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June is a good time to step back and look at where we are.

We just wrapped up our District awards across the state. The full list of winners will be posted in the next week or so, and I encourage you to take a minute to recognize the members in your District who earned it. These events are a reminder of what BBF really is. We are not just a listing platform. We are an established statewide community of professionals who compete… then cooperate and help each other close deals for our clients.

It’s been great to see District education events packed. Southwest Florida just hosted an attorney to walk through the new Stock Purchase Agreement and South Florida hosted a CPA to de-mystify Quality of Earnings reports and net working capital. Both generated strong fantastic feedback. That is the kind of practical, real-world content that helps brokers in actual transactions. If you’re not coming to the luncheons, you should be!

Volunteer committees are active and humming along. Engagement is high! Membership and affiliate interest remains strong, and our standards for new offices remain where they should be. Growth matters, but not at the expense of quality. New offices need to contribute something to our organization, not just the other way around.

A few specific updates worth mentioning:

IMPORTANT: Our conference registration opens June 15. Watch for the email and register early. The August conference in West Palm Beach is the best chance all year to sharpen skills, meet members from other districts, build co-broker relationships, and have some fun while we do it.

Thank you to our district leaders, committee members, affiliates, volunteers, and every member putting in the work. It shows.

Let’s keep it going.

Spring always brings out the country girl in me. It’s a season of renewal — a reminder that the best harvests come from good seeds, steady care, and a little faith.

And I’ll be honest… I’m the type who wants results yesterday! But just like on the farm, business brokerages won’t work with impatience. Growth takes time.

What I can control is how I suit up and show up every day — how I market, how I continue to learn from industry education, how I nurture relationships, how I keep planting seeds even when the ground looks quiet.

When I plant enough seeds — quality listings, education, consistent outreach, thoughtful follow-up — a certain percentage always grows. Deals close. Opportunities bloom. Momentum returns. It always does, no exception to this rule!

So, this April, I’m leaning into the season.
Planting. Tending. Trusting.
And helping business owners do the same.

The Artistry of growing business brokerage practice is often overlooked. Human relationships and valuing a business are both an art and a science. I have learned the hard way; I must continue to grow in these two areas especially.

This business blends entrepreneurship, finance, negotiation, and human connection. And while the industry can feel complex, the truth is that great business brokers succeed by mastering the fundamentals and repeating them with discipline.

I have found the words “Pay Attention” very helpful. Pay attention to everything.

At its core, a business broker helps business owners prepare, value, market, and ultimately sell their company — while also helping buyers evaluate opportunities and secure financing.

A growing broker is part analyst, part advisor, part negotiator, and part project manager.

To prosper and grow, I go back to the basics

KEEP UP THE EDUCATION

KEEP UP THE NETWORKING

A SPECIALITY? MAYBE!

I was a well-known pet shop owner with multiple locations before I was a business broker. I capitalized on it, and to this day I receive referrals from that specialty. Here are some great specialties to grow on.

A niche means faster valuations, better buyer lists, and stronger referral.

Here’s the part of many new and seasoned brokers (me included!) underestimate: success is built on consistent daily actions, not random big wins.

My business model has always been “If you don’t grow, you go”. Is it easy? No, but we must keep growing as individuals, and as an industry, to get better and be better.

I hope this article is helpful to you, and that you plant and grow all season long!

Foreign Buyers Are Still in the Market, But the Rules of the Game Have Changed

If you’re a business broker working with international buyers, you’ve probably noticed something: the demand is still there, but the deals are getting more complex.

Recent immigration changes in 2025 and 2026 haven’t eliminated opportunities for foreign investors. Instead, they’ve raised the bar. And for brokers, that means your role is now more critical than ever in getting deals across the finish line.

Why This Matters for Business Brokers

Foreign nationals continue to look at U.S. businesses as a pathway to secure visas like the E-2 (Treaty Investor) and L-1 (Intracompany Transferee). But today’s immigration environment is far less forgiving. Deals that might have worked a few years ago are now getting flagged, delayed, or even denied.

Translation: Not every business listing will qualify and not every deal structure will work. Brokers who understand this shift will stand out. Those who don’t risk losing deals late in the process.

