First Choice Business Brokers is a franchise opportunity, not a job or employment position. As an FCBB franchise owner, you own and operate your own business brokerage franchise, backed by a proven system, comprehensive foundational and on-going training, technology, tools, an established brand, and back-office support designed to help you build and grow your business.

Founded in 1994, First Choice Business Brokers brings over 30 years of experience in business sales and a proven business brokerage model. Franchise owners have the independence of business ownership with the systems, resources, and support of an established national brand and staff behind them.

No. You do not need prior business sales or M&A experience to become a First Choice Business Brokers franchise owner. FCBB provides comprehensive training in business brokerage, valuation and business sales, supported by proven systems, technology, tools, and ongoing support.

FCBB franchise owners come from a wide range of professional backgrounds, including business ownership, executive leadership, accounting and finance, real estate, sales, and other professional services. Many bring transferable skills such as business acumen, financial understanding, relationship building, negotiation, and experience working with business owners.

You bring the professional experience you've already built; FCBB provides the business brokerage and M&A training, systems, and support to help you apply those skills in a new way.

The current initial franchise fee is $45,000. The estimated initial investment is under $100,000 and includes our initial FCBB Kick-Start Marketing Program and training. A detailed breakdown of anticipated expenses is disclosed in the First Choice Business Brokers Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) . 

During the discovery process, our Franchise Development team will discuss the franchise model and investment with you, provide the FDD at the appropriate stage, and answer your questions so you can make an informed decision about whether FCBB is the right business opportunity for you.

More than 30 years of proven training, systems, and support, plus a national network of trusted partners and referral sources. From initial training through ongoing operations, marketing, and technology, you'll have the resources to build a successful franchise from day one.

After you submit the form, you'll have the opportunity to schedule a brief introductory call with the First Choice Business Brokers Franchise Development team. This first conversation gives us an opportunity to learn more about your background and the market you're interested in while giving you an opportunity to learn more about FCBB, how the business model works, and what franchise ownership looks like.

There is no obligation to move forward. The franchise discovery process is designed to allow both you and FCBB to determine whether there is a good fit before moving to the next step.

SME (Linda) NOTE: Marketing's original specifies a 15-minute call. Retain “15-minute” if that is the standard scheduling option currently presented immediately after form submission.

No. Previous business brokerage, M&A, or business valuation experience is not required to become a First Choice Business Brokers franchise owner. As an experienced commercial or residential real estate professional, you already bring valuable transaction and sales experience. FCBB teaches you how to apply those skills to the specialized process of selling privately held businesses.

Training begins with First Choice University (FCU), which combines online learning with live, interactive instructor-led webinars. You'll learn the fundamentals of business brokerage, including business valuation, financial analysis, business development, securing listings, working with business buyers and sellers, confidential marketing, negotiations, due diligence, deal structure, and managing transactions through closing.

One of the most important differences is confidentiality. In real estate, broad exposure of a property is often the objective. In business brokerage, the identity of the business being sold frequently must remain confidential. Employees, customers, competitors, vendors, and others may not know the business is for sale. Business brokers must know how to confidentially market an opportunity, qualify prospective buyers, use nondisclosure agreements, and control the release of sensitive business information throughout the transaction.

You'll also learn how to evaluate financial performance and cash flow and work through the many components of a business sale, including equipment, inventory, financing, leases, buyer qualification, due diligence, and ownership transition.

Your training is reinforced by ongoing continuing education, coaching, established systems and technology, a dedicated Franchise Success Coach, and specialized resources for deal structure and transaction strategy.

You already understand transactions and what it takes to get a deal across the finish line. FCBB teaches you the specialized skills required to confidentially represent the sale of a business—and provides the systems and support to help you build a business brokerage of your own.

While many of the transaction skills are transferable, selling a business is fundamentally different from selling real estate. In a real estate transaction, the primary asset being marketed is the property. In business brokerage, you are helping transfer an operating business—with financial performance, employees, customers, equipment, inventory, leases, vendor relationships, financing considerations, and an owner who may have spent decades building it.

One of the biggest differences is confidentiality. A property can typically be openly marketed as being for sale. A business often cannot. Employees may not know the owner is considering a sale, and disclosure to customers, competitors, vendors, or the marketplace can potentially disrupt the business. Business brokers must know how to market the opportunity while protecting the identity of the company, qualify prospective buyers, obtain nondisclosure agreements, and carefully control when sensitive information is released.

Valuation is also different. Business brokers must learn how to analyze financial statements and tax returns, understand cash flow and seller discretionary earnings, identify appropriate adjustments, use relevant market comparables, and help establish a defensible asking price. From there, the broker may also be navigating buyer financing, leases, equipment and inventory, working capital, due diligence, purchase agreements, and the seller's transition out of the business.

And unlike a property, a business doesn't simply sit there while it is being sold. It must continue operating, serving customers, managing employees, generating revenue, and protecting its value throughout the sale process.

That's why real estate transaction experience can be such an advantage—but it isn't a substitute for business brokerage training. FCBB teaches you the specialized process of confidentially valuing, marketing, negotiating, and managing the sale of privately held businesses from listing through closing.

