Does a Landlord Have to Approve a Lease Assignment When You Sell Your Florida Business?
For many Florida business owners, the commercial lease does not receive much attention until a buyer is ready to...
Follow Us :
KMF Business Advisors helps Lakeland and Polk County business owners sell privately-held companies — and helps qualified buyers acquire them — without exposing the sale to employees, competitors, or customers. Our brokers hold Certified Business Intermediary (CBI) and International Business Brokers Association (IBBA) credentials and are licensed under Florida Statute Chapter 475, which governs the sale of business enterprises in the state.
Lakeland’s economy runs on distribution, manufacturing, healthcare, and citrus-adjacent industry — a mix that shapes how we approach valuation, buyer sourcing, and deal structure for local sellers.
Lakeland sits between Tampa and Orlando on the I-4 corridor, home to Publix’s global headquarters on Publix Corporate Parkway, more than 30 million square feet of industrial and warehouse space, and over 12,500 logistics and supply-chain workers. Selling a business here means marketing to a buyer pool that includes relocating operators, private equity roll-ups scouting the corridor, and owner-operators moving up from smaller Florida markets — each requiring a different pitch.
Our brokers, John C. Bucher (CBI, IBBA, BBF, IFA) and Sanjay Wadhwani, work Lakeland listings from our Boca Raton headquarters but hold in-person meetings, valuations, and closings on-site in Polk County, generally scheduling within a day’s drive of Lakeland’s Publix Corporate Parkway headquarters and the Polk Parkway interchange.
We represent business buyers and sellers throughout Lakeland, serving companies in commercial corridors, retail centers, industrial parks, and surrounding business districts. Whether you're preparing to sell a long-established company or searching for the right acquisition opportunity, our experienced brokers provide confidential, professional guidance throughout the process.
Our services also extend throughout Polk County, including Winter Haven, Bartow, Auburndale, Mulberry, Lake Wales, Haines City, Davenport, and nearby business communities. No matter where your business operates in the region, we provide business valuation, confidential marketing, buyer representation, negotiations, and transaction support from start to finish.
Business brokers typically charge a success fee of 8–12% of the sale price for Main Street transactions, generally on a sliding scale as deal size increases, payable at closing rather than upfront. Valuation and marketing preparation are usually included in that fee rather than billed separately.
Most Lakeland small and mid-sized business sales close in six to twelve months from listing to closing table, though logistics and manufacturing businesses tied to the I-4 corridor's active buyer pool can move faster when the financials are already clean and recast.
No. Florida's licensing requirement under Chapter 475 applies to brokers acting on behalf of someone else for compensation. An owner selling their own Lakeland business directly does not need a real estate or business broker license — but any intermediary they hire does.
For many Florida business owners, the commercial lease does not receive much attention until a buyer is ready to...
Most Florida business owners who sell for one million dollars keep somewhere between six hundred thousand and seven hundred...
Introduction Selling a business is rarely as straightforward as transferring ownership of equipment, inventory, customer relationships, and goodwill. Every...