State of Business Sales Market 1st to 15th May 2013

Admittedly I was quite surprised to see the results of the number of enquiries for May so far.  Whilst we are only half way through May the enquiry level to date is less than half the total of April.  I believe in the next few months we are going to see the external uncertainty influenced by the election, and some may argue the release of the Federal Budget may have already had an impact as buyers adopt a ‘wait and see approach’.  Adding to which every year we see a ‘slow down’ in activity as we approach the end of the financial year.  The graphs below are our internal Activity Graph which measures activity on businesses, not just enquiries.  You will note a slight downward trend since the peak activity periods in the early part of the calendar year.  To illustrate this point, below is the same graph for the same period in 2012.  Whilst 2013 has a much higher level of activity by comparison, you will note the similarities of the downward trend towards the end of the financial year.

Why am I surprised for the results for May?  When I sit down and think it through as I am now, it is clear to me that whilst the stats show enquiry and activity are down, we have been busy with genuine prospects that have real interest in buying a business, quality over quantity, which is what we at BF Brokers strive to achieve.  Unfortunately we have not been able to produce a report that measures the quality of the leads at present, but we are working on it.

Do I think enquiries will pick up?  Yes I do.  Lately we have experienced a small spike in the number of businesses that have come on the market.  As we contact our database to let them know about these new opportunities, we know these prospects do go back to our website and ‘hunt over old ground’ and may reignite interest or pick up a business they missed previously.

2013 Activity Graph

2012 Activity Graph