Preparing to sell an owner-operated business in Miami.

The Miami business mix

• Trade and logistics: freight forwarders, importers, exporters and distributors working around PortMiami and Miami International Airport, many with customers or suppliers in Latin America.
• Hospitality and food: restaurant groups, catering, food distribution and suppliers to hotels and cruise lines.
• Healthcare: medical and dental practices, home health, pharmacies and clinics across Miami-Dade and Broward.
• Construction and building services: general and specialty contractors, HVAC, pool, roofing, and the firms behind the region's condominium and commercial buildings.
• Marine businesses: boat service, storage, charter and marine supply.
• Professional services working in Spanish and English: accounting, insurance agencies and business services for local and international clients.

Who buys Miami businesses

International buyers

Buyers from Latin America and elsewhere who want a US operating business, sometimes as part of a plan to live and work in the United States. Their immigration and tax questions belong with their own advisers. For the seller, what matters is that funds are proven early and the timetable is realistic.

Individual operators using SBA 7(a) financing

Local managers and operators financing with an SBA 7(a) loan, which can go up to USD 5 million. Lender eligibility rules for buyers who are not US citizens or permanent residents should be checked with the lender at the start, not after an offer is agreed.

Search funds and ETA buyers

Entrepreneurship-through-acquisition buyers looking for stable, recurring businesses with a team that can run without the founder.

Private-equity add-ons and strategic acquirers

Platforms in logistics, healthcare, home services and insurance buying South Florida coverage, and national or Latin American companies that want a Miami base for regional trade.

What Miami sellers typically get wrong

• Cash and mixed accounts. Cash-heavy businesses and personal spending through the company reduce what a lender will finance. Separate them twelve months before going to market.
• Related companies abroad. Where the business buys from or sells to an affiliated company in another country, the arrangement needs to be written down and priced the way an outside buyer would accept.
• Seasonality left unexplained. Winter peaks and summer troughs are normal here. Show three full years by month so a buyer sees the pattern, not a bad quarter.
• Treating verbal interest as an offer. International interest can be warm and slow. Ask for proof of funds before any name or financial detail is shared.
• The lease and the property. Where the sale involves real property or a lease, that part is handled by a real estate professional who holds the right Florida license, working alongside us.

Before you go to market

Twelve to twenty-four months of preparation changes the result more than any negotiation does. For a Miami business that usually means three things. First, a clean separation of business and personal spending, so every add-back can be shown. Second, written agreements with key customers and suppliers, especially those abroad, so a buyer is not relying on your handshake. Third, a manager who can speak to customers in both languages and run the day without you. Buyers here, local and international, will pay for a business they can step into. They discount one that only works with the founder in the room.

How we value a Miami business

We start from seller's discretionary earnings, documented line by line, and apply a multiple that reflects size, customer concentration and how much the business depends on the owner's personal relationships, which in trade businesses can be most of it. The debt-service test asks whether a buyer financing the purchase could pay the loan from the cash flow with room to spare. The asset floor shows what inventory, receivables, vessels or equipment support on their own. You get a range and the reasoning.

How the process runs

1. Conversation. A confidential discussion of the business, the numbers and your timing. No cost, no obligation.
2. Valuation and preparation. A written range from tax returns, bank statements and payroll, and a list of what to fix before buyers look.
3. Marketing, buyer introductions and negotiation. In Florida, these steps are run alongside a broker licensed in Florida, and we work with them. We prepare the valuation, the file and the figures the process relies on.
4. Deal structuring advice and closing. Advice to you on structure, seller financing, earn-outs and working capital, with diligence and closing handled alongside your attorney and CPA.

Every engagement is agreed in writing and signed before any work begins. The first conversation is confidential and carries no cost or obligation. See the United States overview, or our page on Orlando and Central Florida.