As Reported in the Q3 2023 BizBuySell Insight Report
The Business for Sale Confidence Index by BizBuySell reported that small business owners maintained a confidence score of 46 in 2023, the same as the previous year. This index measures the sentiments of business owners and buyers, using a scale of 0-100 where 50 represents neutral confidence. Notably, this score is within one point of the record low of 45 in 2020, when owners were uncertain due to the pandemic.
The majority of owners (49%) believe that selling their business at present would pose a considerable challenge, as they perceive market conditions to be largely unchanged compared to the previous year. Economic uncertainty is identified as the primary factor affecting this sentiment (37%), closely followed by high interest rates that impact the purchasing power of potential buyers (29%). However, a significant portion of owners (45%) do not anticipate that the coming year will yield a higher price for their business.