How to Choose an Arizona Business Broker

I get this question from owners who are ready to sell, or getting close. They have talked to a CPA, a friend who sold a shop in Tempe, and maybe a national listing site. What they want is a clear way to pick the person who will take their business to market without wrecking confidentiality or leaving money on the table.

I am Eddy Roche. I am an Arizona Associate Broker, license BR579487000, at HUB AZ Brokers. I am affiliated with Sunbelt Business Brokers and Arizona Restaurant Sales. I work across Arizona. This page is the checklist I would want if I were hiring a broker for my own company. The longer bio is on About Eddy. The listing process is on Sell My Business.

What a business broker actually does in Arizona

Arizona treats a lot of business sales as licensed work. If the deal includes real property, a lease assignment, or certain licensed assets, it sits under the Arizona Department of Real Estate. That is why you should confirm a license before you send tax returns to anyone who calls themselves a broker.

A broker's job is not to post an ad and wait. The work is valuation, confidential marketing, buyer qualification, negotiation, and coordination through escrow. Buyers sign an NDA before they see the name of the business. Employees and competitors should not find out from a public listing.

If you want the full sequence I run on a listing, read Sell My Business. If you want a number first, request a free valuation on Value My Business. If you would rather call or email, Contact has the form, (480) 405-3200, and eddy@bizsalesguy.com.

Start with the license

Ask for the license number and look it up with the Arizona Department of Real Estate. An Associate Broker works under a Designated Broker. Mine is Timothy Whipple at HUB AZ Brokers. My number is BR579487000. It is printed on this site's privacy, terms, and SMS pages because it is a public fact, not a marketing line.

Unlicensed consultants who offer to sell a company for a flat fee exist. Some are careful. Many are not. If the engagement includes listing real estate, assigning a lease, or transferring a liquor license, you want a licensed broker who already does that work. Ask who the Designated Broker is. If they cannot name one, stop.

The office is 4745 N 7th St, Phoenix, AZ 85014. Hours are 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM every day including weekends. You can reach me at (480) 405-3200. Those details match the rest of the site on purpose. A broker who will not put a license number and a street address on the same page as the pitch is not the person you send three years of tax returns to.

Specialization beats a generalist pitch

Arizona has brokers who will take any file. Restaurants, bars, HVAC shops, and professional practices do not sell on the same multiple, to the same buyer, or with the same diligence list. A broker who prices a contractor like a cafe will waste a listing term. A broker who has never transferred a Series 6 liquor license will learn on your dime.

I specialize in restaurants, bars, service businesses, and contractors. That is where I spend my time: Seller's Discretionary Earnings, add-backs, lease terms, liquor licenses where they apply, and the buyer pool that actually writes offers in this state. If your business is a restaurant or bar, Arizona Restaurant Sales is the affiliation that matters on those files. If it is a service company or a contractor, the Sunbelt network and a confidential BizBuySell listing are the usual path.

Ask any broker what they sold last year in your category, in your city. If the answer is vague, keep looking. You do not need a speech about being a full-service shop. You need someone who has sat in the same landlord conversation you are about to have.

Local market, not a call center

I work across Arizona. That includes the Valley cities owners actually operate in: Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, and Prescott Valley. A broker who has never walked a Prescott lease or a Phoenix strip-center restaurant will still take the listing. Pricing, buyer questions, and landlord conversations go better when the broker already knows the market.

Out-of-state listing mills will take an Arizona file and run it from a script. Some of those listings sell. Many sit. Buyers who want a Scottsdale restaurant or a Prescott service company ask local questions: lease remaining, seasonal cash flow, city licensing, and whether the landlord will assign. You want the person answering those questions to have been in the market, not reading a packet.

If you are comparing two licensed Arizona brokers, ask where they actually work this month. Phoenix Metro plus Prescott is my answer. I do not claim Flagstaff as a home market. Select engagements happen. The center of gravity is the Valley and Prescott.

Confidentiality is the product

Most owners will not list if the staff, the landlord, or a competitor hears first. That is rational. A public “business for sale” post with a recognizable photo can start a staff exodus before a qualified buyer ever signs an NDA.

