings retailer, running custom manufacture, measure and install, which is where you learn that revenue in that trade is limited by installation capacity rather than sales capacity.
Co-founding a toy retail and wholesale business, building it to several million dollars a year across store and online, and selling it. Which means when I ask an e-commerce owner about their customer acquisition cost trend or whether their supplier agreements survive a change of ownership, those are questions I have had to answer myself.
Work in the workplace health and safety space, and close family exposure to major turf farming operations, which between them cover two very different sectors most brokers have never touched.
Every other sector
If your business is not in one of those nine, that is not a problem and it does not make you a lesser client. Hospitality, health and allied health, professional services, manufacturing, automotive, childcare, agriculture, franchising, wholesale, fitness, personal services, technology. I sell them.
The fundamentals do not change between industries. Normalised earnings, owner dependence, customer concentration, recurring revenue, transferable systems, clean records and a credible growth story. Those are what a buyer assesses in every business ever sold. What changes is which of them matters most and what the specific questions look like, and that is learnable for any sector with proper preparation.
Where I do not have direct industry experience, I say so, and I do the work to understand your business properly before it goes near a buyer. That is a better answer than pretending expertise I do not have.
What you get either way
The same process regardless of sector. A free confidential market appraisal so you know your number before you decide anything. Preparation work identifying what a buyer will question and what is worth fixing first. Confidential marketing that does not expose you to staff, customers or competitors. Buyer qualification so you are not wasting time on people who cannot complete. And management of the process from first enquiry through due diligence to settlement.
Behind that sits a brokerage network with more than thirty years in business sales, offices across New Zealand, Australia and the USA, and a database of more than three hundred thousand active buyers. That buyer reach applies to a café as much as it does to an earthmoving fleet.
Not sure whether it is worth asking
Most owners who contact me are not selling this year. They are twelve months to three years out and want to know where they stand.
That is the most useful time to ask, because there is still time to change the answer. The conversation is twenty minutes, it costs nothing, and nobody finds out you had it. If the honest answer is that your business is not saleable in its current state, I will tell you that too.
Common questions
Do you only sell businesses in those nine industries?
No. I sell businesses in every sector. The nine listed are the industries where I have run, worked in or spent years alongside the trade, so I already understand how they make money and what a buyer will scrutinise. For everything else the process, the buyer network and the discipline are identical, and I do the work to understand your business properly before it goes anywhere near a buyer.
Does it matter if my broker has not worked in my industry?
It matters less than most people assume, provided the broker is honest about it and does the preparation. The fundamentals that determine value are the same in every business ever sold: normalised earnings, owner dependence, customer concentration, recurring revenue, transferable systems and clean records. What changes between industries is which of those matters most and what the specific questions look like. That is learnable. What is not acceptable is a broker learning your industry at your expense during due diligence.
What kinds of businesses do you sell outside the nine?
Hospitality, health and allied health, professional services, manufacturing, automotive, childcare, agriculture, franchising, wholesale, fitness, personal services and technology, among others. Size matters more than sector. If the business has clean financials, a defensible position and earnings that support a price a buyer will pay, it is saleable.
How do I know if my business is worth selling?
Book a free confidential appraisal and find out. It costs nothing, carries no obligation and nobody finds out you asked. Most owners who contact me are twelve months to three years from selling, which is the most useful time to ask because there is still time to change the answer. If the honest assessment is that the business is not saleable in its current state, I will tell you that too.