Sayonara for Your Small Business?

By Teresa Novelino
Portfolio.com, The Business Blotter
Feb. 28, 2011

Small-business owners who hoped tp sell their companies last year may find it easier to say goodbye this year, as the economic recovery picks up, a new survey finds.

That's the word from BizBuySell.com, a key Internet marketplace for those interested in buying or selling a small business. Its survey found that 76 percent of responding brokers nationwide believe that 2011 will be a "good year to sell."

So does that mean that the amount of small businesses sold are back to what they were before the downturn hit? Not yet. Most of the brokers who responded to the survey say they do not believe transaction volumes will return to prerecession levels for at least another 18 months. That's a grimmer outlook than they had in November, when 62 percent said the same, or in July, when 53 percent were prepared for an 18-month hold on the market's return.

The majority of those who say that the selling season is heating up now though - 69 percent - cite the recovering economy as the reason.

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