Why Choose Arx Over Other Business Brokers

Most brokers in this market post a listing and hope. We don’t. Here’s what we actually do differently, and why it shows up in the price.

The Gap We Fill: Between Main Street Brokers and Investment Banks

If you’ve built a business doing $1M-$25M in revenue, you’re already in rare company. Only 9% of businesses ever reach $1M in annual sales. You’ve built a team, developed systems, and created something a buyer will actually pay for.

Then you go looking for representation and hit a wall. Main Street brokers will post you on BizBuySell and wait. Real estate agents are selling a building, not an operating company. Investment banks will not take the call unless you’re north of $50M.

You’re stuck in the middle.

That’s why Arx exists. We run a full process at this size: valuation, targeted outreach, competitive tension, and closing. No $50M minimum. No dual agency. You get someone whose only client in the deal is you.

See our proven process that delivers results for businesses just like yours.

The Broker Problem: Why Most Sellers Are Frustrated

Let’s be honest about what’s broken in this industry. Most of the horror stories you’ve heard about business brokers are true.

If you’ve talked to other business owners who’ve sold - or tried to sell - you’ve probably heard the complaints. Maybe you’ve experienced them yourself. The problems aren’t random bad luck. They’re structural. And understanding them helps you see why we built Arx the way we did.

“Buying the Listing” With Fantasy Valuations

Here’s how it usually works: A broker tells you your business is worth $2 million. You’re thrilled. You sign the engagement. Then your business sits on the market for 18 months while you turn down real offers at $1.2 million - because your broker said it was worth more.

This is called “buying the listing.” Brokers quote fantasy valuations to win your business, knowing the market will eventually force a price correction. Meanwhile, your listing goes stale, serious buyers move on, and your reputation suffers. When you finally sell at the real market value, you’ve wasted two years and probably left money on the table from frustrated negotiations.

We don’t do this. Our valuations are data-driven and defensible. If we can’t justify a price to sophisticated buyers and their lenders, we won’t quote it to you. We’d rather lose a listing than waste your time.

Dual Representation and Divided Loyalty

Many brokers represent both buyers and sellers. Think about that for a moment. When there’s a conflict - and there’s always a conflict - whose interests come first?

If a broker has a buyer client ready to close, are they pushing you toward that buyer to collect two commissions? When negotiating price, are they advocating for you or trying to keep their buyer happy? You’ll never know for sure.

At Arx, we represent sellers exclusively. No buyer clients. No dual agency. No wondering whose side we’re on.

Ghosting and Communication Breakdowns

Studies show roughly 40% of brokers never respond to initial buyer inquiries. Think about that - nearly half of potential buyers for your business never even get a callback.

Sellers fare little better. Months go by without meaningful updates. When you do reach your broker, you get vague reassurances instead of real information. Response times stretch to weeks, even for serious matters.

This isn’t laziness. It’s economics. Most brokers are juggling too many listings with too few resources. They’re overwhelmed, so they triage. Your deal might not make the cut.

We have clear communication standards. You’ll know what’s happening with your deal, and buyer inquiries get prompt attention. Because a missed buyer inquiry is a missed opportunity to create competition for your business.

Sloppy Documentation That Kills Deals

Buyers walk away from deals all the time. The most common reason? They can’t get straight answers about the financials.

Too many brokers list businesses without proper documentation. The P&L doesn’t reconcile. Add-backs don’t match the numbers. Questions go unanswered because the broker never collected the information. Sophisticated buyers see this and run - they assume if the broker is sloppy, the business might be too.

We won’t list your business until your financial story is clean and defensible. It takes more work upfront, but it means buyers trust what they see. And trust closes deals.

Hidden Fees and Surprise Charges

You signed up for a success fee. Then came the retainer. Then the marketing fee. Then the “document preparation” charge. By the time you’re done, you’ve paid thousands before your business even sells - and you’re locked into an agreement you can’t escape.

Our model is simple: success fee only. No upfront costs. No retainers. No monthly charges. No hidden fees that appear after you’ve signed. We share the risk with you.

Post-and-Pray Marketing

Most brokers’ “marketing strategy” is simple: post your business on BizBuySell, email their internal database, and hope. That’s it. They’re waiting for buyers to come to them.

