We, in the M&A world call it the 80% rule. 80% of buyers never buy anything and 80% of businesses on the market don’t sell. Through my professional experience of 25 years and observations within the industry I must conclude that this rule of thumb is accurate! I believe that there are many factors at play that make this an unfortunate and embarrassing statistic such as:
Many businesses are priced incorrectly because the broker is lacking valuation skills;
The broker believes that it’s not important to get the value right because “the market will sort it all out”.
The broker has approached the market “hiding” business flaws instead of “disclosing and discussing” them.