What’s Changed and How It Affects Your Deals

1. Greater Emphasis on Real Operating Businesses

Immigration officers are taking a much closer look at whether a business is truly active and viable. Buyers can’t just purchase a business “on paper” anymore. They need:

👉 For brokers: Listings that show strong operations and scalability are now significantly more attractive to foreign buyers.

2. More Detailed Business Documentation

Visa applications now require extensive proof of how the business operates, who manages it, and how it will grow.

For L-1 buyers in particular, proving the relationship between the foreign company and the U.S. business is under heavier scrutiny.

👉 For brokers: Expect buyers to ask for more detailed financials, organizational charts, and operational insight early in the process.

3. Increased Processing Delays and Planning Needs

Policy changes and higher scrutiny have led to longer processing times and more frequent requests for evidence. Companies seeking L-1 visas must carefully document the one-year foreign employment requirement and the employee’s role in the organization.

Processing delays and requests for evidence (RFEs) are becoming more common.

This means transactions tied to immigration goals need to be structured carefully from day one and not just after a contract is signed.

👉 For brokers: Setting the right expectations with international buyers upfront can prevent deals from falling apart later.

4. Importance of Structuring the Business Purchase Properly

This is where many transactions run into trouble.

If the deal isn’t structured properly, the buyer may not qualify—no matter how strong the business is.

👉 For brokers: Collaborating with immigration counsel early can protect your deal and your commission.

What Business Brokers Should Know

Foreign buyers are still highly motivated. In fact, many are more serious than ever because of the increased scrutiny. So, brokers who adapt will win more deals.

Brokers who:

… will position themselves as invaluable partners and not just as intermediaries.

The most successful brokers in today’s market are doing one thing differently. They’re treating immigration as part of the deal and not just as an afterthought. By aligning early with immigration strategy, you can:

Reviewing Your Investment Visa and Business Acquisition Case

If you’re a business broker working with, or looking to attract, foreign investors, the difference between a deal that closes and one that falls apart often comes down to strategy. Don’t wait until immigration becomes an issue mid-transaction.

At Jurado & Associates, we partner with business brokers before problems arise—helping you:

The result: More confident buyers. Smoother transactions. And more deals that actually close.

👉 Let’s work together to make your listings more attractive to international buyers and turn more opportunities into successful closings.

Contact Jurado & Associates today to start building a strategy that helps you close smarter, faster, and with fewer surprises.

Walking Event in South Florida – Thank You!

In March 2026, the South Florida Chapter put together a different kind of event, and it is worth recognizing. About 25 members, along with family and affiliates, met at Spanish River Park in Boca Raton for an early Saturday walk. There was no agenda, just a few miles and time to talk.

What stood out was how refreshing the format felt and how good it was to see new faces in a more relaxed setting. When you keep things informal, conversations open up and relationships build faster. That is where trust starts, and that is what ultimately drives cobrokerage and done deals.

Huge credit to South District President Mark Habib for pushing the idea and organizing everything (including custom BBF t-shirts and plenty of water) and to those who supported it. Mark’s efforts were more than we could have asked for! Hopefully, every chapter can take these kinds of ideas and “run” with them.

This is also where the upcoming BBF Conference fits in. I am confident you’ll learn in the classroom – absolutely. But you’ll also learn in the hallways, at the lunch table or over a cocktail – and meet the people you will work with on deals over the next few years – which is just as valuable. I encourage you to make the effort to attend! Check out the Agenda At A Glance and look for registration to open in early June.

Selling a business is rarely a straightforward endeavor. There are operational considerations, emotional considerations, and market considerations. Does your company have any red flags or risk factors? How can you increase valuation? What do you plan to do after sale?

We recently sat down with Adams Price and Bill Nack, managing directors at The Forbes M&A Group (an Axial member), to discuss tips for CEOs preparing for a liquidity event.

1. Make sure you have a good management team in place.

“The organization’s value should be in the organization itself — not the grey matter in the owner’s head,” says Price. “There’s a tendency for business owners to try to run every facet of their business. They may be very good at that, but there’s risk perceived on the part of the buyer if everything goes back to the owner. The value of the company becomes lower to compensate for that risk.”

“It takes time to develop a strong management team,” adds Nack. “We suggest to clients that they should be thinking about a divestiture years in advance. Unless you plan on owning your business until the day you die, you should always be thinking about your exit strategy.”

