Report: Sales of small businesses rose again in 2011

Sales of small businesses increased for the second consecutive year, according to a recently released annual report from San Francisco-based small business acquisitions website BizBuySell.com.

A total of 6,703 small businesses from across the nation were reported as sold to the website in 2011 - a 3.3 percent increase from the 6,486 that changed hands the year before. Business owners were also observed to be adjusting their pricing expectations, selling their companies for less in order to finalize deals more quickly.

"While 2011 continued to be a tough year for the nation's small business owners, we were pleased to see that business performance is improving and more people are buying small businesses," said Mike Handelsman, group general manager of BizBuySell.com.

However, Joseph Caffrey, president and CEO of Virginia Beach-based Worldwide Business Brokers, warned that the unstable economy is going to have a negative effect on sales, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Specifically, sellers will find they need to contribute as much as 70 percent toward a small business sale. In a healthier economic climate, this figure would be more like 20 to 30 percent.