This is passive, and passive doesn’t create competition. Competition drives higher offers. Without it, you’re negotiating with whatever single buyer happened to see your listing - and they know they’re the only option.

We actively reach out to hundreds of targeted buyers in the first four weeks. Competitors. Strategic acquirers. Private equity groups. Industry roll-ups. We create competition because competition drives up your price.

Inexperience Dressed Up as Expertise

Here’s an uncomfortable truth: there’s no meaningful licensing requirement to become a business broker in most states. Real estate agents “do business brokerage” on the side. People with no M&A training hang out a shingle after watching a few YouTube videos.

They’ll use generic industry multiples instead of real valuation analysis. They won’t understand deal structures, tax implications, or how to position your business to different buyer types. And you won’t know until it’s too late.

Our team has decades of actual deal experience. Our founder has built and sold his own business. We have in-house financial expertise including a CPA and Certified Financial Valuation Analyst. This isn’t theory for us - it’s what we do every day.

These problems aren’t universal. Good brokers exist. But they’re rare, and finding them requires knowing what to look for.

If you’re still deciding whether you even need a broker, start here: What is a business broker and do you need one?

The sections below explain exactly how Arx addresses each of these issues - and what you should demand from any broker you consider.

What Makes Arx Different

Eight things that are actually different. Each one has a proof point. If a broker can’t match these, keep looking.

Your Interests Come First - Always

We represent sellers exclusively. No buyer clients. No conflicts. No divided loyalty.

This matters more than most owners realize. When a broker represents both buyers and sellers, whose interests come first when there’s a conflict? If they have a buyer client ready to close and your business fits their needs, are you getting the highest possible price - or are you getting matched to an existing client? You’ll never know.

At Arx, every decision we make is about maximizing YOUR outcome. We’re always negotiating for your highest price and best terms. There’s no wondering whose side we’re really on - we work for you alone. On price, terms, and structure, you want someone in your corner with no divided interests.

Most brokers can’t say this. We can.

We’ve Walked This Path and Know Every Step

Our founder, Brecht Palombo, has built, grown, and successfully sold his own business. He understands what it means to put nearly a lifetime of work into a business - and what it takes to exit at full value.

Selling is a financial transaction with an identity attached. You’ve spent years becoming the person who runs this company. Handing that off - or watching a deal fall apart - is the part brokers who have never sold anything don’t see.

Brecht has been in that chair. Due diligence anxiety, competing LOIs, picking a buyer who won’t wreck what you built. You don’t learn that from a licensing course.

We bring nearly three decades of deal-making to this work, and over $250 million in commercial assets closed. This isn’t our first rodeo.

We Don’t Wait for Buyers - We Hunt Them Down

Here’s a test: Ask any broker to describe their exact outreach process for finding buyers. If they can’t give you specifics - if they talk about “marketing” or “using our network” without details, they’re a post-and-pray broker.

Post-and-pray brokers post your business on listing websites, email their internal database (if they have one), and hope for responses. That’s it. They’re waiting for buyers to come to them.

We don’t wait. We hunt.

For every deal, we conduct direct outreach to 250+ targeted buyers within the first 4 weeks. We use our database of tens of thousands of companies, AI tools, and global research talent to identify every potential buyer - competitors, strategic acquirers, private equity groups, and industry roll-ups.

This creates competition. And competition drives better offers.

Typical results? 50-150 signed NDAs. 10-20 qualified meetings. 5-15 formal letters of intent. When you have multiple buyers competing for your business, you’re negotiating from strength. When you have one buyer from a listing website, you’re negotiating from weakness.

Learn exactly how we find buyers for your business.

Financial Precision That Uncovers Hidden Value

Every evaluation is led by an experienced M&A professional and backed by a CPA and Certified Financial Valuation Analyst.

Main Street brokers don’t have this capability. They’ll use industry “rules of thumb” - maybe 2-3x EBITDA for your industry, call it a day. But your business isn’t average. There are nuances in your financial structure, hidden value in your customer relationships, strategic advantages that simple multiples miss entirely.

We use multiple valuation approaches to triangulate the most accurate value. More importantly, we look beyond the numbers to identify strategic value that financial-only valuations overlook.

That matters when we put your business in front of buyers. Different buyers care about different things. We know how to tell the story each one will actually pay for. That’s the difference between a commodity transaction and a strategic sale.