2. Engage an outside accounting firm.

“Make sure your financial processes and accounting methods are strong,” says Price.” One of the first questions we’ll ask a business owner is if their books are reviewed or audited by a reputable CPA firm. If a CEO says, ‘My cousin’s a CPA and he does my books,’ that can be a red flag.”

Before a buyer goes out to market, they should have a third-party firm do a quality of earnings review. “This allows us to discover anything someone else is going to discover in due diligence — so we can either fix it or message around it,” says Price. “The quality of earnings report “basically tracks the cash going through the business, and verifies the consistency of those earnings.”

“The goal here is disclosure, disclosure, disclosure,” says Nack. “That way you can tackle these issues head on.”

3. Think about whether you want to leave.

Every CEO should think about what they’re trying to accomplish with a sale, says Price. “Where do they want to be in five years? What role do they want to have post-transaction? Are you looking to pull the ripcord and leave now? Or, are you looking for a partner to realize further financial or operational goals?”

The answers to these questions, says Price, have “a big bearing on how you position the company to the marketplace.”

Often, CEOs will still be weighing their options when they first meet with an advisor. “It’s incumbent upon us to help them understand the consequences of both options,” says Nack. Private equity firms will typically require a management team to stay on board; if the management team wants to leave, then it’s time to focus on strategic buyers. “A strategic buyer will likely tolerate a weaker or more uncertain management team, because they’ll have the ability to insert their own people.”

4. Don’t believe everything you hear at cocktail parties.

“CEOs may hear multiples at parties or trade shows — that someone got 8x or 10x or 12x EBITDA for their business — and think that that’s what their business is worth too,” says Price. “But you always hear about businesses that sell for a ton, and rarely hear about those that sell for the market average.”

A company’s management team, earnings, and strategic plans all help establish the value of a business. “We figure out what value range a business owner can expect at a specific time in the market, then help them understand how to maximize their company’s value within that range. We bring specific buyers to the table in a competitive format so that they’re trending toward the higher end of the range,” Price says.

5. Take external factors into account.

“Every business is different,” says Nack. “Every business is going to have different sensitivities based on the macro marketplace as well as its current management situation. For example, we’re seeing really fantastic multiples for infrastructure companies and tech and SaaS companies. There are great multiples in particular for ‘Internet of Things’ companies. On the other hand, if you’re an oilfield services company, right now is not the time to sell. It’s not only not the time to sell from a valuation perspective, but there are no buyers out there. Few are acquisitive in that space.”

Nack also added, “On the macroeconomic side, interest rates are low, so buyers can take more debt on a business — and therefore valuations are up. So now is a great time to sell for many business owners because of all the money that’s currently in the marketplace.”

A good M&A advisor will tell you if it’s not the best time to sell. “We have no problem telling someone that they’re not going to successful going to market right now, whether as a result of external or internal factors,” says Price.

6. Don’t inoculate the market.

“Sometimes, sellers decide to go out and play in the market a bit,” Price says. “They’ll talk to a few people, but the conversations will end, whether because of lack of sophistication of process, or disconnect on valuation. When a buyer walks away from a deal like that, it can be very hard to get them to re-engage.”

“Once, we were going out to market on behalf of someone, and we went to a private equity group. The PE group said, we’ve talked to that guy three times — we’re not talking to him again. The seller inoculated the market in that case. He spoiled it before we could take his business out in a more sophisticated way.”

7. Realize that the process will take time.

“It can take 8-12 months to find the right buyer for a business, and get the deal done in a manner that’s beneficial to both parties,” says Price. “It’s an intricate process.”
“Some CEOs come in and want to sell their company in a month and a half, and we have to disabuse them of that notion. It’s important for them to understand that this is a process in its own right. This may be a second job of sorts for a little while, which can be nerve-wracking. We help take a lot of that load off them, but they’re still highly involved in the process.”

An advisor will help make sure the owner “doesn’t waste time” in the sale process, says Nack. “We have a process to sift through potential opportunities, and only bring buyers into the discussion where there’s a high potential of something happening.” Advisors coordinate conversations in such a way that “someone can submit an Indication of Interest (IOI) without having to have an in-depth conversation with the seller. We make sure a buyer is serious and capable of doing the transaction first — which is often the opposite of how it works when a seller tries to sell their company without representation.”