What does a business broker charge in Highland, California?

Most business brokers charge a success fee — a commission paid only when the deal closes. The standard rate is 10% of the sale price for smaller businesses, though some brokers use the Lehman Formula, which applies a sliding scale on larger deals. Some brokers also charge an upfront retainer or valuation fee. Always confirm the full fee structure in writing before signing a listing agreement.

How long does it take to sell a business in Highland?

Most small-to-mid-size business sales take six to twelve months from listing to closing. The timeline depends on how cleanly your financials are documented, your asking price relative to market value, and buyer financing. Businesses in Highland's top employment sectors — retail trade and health care — tend to attract steady buyer interest, but deals in any sector can stall if due diligence reveals surprises.

What is my Highland business worth?

Business value is typically calculated as a multiple of Seller's Discretionary Earnings (SDE) or EBITDA. The specific multiple depends on your industry, growth trend, customer concentration, and transferability. A retail business on Base Line Road may be valued differently than a health-care services practice near Loma Linda University Medical Center. A qualified broker or certified business valuator can produce a formal opinion of value grounded in comparable sales.

Do I need a licensed broker to sell my business in California?

Yes — California requires anyone who charges a fee to sell a business opportunity to hold a real estate broker license issued by the California Department of Real Estate (DRE). This applies to most business sales that include tangible assets or goodwill. Selling without a licensed broker is legal if you handle the transaction yourself, but most buyers expect professional representation and documented compliance with state disclosure rules.

How do brokers keep my sale confidential in a small city like Highland?

A good broker markets your business without revealing its name, location, or owner. Buyers sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement before receiving any identifying details. Listings use blind profiles that describe the business type and financials in general terms only. In a smaller city like Highland, where suppliers, employees, or competitors could recognize your business quickly, strict NDA enforcement and controlled information release are especially important.

Who is buying businesses in Highland and the Inland Empire right now?

Two buyer profiles dominate the Inland Empire market. First, owner-operators — often local residents with industry experience — are acquiring retail and health-care service businesses along Highland's commercial corridors. Second, logistics-sector investors are drawn to the I-210 and SR-330 corridor because San Bernardino County's logistics and distribution industry posted 82% employment growth over the past decade, making distribution-adjacent businesses attractive acquisition targets for regional operators and private equity.

What California-specific legal steps are required when selling a business?

California sellers must comply with bulk sale notice requirements under the California Commercial Code, which protects creditors by requiring public notice before asset transfers. The seller must also provide a Franchise Disclosure Document if the business is a franchise. Your broker must hold a DRE license to facilitate the transaction. Additionally, any lease assignment needs landlord consent, and sales tax clearance from the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration is typically required before escrow closes.

Which types of businesses sell fastest in Highland?

Businesses with clean books, a loyal customer base, and minimal owner-dependency close fastest. In Highland specifically, retail trade is the top employment sector by resident workers, and health care and social assistance ranks second — meaning buyers familiar with these industries are already active locally. Service businesses with recurring revenue and food-and-beverage operations in established commercial corridors also tend to attract multiple offers more quickly than capital-intensive businesses.

Highland, California Business Brokers

BusinessBrokers.net is actively building its broker network in Highland, California. No brokers are currently listed for the city directly, but you can connect with a qualified broker in a nearby covered city — San Bernardino, Redlands, or Rancho Cucamonga — or search the California state directory for a licensed M&A advisor serving the Inland Empire region.

0 Brokers in Highland

BusinessBrokers.net is actively building its broker network in Highland.

Market Overview

Highland's two largest employment sectors — Retail Trade and Health Care & Social Assistance — define the city's deal landscape more clearly than any other factor. Retail Trade employs 3,641 residents, anchored along the Base Line Road and Highland Avenue commercial corridors that run the length of the city. Health Care & Social Assistance follows closely at 3,578 workers, pulled by the concentration of medical campuses in neighboring Loma Linda and San Bernardino. These two sectors alone account for the majority of owner-operated businesses most likely to change hands.

The city's 56,675 residents (2024 Census estimate) earn a median household income of $77,120, a figure that supports steady consumer demand for Main Street retail and personal services. Stater Bros. Markets — regionally headquartered in San Bernardino with stores in Highland — reflects how deeply grocery and neighborhood retail are woven into the local commercial fabric.

Nationally, small-business transaction volume grew 5% in 2024, reaching 9,546 closed deals with a total enterprise value of $7.59 billion (BizBuySell Year-End 2024 Insight Report). Median days on market fell to 168 days, signaling faster deal cycles for motivated sellers. Retirement drives 38% of seller decisions nationally — a pattern that maps directly onto Highland's owner-operated retail and service businesses, many of which were built by a single owner over decades.

