About Us


First Choice Business Brokers (FCBB) is a premier firm specializing in connecting buyers and sellers for successful business transactions. With expertise and integrity, we provide unparalleled service in the industry.

About Us


First Choice Business Brokers (FCBB) is a premier firm specializing in connecting buyers and sellers for successful business transactions. With expertise and integrity, we provide unparalleled service in the industry.

Our Mission and Values at First Choice Business Brokers

A Business Sales Organization

The buying or selling of a business should never be compared to the purchasing or selling of a home. You deserve experienced, licensed professionals who specialize in business sales – you need First Choice Business Brokers. We are large enough to offer the Buyer the greatest selection of businesses available, yet small enough to give the Seller individual attention.


To build a team of specialists; Business Brokers that assist entrepreneurial minded people to buy or sell their business, providing them with the lifestyle they've always dreamed of.


We are the world's leading specialist in Business Sales and will continue to lead the way with innovative and creative systems to enable every entrepreneurial minded person to create and build the future, through business.


1. Integrity

I do what I say, my word is my honor. I always speak the truth. My integrity is a critical asset and I am committed to upholding it. I set high standards. I abide by these standards as I practice business fairly and behave ethically. I share my expectations with others and strive to maintain a workplace built on mutual values, trust, and goodwill.


2. Professionalism

I hold myself to the highest standard and continually work at raising my standard. I am Professional in the way I present myself, in the way that I work, and in the way I communicate with people.


3. Commitment

I am united by an unspoken pledge, bound by my convictions. I prize dedication and am moved to help others. I am committed to achieving my vision and by doing so, will help others achieve theirs.


4. Passion

I wholeheartedly believe in my company. Its goals and objectives are in line with my own; I enthusiastically embrace them, and relentlessly pursue them. More importantly, I truly believe in myself, my company and in what I wish to achieve in life, I am committed to making that happen.

Our Mission and Values at First Choice Business Brokers

A Business Sales Organization

The buying or selling of a business should never be compared to the purchasing or selling of a home. You deserve experienced, licensed professionals who specialize in business sales – you need First Choice Business Brokers. We are large enough to offer the Buyer the greatest selection of businesses available, yet small enough to give the Seller individual attention.


To build a team of specialists; Business Brokers that assist entrepreneurial minded people to buy or sell their business, providing them with the lifestyle they've always dreamed of.


We are the world's leading specialist in Business Sales and will continue to lead the way with innovative and creative systems to enable every entrepreneurial minded person to create and build the future, through business.


1. Integrity

I do what I say, my word is my honor. I always speak the truth. My integrity is a critical asset and I am committed to upholding it. I set high standards. I abide by these standards as I practice business fairly and behave ethically. I share my expectations with others and strive to maintain a workplace built on mutual values, trust, and goodwill.


2. Professionalism

I hold myself to the highest standard and continually work at raising my standard. I am Professional in the way I present myself, in the way that I work, and in the way I communicate with people.


3. Commitment

I am united by an unspoken pledge, bound by my convictions. I prize dedication and am moved to help others. I am committed to achieving my vision and by doing so, will help others achieve theirs.


4. Passion

I wholeheartedly believe in my company. Its goals and objectives are in line with my own; I enthusiastically embrace them, and relentlessly pursue them. More importantly, I truly believe in myself, my company and in what I wish to achieve in life, I am committed to making that happen.

5. Communication

How I communicate with others will determine my level of success. I understand that when I am communicating, it is my responsibility to ensure I am understood. I communicate immediately when I have questions and communicate directly with the person involved. Integrity and trust are key to open communication and are the basis of our culture.


6. Life Balance

I enjoy life and my work. I am cheerful, happy, and enjoy a balance between my work life, my leisure time, my spiritual life, and my family life.


7. Family

I value my time with my family and the impact that they have on my life. I spend time with each family member and work at always improving my relationship with them. I realize that while I can choose my friends, I can't choose my family. It is my responsibility to create relationships with each member that are positive to both my own life and theirs.


8. Team

I realize that I cannot achieve all that I want in life, on my own. I need my team and they need me. Together we help each other achieve our goals. I realize that Together Everyone Achieves More.


9. Open-minded

I am open to learning new things. I am open to other people's points of view and realize that they do not need to be the same as mine. I embrace change and realize that in order to be successful in life, I need to be adaptable.


10. Leadership

I am a leader. I inspire and lead my team, keeping them excited and focused on our goal. I help my team achieve their goals and in doing so, I am able to achieve mine. I constantly seek to become a better leader.


11. Accountability & Responsibility

I am accountable for my actions and the effect these actions have on others. I realize that what I have, who I have become, and who I will become is my responsibility. I seek out to improve myself and learn from my past; while I enjoy the present moment, striving to create a better future for myself and my company.



