Region’s small-business market follows national trends

BALTIMORE - A water treatment and air purification company for $150,000, an ice cream franchise for $375,000, a tavern for $1.7 million.

Those are just a few of several hundred small businesses for sale in the Baltimore region, according to San Francisco-based BizBuySell.com, one of the largest online business-for-sale marketplaces.

The city’s development leaders, with office, retail and residential development radiating from downtown, have said the area is prime for economic investment.

“There are a lot of business opportunities here,” said Robert Aydukovic, vice president of economic development for the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore.

Prospective business buyers in the Baltimore region will be asked to fork over, on average, $250,000 to take on a new local venture, said Mike Handelsman, general manager for BizBuySell.com. Baltimore’s average asking price is equal to the national average.

“In terms of activity, we’re seeing an increasing number of businesses for sale in the area,” Handelsman said. “As many baby boomers who own businesses move closer to retirement, we should see more businesses for sale, and that will likely put some downward pressure on pricing.”

Most of the businesses for sale in the Baltimore region are retail businesses, followed by service businesses, Handelsman said.

The listed Baltimore-area businesses averaged about $428,000 in revenue. Average cash flow, meaning the money that comes out of the business, was about $100,000, according to BizBuySell.com data.

A volatile housing market, the current credit crunch and rising energy prices could prevent potential buyers from thrusting hundreds of thousands of dollars into a new venture, Handelsman said.

Handelsman added that increasing unemployment could create a larger batch of prospective buyers. Maryland’s unemployment rate rose to 3.9 percent in September from 3.7 percent in August, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

According to the Small Business Administration, two-thirds of new employer establishments survive at lease two years, and 44 percent survive at least four years.

About BizBuySell:

BizBuySell is the Internet's largest and most heavily trafficked business for sale marketplace, with more business for sale listings, more unique users, and more search activity than any other service. BizBuySell currently has an inventory of over 48,000 businesses for sale, and more than 275,000 unique visitors each month. BizBuySell also has one of the largest databases of sale comparables for recently sold businesses and one of the industry's leading franchise directories.

BizBuySell was founded in 1996 and acquired by LoopNet, Inc. in 2004. LoopNet operates the largest commercial real estate listing service online, with more than 2.2 million registered members and 920,000 unique visitors monthly. The LoopNet online marketplace contains more than $440 billion of property available for sale and 3.4 billion square feet of property available for lease.

Media Contact:

Frank Krolicki
Walker Sands Communications
office: (312) 546-4127
email: fkrolicki@walkersands.com

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