See what happens in our evaluation process.

Competition Drives Higher Offers - We Create It

We have deep experience running competitive bid processes and auctions - expertise typically reserved for deals 10 times the size of our market.

No other firm in the $1M-$25M segment has this capability. It’s a unique competitive advantage that can dramatically impact your sale price.

Here’s why it matters: Some businesses should be sold through a traditional priced listing. Others benefit from an unpriced auction where strategic buyers compete based on what they’re willing to pay, not an asking price you set upfront. Knowing which approach will maximize your value - and having the expertise to execute either one - is rare.

Real example: We represented a biotech company that had been built over 14 years. A simple financial valuation would have missed the strategic value entirely. We conducted a global competitive bid process, reaching out to over 350 strategic buyers and competitors worldwide. The result? Six formal offers. Competitive bidding drove the winning bid to 50% more than the next-best offer. We achieved double the original valuation - and found a buyer who truly honored their legacy.

That’s what competitive bidding expertise delivers. And it’s something you won’t find from legacy brokers in this market segment.

Understand our complete process from start to finish.

Tools That Buy Back Time

We use AI tools to build buyer lists and run research, secure data rooms so your documents aren’t bouncing around in email, and tracking so due diligence doesn’t live in someone’s inbox.

The point isn’t the stack. It’s that a full evaluation comes back in about 10 business days once we have your documents, and we spend our time on the negotiation instead of the paperwork.

Legacy firms still run a lot of this by hand. You feel that as delays and as a broker who is always “waiting on something.”

We Only Win When You Win

We only get paid when you exit your business happily, at a price and terms you’re thrilled with.

No upfront fees. No retainers. No monthly charges. We share the risk with you. If you don’t succeed, we don’t get paid.

This creates perfect alignment. Your success is our success. We’re incentivized to maximize your sale price, find the right buyer, and structure terms that work for you - because that’s the only way we earn a commission.

Some brokers charge retainers. That might make sense for them - they get paid whether your business sells or not. But it doesn’t make sense for you. At Arx, our interests are completely aligned with yours.

See our transparent fee structure for full details.

We Only Choose Projects We’re Confident We Can Win

We turn down 85% of inquiries.

That’s not bragging. It’s honesty. We only take projects where we’re confident we can achieve a win-win-win for you, the buyer, and us. If we don’t think we’re the right fit, or if we don’t believe we can deliver more value than our fee costs, we’ll tell you exactly why and point you toward the best path forward.

If we accept your engagement, it means we believe in the outcome. We’ve evaluated your business, your goals, and the market - and we’re confident we can succeed. That should give you confidence too.

What Makes a Good M&A Advisor?

When evaluating brokers, here’s what you should look for. Ask these questions. If they can’t answer specifically, keep looking.

• Sell-side only representation. Do they represent sellers exclusively, with no conflicts of interest?
• Built and sold a business themselves. Have they personally done what you’re trying to do?
• Describe exact buyer outreach process. Can they explain specifically how they’ll find buyers (not vague “marketing”)?
• In-house financial expertise. Do they have a CPA or valuation analyst on staff?
• Technology tools. Do they use modern tools for efficiency?
• Competitive bid capability. Can they run an auction process if needed?
• Success fee only. Are they only paid when you succeed?
• Selective about projects. Do they turn down businesses that aren’t a fit?

At Arx, the answer to every question is yes. Schedule your free evaluation to see if we’re the right fit for your business.

Still comparing brokers? Our guide to choosing a broker and the red flags to watch covers the questions you should ask.

Arx Isn’t for Every Business Owner

We’re selective. Not every business needs what we offer, and we turn down about 85% of inquiries.

You’re a fit if you’ve built a real company - $1M+ in sales or $300k in cash flow, with systems and a team, not a one-person hustle. You already know Main Street brokers are too light and investment banks won’t return the call. You want seller-only representation, a success fee (no retainer), and a broker who will tell you if we’re the wrong fit.

If you’re comfortable with dual agency, or with whoever answers a listing ad, we are not your firm.

If that sounds like you, start with a free evaluation. We’ll say so if it isn’t.

Bonus: If your business includes real estate…

Many $1M-$25M businesses own the property they operate from. Selling the business without addressing the real estate, or worse, handling them separately with different advisors, leaves money on the table.

