Record wave of small to mid-sized business sales in the Inland Empire taking advantage of still-all-time-low interest rates on commercial financing as well as a tsunami of retiring baby-boomers looking to cash out on years of hard work and enjoy their golden The persistent sale of businesses, aided by relatively cheap financing, continues its steady and growing pace as Baby Boomers continue to retire and cash out of their successful businesses. Consider the following facts from the California Association of Business Brokers:
- Boomers own an estimated 12 million privately owned businesses
- Retiring Roomers will sell or bequeath $10 trillion worth of businesses over the next two decades.
Business sales stats in the Inland Empire seem to back-up those facts. Over 1283 businesses were sold in the IE just through October of this year. Riverside County recorded 631 business sales and San Bernardino County recorded 652 sales through October of the year. The table below summarizes business sales over the past nine years.
Number of Business Sales in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. (From BizBen.com)
| Riverside County | San Bernardino County | Inland Empire/ Total | |
| 2009 | 308 | 713 | 1021 |
| 2010 | 452 | 577 | 1029 |
| 2011 | 681 | 528 | 1209 |
| 2012 | 672 | 692 | 1364 |
| 2013 | 708 | 695 | 1403 |
| 2014 | 683 | 695 | 1378 |
| 2015 | 643 | 770 | 1413 |
| 2016 | 847 | 769 | 1616 |
| 2017 | 812 | 812 | 1624 |
“Whether you’ve got a way to go or are ready to ride off into the sunset, it makes all the sense in the world to put your exit strategy in place right now,” according to 1-800-Biz-Broker Principal, Pablo Fonseca. “I’ve seen it all too often where a Client has put a lifetime of effort into creating their single greatest asset but fail to plan an exit and along comes one of the BIG D’s to spoil the grand finale: Death, Disease, Divorce or Dispute between partners or family members. It breaks my heart because it typically means a fire sale and that is what we can and should avoid at all costs.”
In an effort to help its Client’s capitalize on the accelerating marketplace for the sale and purchase of small and mid-sized businesses, 1-800-Biz-Broker is offering a complimentary, confidential, and no-obligation business valuation for those hard-working business owners looking to retire, acquire or inspire their heirs to take over their businesses in the next 3-5 years.
“If a business owner is thinking about retiring in the next 5 years, then I recommend planning their exit strategy now,” said Fonseca, “The massive shift in our boomer population will put downward pressure on prices if a seller either; a) waits to long to sell; b) doesn’t have an exit plan or; c) gets shocked by one of the BIG D’s.”