MergerNetwork Survey of Recent Buyers Offers Tips, Advice for First-time Small Business Buyers

Getting financing in order, harder negotiation and seeking the right
professional assistance top list of tips for new buyers
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(Business Wire)--
Figuring out how to buy a small business can be a complicated process for the
first-time buyer, particularly in these economic times, but a recent survey of
new small business buyers conducted by MergerNetwork aims to help make the
process smoother for those just starting out.

More than 350 business owners responded to the survey, offering advice and tips
on everything from where to start looking for a business, market valuation and
the importance of negotiation. MergerNetwork compiled some of the key findings
in its: Top 10 Tips for Buying a Small Business Report now available for
download on the website. Some of the report highlights include:

* Activate your Social Network. Friends, relatives, and business associates are
the best resources to tap when it comes to looking for potential business
opportunities, according to recent buyers.
* Put the time in. Most respondents spent up to 10 hours per week looking for a
business and found one within a year.
* Drive a hard bargain. Negotiation and bargaining harder topped the list of
things that buyers said they would do differently when buying a business.

"Ensuring your process is correct is critical to success when it comes to new
business buying," said Robert Brauns, Founder and President of MergerNetwork.
"This MergerNetwork recent buyer survey offers a quick tip guide to getting the
deal done right."

The survey was conducted between November 18, 2008, and December 2, 2008.
MergerNetwork sent emails to over 45,000 of its members inviting them to
participate in the survey, which was hosted on the Zoomerang.com web site. A
total of 359 members subsequently completed the survey. Of these, 187 (48%) said
they had bought a business in the last 12 months, 100 (34%) said they were
first-time buyers, and 202 (70%) said they paid under $1 million for the
business. The majority of those that responded were either business owners (36%)
or individual buyers (30%). Seventy-six percent of respondents were based in the
United States. The types of businesses purchased ranged from business services,
retail, manufacturing, wholesale and financial services.

Obtain a copy of the survey findings here.

About MergerNetwork

MergerNetwork.com is an online marketplace for buyers and sellers of small and
middle market businesses. It originally went online in May 1995 under the name
M&A Marketplace and today has over 200,000 registered users and over 14,000
small businesses for sale. MergerNetwork is owned and operated by Brauns Online
Media, a privately owned company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Brauns
Online Media also operates DealStream.com, an online market for buyers and
sellers of commercial real estate. http://www.mergernetwork.com

MergerNetwork Research:
Heather Sill, 781-789-8907
heather@braunsmedia.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009