We provide full-service representation including real estate advisory. We’ll guide you through all your options:

• Sell the property outright
• Structure a leaseback (often preferred)
• Include it in the business sale
• Keep it separately

Unlike legacy brokers who force you to work with separate commercial real estate agents, creating coordination nightmares and conflicting advice, we handle it all.

The Arx Difference in Action

Nabi and Kathleen had built something remarkable. Over 14 years, they’d grown their biotech company into a respected operation with valuable intellectual property and established customer relationships. But they’d reached a decision point - it was time to exit and move on to the next chapter.

A simple financial valuation would have missed what made their business truly valuable. The real value wasn’t in the numbers alone. It was in the strategic opportunities their technology created for the right buyer.

We conducted a global competitive bid process, reaching out to over 350 strategic buyers and competitors worldwide. We didn’t just post their business online and hope. We actively marketed to every potential acquirer who might see strategic value.

The result? Six formal offers. Competitive bidding created urgency and drove up the price. The winning bid came in at 50% more than the next-best offer - and double what a financials-only valuation would have suggested. More importantly, we found a buyer who truly understood and honored the legacy Nabi and Kathleen had built.

That’s what sophisticated M&A advisory delivers. And that’s what you get with Arx.

What Our Clients Say

“It was a pleasure to work with Brecht for the sale of our biotech company. We needed a bit of direction during our transition with all the paperwork and he was able to find answers to all our questions. Things went smoothly from the start of interviews to the end of closing. We could call him at any time and he always responded. He had extensive knowledge of the buying/selling process and was able to help us with finding the attorneys to represent us for closing review. Yes we would highly recommend him without hesitation.” - Kathleen Malekzadeh, Co-Founder, Setareh Biotech

“Taking the first steps of selling my retail business was a daunting task as it was my first time going through the process. Brecht did a great job of explaining the process and from the valuation through closing he was always patient and available to answer questions and to guide me through the process. I would definitely recommend him to anyone looking to sell a business. Thanks Brecht for helping me to finally take that big step to retirement!” - Ted Howe, Owner, Cascade Cottons

“Did an amazing job of selling my company for me. Brecht was very professional and fast to respond to any questions I had. Highly recommend if you need to sell or buy a business!” - Garry Aklin, Owner, Aklin Vegetation Management

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How long has Arx been in business?

Arx launched in 2023, bringing fresh modern processes to an industry that desperately needed them. But new doesn’t mean inexperienced. Our founder has been closing complex commercial deals since 1997 - hundreds of millions in successful transactions. While the firm is new, the expertise and track record aren’t.

Q: What size businesses do you work with?

We specialize in businesses with $1M-$25M in revenue, or $300K+ in EBITDA. This is the sweet spot where sellers need a real process but can’t get an investment bank on the phone. If you’re outside this range, we’ll be honest about whether we’re the right fit.

Q: Do you work with buyers too?

No. We represent sellers exclusively. This eliminates any conflict of interest and ensures we’re always working to maximize your sale price and terms. Finding and vetting buyers is our job - but we do it on your behalf, not theirs.

Q: What if you don’t think you can sell my business?

We’re honest. If we don’t think we’re the right fit - or if we don’t believe we can deliver more value than our fee costs - we’ll tell you exactly why and point you toward the best path forward. We turn down 85% of inquiries because we only take projects we’re confident will succeed.

Q: How are you different from other business brokers?

We represent sellers exclusively (no conflicts). We conduct active outreach to hundreds of buyers (not post-and-pray). We have in-house CPA and valuation expertise. We use modern technology for efficiency. We can run competitive bid processes when appropriate. And we only take projects we’re confident will succeed. Most importantly, our team includes someone who’s personally built and sold their own business - we’ve been where you are.

Q: What’s your fee structure?

Success fee only - we only get paid when you exit happily. No upfront costs, no retainers, no monthly fees. We share the risk with you. If you don’t succeed, we don’t get paid. See our transparent fee structure for complete details.

Q: How long does it take to sell a business?

Most sales take 6-9 months. Larger or more complex businesses can take up to a year, though we’ve closed deals in as few as 15 days when circumstances align. We’re transparent about timelines because unrealistic expectations create frustration. Learn about our process to understand what happens at each stage and why it takes the time it does.