The standard I use: marketing does not name the business, the street address, or the owner. A buyer who wants the offering memorandum signs an NDA. Financials and identifying details go out after that, not before. Inquiries that come through BizBuySell complete the NDA there. Form leads on this site come to me directly.

Ask a broker, in writing, what appears on the public listing. If they cannot show you a redacted sample, do not send the P&Ls yet. Confidentiality is not a vibe. It is a process: NDA first, identity second, employees last.

How the broker gets paid

I work commission-only. A percentage of the sale price at close. No retainer. No monthly fee. No upfront marketing invoice. I get paid when you do. That structure is common among full-service brokers and it lines up the incentive: the file has to close.

Be wary of large retainers that stay with the broker even if the listing never draws a qualified buyer. Be equally wary of a fee so low that the broker cannot afford to qualify buyers or sit through diligence. Ask what the listing term is. Mine is typically 270 days, which matches the time a priced-to-market file usually needs.

Most businesses sell in about 6 to 12 months from listing to close. Clean financials and a real asking price shorten that. Wishful pricing extends it. Restaurants and food service often move faster in Arizona because buyer demand is there. None of that is a guarantee. It is what the calendar usually looks like when the price is honest.

How they should value the business

A serious valuation starts with three years of tax returns and profit-and-loss statements, then Seller's Discretionary Earnings. SDE is the cash a new owner-operator would take from the business after add-backs for owner compensation and discretionary expenses. The multiple depends on industry, transferability, lease, and the market. Assets, inventory, and a liquor license (when there is one) are part of the same conversation, not a separate guess.

I produce a written valuation. It is free and confidential. There is no automated calculator on this site. I look at the file and call you. Request that conversation on Value My Business. If a broker quotes a number on the first call without financials, treat it as a listing pitch, not a valuation.

A defensible asking price is the one that survives diligence. Buyers and lenders will rebuild SDE from the tax returns. If the listing number only works with add-backs nobody can document, the deal dies in escrow. I would rather tell you the market number on day one than watch a listing go stale for nine months.

Who they can actually reach

I list confidentially on BizBuySell and market into a qualified buyer list. Sunbelt Business Brokers is the network affiliation: more than 2,500 offices globally, which matters when an out-of-state buyer is looking for an Arizona restaurant or service company. HUB AZ Brokers is the brokerage I work under. Arizona Restaurant Sales is the affiliation on restaurant and bar files.

Reach is useless without screening. I do not pass every inquiry to the seller. Financial qualification comes first. A serious buyer can show how they intend to pay: cash, SBA, seller financing, or some mix. Curiosity is not a qualification.

Questions I would ask any broker, including me

1. What is your Arizona license number, and who is your Designated Broker?
2. What categories do you actually sell, and in which cities?
3. How is the public listing written so my employees do not recognize it?
4. When does a buyer see the name of the business?
5. How do you set asking price, and will I get a written SDE valuation?
6. What do you charge, and when is it due?
7. What happens if we do not sell during the listing term?

If you want those answers about me in one place, they are on About Eddy, this page, and Sell My Business.

How I work, in facts

BizSalesGuy is the name I operate under. I am not a team of ten associates. You talk to me. Associate Broker, Arizona license BR579487000. HUB AZ Brokers, under Designated Broker Timothy Whipple. Affiliated with Sunbelt Business Brokers and Arizona Restaurant Sales. Across Arizona. Restaurants, bars, service businesses, and contractors. Commission-only. Free, confidential valuation. NDA before identifying details.

I wrote a longer bio on About Eddy. If you are ready to list, start on Sell My Business. If you want the valuation first, use Value My Business. If you would rather call or email, Contact has the form, (480) 405-3200, and eddy@bizsalesguy.com.

A note on who should not hire a broker yet

If the business has no financials, a landlord who will not assign the lease, or an asking price that ignores SDE, a broker cannot manufacture a buyer. I will tell you that on the valuation call. That conversation is still useful. You leave with a number and a list of what to fix.

If the file is ready, the next step is straightforward. We agree on price. We keep it confidential. We take qualified buyers only. Start with the free valuation, or go to Contact and tell me what you operate and where.