The last couple of years have been tough on those of us who make our living selling small businesses. At my firm, 2008 was great, 2009 was bad and 2010 was abysmal.

While I would love to say that the business-for-sale marketplace is rebounding in 2011, I don’t sense much more than a faint sputter from my vantage point. Valuations are still down considerably compared to prerecession levels, credit markets are still tight, buyers are skittish and sellers are still coming to terms with the “new normal.” While things seem to be loosening up at the high end of the marketplace, the trickle-down effect has yet to hit Main Street (businesses with less than $5 million in annual gross sales).

I don’t remember signing up for this back in 2006. Opening a business brokerage firm seemed like a great profession for me and my husband; we could put our own entrepreneurial experience to use, as well as our business-school educations, and really make a difference in the lives of exiting business owners. And hey, the money didn’t seem too shabby either. What we didn’t realize was how heavily our fortunes would be tied to the overall economy, the small-business climate and commercial lending, otherwise known as the Bermuda Triangle of the Great Recession.

I’ve talked to several veteran merger-and-acquisition people over the last year or two, and they all have a “been there, done that” attitude about riding the deal-flow roller coaster. Many of them have anticipated market downturns and used the bad years to start ancillary services and complementary ventures, or write a book or two. In fact, they tell me this is to be expected and planned for, and is just part of the job. I just wish I’d known that at the beginning of 2009.

While my husband and I feel lucky to still be in business (I, too, am Staying Alive), we have had to regroup and find new ways to bolster our bottom line, which is how I came to have not one or two but three barter arrangements in place at my firm. [Read more…]

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