Our team of agents come from varied backgrounds such as accounting, legal, banking, real estate and insurance. All agents have gone through extensive training becoming experts in the field of business evaluation, marketing and negotiations to satisfy both buyers and sellers alike.

5. Communication

How I communicate with others will determine my level of success. I understand that when I am communicating, it is my responsibility to ensure I am understood. I communicate immediately when I have questions and communicate directly with the person involved. Integrity and trust are key to open communication and are the basis of our culture.


6. Life Balance

I enjoy life and my work. I am cheerful, happy, and enjoy a balance between my work life, my leisure time, my spiritual life, and my family life.


7. Family

I value my time with my family and the impact that they have on my life. I spend time with each family member and work at always improving my relationship with them. I realize that while I can choose my friends, I can't choose my family. It is my responsibility to create relationships with each member that are positive to both my own life and theirs.


8. Team

I realize that I cannot achieve all that I want in life, on my own. I need my team and they need me. Together we help each other achieve our goals. I realize that Together Everyone Achieves More.


9. Open-minded

I am open to learning new things. I am open to other people's points of view and realize that they do not need to be the same as mine. I embrace change and realize that in order to be successful in life, I need to be adaptable.


10. Leadership

I am a leader. I inspire and lead my team, keeping them excited and focused on our goal. I help my team achieve their goals and in doing so, I am able to achieve mine. I constantly seek to become a better leader.


11. Accountability & Responsibility

I am accountable for my actions and the effect these actions have on others. I realize that what I have, who I have become, and who I will become is my responsibility. I seek out to improve myself and learn from my past; while I enjoy the present moment, striving to create a better future for myself and my company.

Our team of agents come from varied backgrounds such as accounting, legal, banking, real estate and insurance. All agents have gone through extensive training becoming experts in the field of business evaluation, marketing and negotiations to satisfy both buyers and sellers alike.

Selling a Business

Business Brokers help Sellers achieve the highest value for their business.

Business Valuation

Market Price Analysis - Learn what your business is worth in today’s market.

We handle all negotiations, paperwork, and ensure confidentiality throughout the entire process.

Selling a Business

Business Brokers help Sellers achieve the highest value for their business.

Business Valuation

Market Price Analysis - Learn what your business is worth in today’s market

We handle all negotiations, paperwork, and ensure confidentiality throughout the entire process.

Specializing in lower middle market services focused on larger businesses with revenue up to $35m.

Business brokers can help you find the right business for your interests, income, and location.

Acting as a navigator is one facet of the business broker’s role in successfully selling your business.

Specializing in lower middle market services focused on larger businesses with revenue up to $35m.

Business brokers can help you find the right business for your interests, income, and location.

Acting as a navigator is one facet of the business broker’s role in successfully selling your business.

