Azur Associates
- Business brokerage or M&A
- Exit planning
What a featured listing costs · from $29 a month
Let us look locally first. The Napa page lists a single business broker, in Napa County. That is the only local option shown, so it is sensible to widen the search to business brokers on nearby pages and then weigh the local fit against them. Services published for this advisor include general business brokerage or M&A work and exit planning. Google shows 1 review for this advisor, averaging 5.0 stars, so ask for a past seller's reference as well.
On confidentiality, ask whether buyers sign a nondisclosure agreement before they learn your name, and how your financial details are handled along the way. Once you have a short list, ask for a written engagement that spells out what is being sold, how long it runs, and who handles your file. On your first call, ask what the fee covers, whether valuation or marketing is billed separately, and whether anything changes if you find the buyer yourself.
Verify the license before you sign: a paid sale of a California business opportunity, meaning the business and its goodwill, generally calls for a real estate license, so look up the license on the Department of Real Estate's public lookup before you hire. If a salesperson will handle your file, get the broker's name in writing, since a salesperson must work under a broker. If Napa does not turn up the right fit, the pages for San Rafael (10 brokers), Santa Rosa (13), Pleasant Hill (7) and Walnut Creek (5) list more advisors.
One advisor is listed for Napa, in Napa County, and that is the only local name shown. Since there is little local choice, look at the pages for San Rafael and Santa Rosa to widen your options and see who knows your kind of business.
Other pages worth opening include Walnut Creek (5 brokers) and San Francisco (25). Check with each broker whether they have sold businesses in Napa before, and how they stay in touch during the sale.
Each firm sets its own fee terms, so none are quoted here, and each broker can give you the details directly. Ask each broker which costs, if any, are billed separately, and whether anything changes if you find the buyer yourself.
In California, someone paid to sell or negotiate the sale of a business opportunity has to hold a real estate license, either as a broker or as a salesperson under a broker. A business opportunity includes the sale of a business and its goodwill, so the rules reach sales of ordinary businesses like a shop or a restaurant.