How much do business brokers charge?

Most business brokers charge a success fee of 8–12% of the sale price for small businesses (often around 10%), usually with a minimum fee of $10,000–$15,000. The fee is normally paid by the seller at closing. Larger transactions often use a tiered "Double Lehman" structure where the percentage declines as the deal size rises.

How do I choose a business broker?

Pick a broker who is genuinely active in your industry and price range — not just the one with the biggest ad budget. Ask how many businesses they have actually closed in the last 12 months, request references, and confirm they work in your market. This directory ranks brokers by listings posted in the last 90 days, so you can see who is actually moving deals before you reach out.

Should buyers work with a business broker?

Yes. Most small-business sale listings are represented by a broker, so buyers will work with them throughout the process. Brokers represent the seller, not the buyer, so it pays to build relationships with active brokers in your target market to get early access to new listings. Many serious buyers also monitor brokers’ own websites directly to catch deals before they reach the big marketplaces.

What is the difference between a business broker and an M&A advisor?

Business brokers typically handle "Main Street" businesses valued under roughly $2–5 million on a success-fee basis. M&A advisors and investment bankers handle larger lower-middle-market deals ($5M+), often charging a retainer plus a success fee and running a more structured, competitive process. The line between the two blurs in the $2–10M range.

Business Brokers Directory — Page 2 | Searcher OS

Business Brokers Directory

972 US small-business brokers, ranked by deals posted in the last 90 days. Free to browse. No paywall, no membership fees, no pay-to-rank listings.

Updated July 26, 2026 · refreshes daily

Brokers tracked

972

172 direct + 800 via aggregators

Active listings (90d)

89,302

Ranking method

Deal activity

Showing 7 of 82 brokers serving Maryland · page 2 of 2 257 matching listings

Broker	Matching	States	Top Industries	Top Broker	Avg Price

Are you a broker listed here? Request removal or update your listing. We honor takedown requests within 24 hours.

How this directory is different

Most business-broker directories — including BizBuySell, IBBA, and BusinessBroker.net — rank brokers by membership tier or paid placement. That means the first broker you see isn't necessarily the most active one in your market; it's the one paying the most for visibility.

This directory ranks brokers by a different signal: how many businesses they've actually listed in the last 90 days. We pull that data from each broker's own website every day as part of Searcher OS's deal-sourcing pipeline. No one pays to rank higher.

How to use this directory

Looking to buy? Start with brokers active in your state and industry — they're the ones with recent supply.
Looking to sell? Compare brokers by the industries and price points they actually work with, not the ones they advertise.
Doing ETA research? Filter by state to see who's moving deals in your target market.

About the data

Broker activity is computed from publicly available listings. For 172 brokers we scrape directly, we pull listings straight from their own websites. For the remaining 800 brokers, we surface them through marketplace listings (BizBuySell, BusinessBroker.net, Hunter, BizQuest, and others) where the listing attributes the original broker. "Active listings" counts unique deals seen in the last 90 days. Data refreshes daily.

Some brokers appear without a website link — we're filling those in over time. If you're a broker and spot something incorrect or want your listing removed, use the link at the bottom of the table and we'll fix it within 24 hours.

Business brokers by state

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa

Business brokers by industry

Agriculture & Farming Automotive Services Construction & Trades Education & Training Entertainment & Recreation Food & Beverage Healthcare & Wellness Home Services Manufacturing & Production Other Business Services Personal Services Professional Services Real Estate Services

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a business broker?

A business broker is an intermediary who helps owners sell their small or mid-sized business and helps buyers find, evaluate, and negotiate acquisitions. They handle valuation, marketing, buyer screening, and deal coordination — typically for businesses priced under $5 million. Larger deals are usually handled by M&A advisors or investment bankers.

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