More small business owners confident about selling price

Small business owners are growing more optimistic they'll be able to get a good price for their companies, according to a survey by BizBuySell.com, an online marketplace for businesses.

More than 21 percent of prospective sellers questioned in the survey said they're very confident they can sell their companies at an acceptable price, up from 17.6 percent in a similar survey last year.

The latest survey shows the market for businesses is shifting to one that's better for sellers than buyers, BizBuySell.com says. The number of buyers confident in their ability to find a company at an acceptable price fell to 78.6 percent from 80.5 percent last year.

The change reflects the improving economy and the fact that companies are healthier and can fetch a higher price, says Bob House, group general manager of BizBuySell.com.

“While buyers are still finding acceptable prices overall, they are noticing the increase in asking prices and perhaps not finding as much value in the market as they did just last year,” he says.

The survey questioned 1,500 people interested in buying or selling a business.

Women Business Owners Competition

The owners of a consulting business, financial education company and a technology company are the winners of a United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Foundation competition for women owners.

The competition was open to all women who are the founding CEOs and who own at least 51 percent of a privately held U.S. company. The winners are:

— Gail Smith, chairwoman of Abbene/Smith Global, a consultancy based in Charlotte, North Carolina.  

— Yamila Constantino Mendez, founder of Dinero Y Mas/Money & More, a New York-based company that provides creates financial education for television and the Internet.

— Beatriz Manetta, president of Argent Associates, a Plano, Texas-based company that uses creates supply management systems.

The winners will receive publicity through Cosmopolitan Magazine for Latinas, Comcast NBCUniversal Telemundo, the Kauffman Foundation, Doral Bank, Facebook and Google.

Online Seminar  

SCORE, the organization that provides free counseling to small businesses, holds an online seminar on Thursday to help women who own or want to start a business. It starts at noon Central time.