Explore Latest News

By Kim Santos June 16, 2025
When Sean McAuliffe sold his company, he had a lot going for him. His distribution business was generating nearly $19 million in revenue. Margins were healthy. Growth was solid. And yet, when it came time to sell, his company was valued at around four times EBITDA, a relatively modest value for a $19 million company. The reason? Sean didn’t fully control his supply chain—and buyers noticed. Dependency Makes Buyers Nervous Sean’s model was simple. He bought car key fobs from suppliers in Asia and sold them to locksmiths across the U.S. It was a classic distribution play: source cheap, sell smart, and manage relationships. Sean executed well. He even created his own brand, Keyless to Go, and FCC-registered his products—moves that set him apart from competitors. But despite these efforts, Sean was still reliant on third-party suppliers. He didn’t own the factories. He didn’t control manufacturing. His business was exposed to the decisions of vendors half a world away. In today’s environment—where tariffs and geopolitical tensions can change the cost and availability of overseas goods almost overnight—relying on foreign suppliers feels riskier to acquirers than ever. This kind of dependency is exactly what The Value Builder System™ measures through the Switzerland Structure—one of the eight key drivers of company value. The Switzerland Structure assesses whether your business is overly dependent on any one customer, employee, or supplier. Buyers pay a premium for companies that aren’t beholden to any single relationship. Why Monopoly Control Drives Value Contrast that with businesses that own their brand, control their production, or have proprietary products. Companies with a defendable moat—what we call Monopoly Control—are 40% more likely to have received a written offer to acquire their business, according to analysis of more than 80,000 business owners who have completed their Value Builder Score report. When you control your product and customer experience, you influence your valuation upward—giving buyers fewer reasons to discount your business. The Takeaway for Owners Sean still built a great business. His execution created life-changing wealth. But if he had owned the supply chain or had exclusive manufacturing rights, he likely would have commanded a higher multiple.  The takeaway for business owners: Building a valuable company isn’t just about revenue and profit. It’s about creating a business that can thrive without being dependent on any one customer, employee, or supplier.
By Kim Santos April 21, 2025
Value Builder Analytics, drawing on proprietary data from over 80,000 business owners, found that companies that can run without the owner for at least three months are twice as likely to receive an acquisition offer above 6x EBITDA. The concept is simple. The execution? Not so much. Take Kristie Shifflette for example. She was an early master franchisee with Orangetheory Fitness, a one-hour, coach-led workout that uses heart rate zones to boost calorie burn during and after exercise. When she opened her first location, she did it all—marketing, hiring, payroll, and even handling construction headaches. It worked but only because she was working constantly. As she expanded, things started to break. With two locations, she was stretched. At three, it became clear: The model only worked when Kristie was the model. She knew she needed to change. Kristie stopped focusing on being in the business and started focusing on building the business. From Operator to Owner Kristie started documenting everything. From pre-sale processes to day-to-day studio operations, Kristie developed detailed playbooks that codified exactly how her Orangetheory locations should run—without her. She created a compensation structure for studio managers that gave them ownership over their results: modest base salaries paired with meaningful bonuses tied to net member growth and total revenue. Top-performing managers could double their pay, and they were treated like mini-CEOs with full responsibility for their studio’s performance. By the time she sold her business, Kristie had built a company with 13 locations generating well north of $10 million in annual revenue. Some of her top-performing studios, like the Chapel Hill location, were bringing in revenue of $2 million a year, with EBITDA margins around 40%.  Kristie’s story includes an important lesson: Make yourself less essential, and your business becomes more valuable. If you’re still the one opening the door in the morning and locking up at night—literally or metaphorically—it’s worth asking: What would break if I stepped away for 90 days? Start there. Whether it’s building a playbook, empowering your team, or simply learning to let go, taking even one step toward reducing your involvement makes your company not just more valuable but more enjoyable to own.
By Kim Santos April 14, 2025
For business owners considering their endgame, learning what makes a company valuable can feel overwhelming. Buyers prioritize factors like recurring revenue, a differentiated product or service, and a leadership team that operates independently from the owner. If a business doesn’t check every box, it can seem as though selling is perpetually just out of reach. But perfection is not a prerequisite for a sale. While improving the key drivers of value is important, an imperfect business can still be highly desirable to the right buyer. In fact, some acquirers actively look for businesses with fixable flaws because they see an opportunity to increase value. Blake Hutchison on Why Imperfections Can Be to an Acquirer’s Advantage Blake Hutchison, CEO of Flippa, has witnessed thousands of business acquisitions. Flippa is an online marketplace where business owners can buy and sell companies, particularly small to mid-sized digital businesses. The platform connects sellers with buyers looking for opportunities to grow or optimize an acquisition. In a recent Built to Sell Radio interview, Hutchison explained that many business owners assume their company won’t attract buyers because it has shortcomings. In reality, most acquirers aren’t looking for perfection—they’re looking for potential. Many buyers have a strategic advantage, whether it’s a strong distribution network, operational expertise, or access to capital, that allows them to take an imperfect business and make it more valuable. A prime example of this is the acquisition of PetCoach. How PetCoach Turned an Imperfection into a Selling Point PetCoach, co-founded by Brock Weatherup, was a two-sided marketplace designed to connect pet owners with veterinarians. The challenge for any marketplace business is keeping both sides in balance—generating enough demand from pet owners while ensuring there are enough veterinarians to meet that demand. PetCoach had built a strong product, but it lacked a broad distribution channel to acquire pet owners at scale. Without a solution, growth would remain limited. Instead of seeing this as a dealbreaker, Weatherup positioned it as an opportunity for the right buyer. That buyer was Petco. With more than 1,500 locations across the U.S., Mexico, and Puerto Rico, Petco had access to millions of pet owners. By acquiring PetCoach, Petco could instantly expand its offerings while solving PetCoach’s biggest challenge. Weatherup didn’t need to fix the scalability issue before selling. He needed to find an acquirer for whom the business’s weakness was actually a competitive advantage. Your Business Has Value—Even if It’s Not Perfect This doesn’t mean business owners should ignore the fundamentals of value creation. Strengthening factors like recurring revenue, customer retention, and operational efficiency will always increase a company’s attractiveness. However, not every issue needs to be resolved before an exit.  Instead of viewing imperfections as obstacles, business owners should consider how an acquirer might perceive them: A company struggling with customer acquisition may be a great fit for a buyer with an established customer base. A business with inefficient operations might attract an acquirer with expertise in streamlining processes. A company overly dependent on its owner could be appealing to a buyer with a strong leadership team ready to step in. As Blake Hutchison explains, acquirers are often looking for businesses where they can add value. The key is to position the company in a way that highlights its strengths while framing its imperfections as untapped potential. The right acquirer won’t see weaknesses as dealbreakers—they’ll see them as opportunities.