Absolutely. Commercial and residential real estate professionals are already valuable referral sources and strategic partners within the First Choice Business Brokers network. Real estate professionals regularly encounter business owners, investors, landlords, tenants, and others who may eventually need business brokerage services—and those relationships can become an important foundation for building an FCBB office.

Just as importantly, FCBB values and protects those relationships. We stay in our lane. We are business brokers. We do not sell residential homes, and we generally do not sell commercial real estate unless it is part of the business we are selling. FCBB offices generally do not belong to the National Association of REALTORS®, local real estate boards, or Multiple Listing Services, which means those additional membership and MLS expenses are generally not part of the FCBB business brokerage model.

Staying in our lane also creates opportunities for two-way referrals. When a commercial or residential real estate professional refers a business owner to FCBB, our focus is on the business sale. When an FCBB client has a residential or commercial real estate need outside the business transaction, we refer that opportunity to an appropriate real estate professional. Where permitted by applicable law, FCBB offices may both pay and receive referral fees, allowing each professional to remain focused on their area of expertise while continuing to benefit from the relationship.

For someone coming from real estate, there is also an important economic distinction. Business brokerage success fees are generally a substantially higher percentage of transaction value than traditional real estate commissions. Most FCBB offices charge success fees ranging from 12.5% to 15%, with minimum fees typically ranging from $15,000 to $20,000. That can make maintaining strong referral relationships—and staying focused on business brokerage—more attractive than trying to compete for every piece of a client's real estate business.

Your real estate network doesn't have to become your competition when you enter business brokerage. At FCBB, we stay in our lane, value the relationships that send business our way, and look for opportunities to send business back.

Commercial and residential real estate professionals are already experts at bringing buyers and sellers together—and a growing wave of business owners will need that same kind of professional representation when it is time to sell their companies. As Baby Boomer business owners retire and privately held companies transition to new ownership, experienced transaction professionals have an opportunity to apply many of the skills they already use in real estate to the business brokerage industry. 

The size of that market is substantial. 52.3% of U.S. business owners are age 55 or older, according to a LendingTree analysis using U.S. Census Bureau Annual Business Survey data. McKinsey estimates that by 2035, approximately 6 million small and midsize businesses will face ownership transitions, with more than 1 million viable candidates for sale representing up to $5 trillion in enterprise value. 

Every business that changes ownership creates its own transaction. The business may operate from leased commercial space, own its real estate, employ a workforce, have equipment and inventory, require buyer financing, or need a carefully planned transition from seller to buyer. That complexity is one reason trained business brokers play an important role in helping privately held businesses successfully change hands. 

And unlike the real estate market, business ownership transitions are driven by more than interest rates or property-market cycles. Retirement, succession, health, family considerations, partner changes, and an owner's desire to pursue something new can all lead to the decision to sell a business.

Business brokers stand at the intersection of legacy and opportunity—helping owners transition the businesses and value they have built while helping buyers pursue the opportunities ahead.

Sources for Marketing:

• LendingTree — Boomer Entrepreneurs Report — Source for the 52.3% age 55+ statistic.
• McKinsey & Company — The Great Ownership Transfer: A New Era of Business Stewardship — Source for the approximately 6 million ownership transitions by 2035, more than 1 million viable sale candidates, and up to $5 trillion in enterprise value estimates.

Yes. For experienced real estate professionals who are ready for something different, the First Choice Business Brokers franchise model provides an opportunity to take the transaction, sales, negotiation, and relationship skills you've developed in real estate and apply them to building a business brokerage of your own.

This is a transition into a different business. FCBB is focused on business brokerage. We do not practice residential real estate, and we generally do not sell commercial real estate unless it is part of a business sale. Instead, you can focus your experience and energy on representing owners in the sale of privately held businesses.

And while many of your transaction skills transfer, you don't have to spend years trying to figure out the business brokerage industry on your own. First Choice University (FCU) combines online learning with live, interactive instructor-led webinars, giving you a structured path for learning business valuation, financial analysis, confidential marketing, buyer qualification, deal structure, due diligence, and the FCBB process from listing through closing. That established training, combined with more than 30 years of FCBB systems, forms, processes, and transaction experience, can significantly shorten the learning curve compared with trying to build a business brokerage practice from scratch.

And you're not limited to the transactions you personally handle. As an FCBB franchise owner, you can participate directly in business sales while also developing a commission-based team of trained business brokers. As your team grows, you can increase the transaction capacity of your office, represent more business owners, work with more buyers, and build a stronger presence in your local business community.

FCBB also provides foundational business brokerage training for the brokers you add to your team, along with established technology, marketing resources, ongoing education, and corporate support. You provide the local leadership, mentorship, and accountability needed to develop your team and grow the operation.

Leaving real estate doesn't mean leaving the relationships you've built there. Because we stay in our lane, commercial and residential real estate professionals can remain valuable referral sources and strategic partners. You can continue exchanging referrals where permitted while focusing your own business on business brokerage.

You're not starting over—and you're not starting from scratch. You're taking years of transaction experience into a new industry with established training, systems, and support already in place, and using that foundation to build a brokerage that can become a valuable business asset of its own.