By Dave Vieser. With the economy sizzling, a record number of businesses changed hands nationwide during the third quarter of 2017. According to BizBuySell’s 2017 Insight Report, 2,589 businesses had changed hands, a 24 percent increase from the same quarter last year. This puts the number of year to-date transactions at 7,491, positioning 2017 to be a record-breaking year of small business transactions. It also continues a two-year trend of robust quarter-over-quarter business-for-sale market growth, with Q4 of 2016 being the only outlier.

JOE VAGNONE

“Not only are more small businesses changing hands, but healthier businesses put the new owners in a great position for continued success,” said Bob House, president of BizBuySell.com. “This points to a bright future for small businesses overall.”

Small business broker and advisor Joe Vagnone says the business of business transactions is “off the chart. That’s the best way to describe the past two years.

We’re seeing a strong sense of confidence among both business owners as well as consumers.”

Vagnone says many business owners believe that a relaxation of federal regulations is setting the stage for even more growth, especially among small businesses.

The Charlotte area has some very healthy statistics on business sales, especially when compared to last year and the national average. For example:

The median asking price of businesses for sale in the third quarter of 2017 was $354,000 compared to $299,000 in 2016.

Businesses listed in Charlotte had median revenue of $579,684 up from $570,613 at this same time last year.

The median cash flow for Charlotte businesses in the third quarter of this year was $125,000 vs. a median cash flow of $110,032 in the second quarter.

What’s ahead? Vagnone believes the growth trend will continue. “The business owners I speak with are confident that rules which could stifle growth are not on the horizon and that should stimulate more growth like we’ve seen in the third quarter.”