California hosts 4.2 million small businesses, more than any other state (SBA, 2024), giving buyers a wide search field and giving qualified sellers real competition for acquirer attention. For Highland specifically, that means pricing, preparation, and professional representation matter from day one.

Top Industries

Retail Trade

Retail Trade is Highland's top employment sector, with 3,641 residents working in the industry (DataUSA, 2024). Base Line Road and Highland Avenue form the visible spine of that economy — a west-to-east commercial strip of grocery stores, auto-parts shops, restaurants, and personal-service businesses. These owner-operated storefronts represent the most common acquisition targets in the city. Buyers looking for established customer bases, existing leases, and immediate cash flow tend to start here. Stater Bros. Markets, which has a regional footprint anchored near San Bernardino, signals the grocery-retail density that shapes consumer traffic patterns throughout the corridor.

Health Care & Social Assistance

At 3,578 workers, Health Care & Social Assistance ranks second in Highland employment — a figure directly tied to the city's proximity to Loma Linda University Medical Center, one of the largest medical employers in the Inland Empire. That medical campus acts as a demand magnet for the surrounding area. Clinics, home health agencies, behavioral health practices, and medical billing services cluster within driving distance of Loma Linda's campus, and many of those businesses are acquisition targets. Buyers with clinical backgrounds or healthcare administration experience consistently find deal flow in this corridor.

Educational Services

Educational Services ranks third at 2,160 workers (DataUSA, 2024), split between Redlands Unified School District in eastern Highland and San Bernardino Unified in the west. That school-district divide creates demand for ancillary private businesses — tutoring centers, childcare facilities, and vocational training providers — that serve families in both attendance zones.

Logistics & Distribution

San Bernardino County's logistics and distribution sector posted 82% employment growth over the past decade, leading all industries countywide (SB County Economic Indicators, 2023). Highland sits directly adjacent to the I-210 and SR-330 corridors that feed the Inland Empire's broader distribution infrastructure. Acquisition-minded buyers targeting warehouse-adjacent businesses — last-mile delivery support, light assembly, or logistics services — increasingly scan Highland alongside larger IE markets like Fontana and Ontario.

Manufacturing

Manufacturing maintains a presence across San Bernardino County, adding a secondary buyer pool of industrial acquirers who may target light-manufacturing or fabrication operations in Highland. Verified county-level data confirms manufacturing's role in the regional economy, though Highland-specific employment figures are not available.

Selling Your Business

Selling a business in Highland follows a path shaped by California's unusually specific legal framework. Before you list, understand that any broker you hire to negotiate the sale for compensation must hold a California Department of Real Estate (DRE) real estate broker license under Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §10131(a). Operating without that license is a criminal offense under §10139 — so your first move is to confirm your broker's credentials at dre.ca.gov before signing anything.

Once you have a licensed broker engaged, preparation drives speed. Normalize three years of financials, adjust for any owner-specific expenses, and get a broker opinion of value. Nationally, the median business sale took 168 days in 2024 (BizBuySell). Highland sellers with clean books, a clear ownership structure, and resolved contingencies can aim for the lower end of that range. Those with unresolved issues should plan for a six-to-twelve month process.

California adds compliance steps that don't exist in most other states. The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) bulk-sale tax clearance process is mandatory in any asset sale — it protects buyers from inheriting your unpaid sales-tax liabilities, and skipping it can unwind a deal after closing. The California Secretary of State handles entity amendments, conversions, and dissolutions that accompany most transfers. If your business holds an ABC liquor license, plan for the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control approval process, which runs on its own timeline. Finally, settle any open payroll tax accounts with the California Employment Development Department (EDD) before closing — unresolved EDD balances are a common deal-delay in San Bernardino County transactions.

Sign NDAs with all prospective buyers before sharing financials. Confidentiality matters especially along Highland's commercial corridors, where customers, employees, and competitors often overlap.

Who's Buying

Three buyer profiles drive most acquisition activity in and around Highland, each for different reasons.

Logistics-oriented buyers are the most regionally distinctive. San Bernardino County's logistics and distribution sector posted 82% employment growth over the past decade — the strongest of any industry countywide. Highland's position along the I-210 and SR-330 corridors puts it squarely in the path of private-equity-backed and independent operators seeking distribution-adjacent, last-mile service, or light industrial businesses. These buyers often move quickly and arrive pre-financed, but they focus narrowly on operational fit with existing supply-chain infrastructure.

Healthcare and services buyers face a genuine supply shortage. Nationally, buyer demand for service-sector businesses outpaced available listings in 2024 (BizBuySell Year-End Insight Report), creating a seller's market in that segment. Highland's second-largest employment sector is Health Care & Social Assistance, with 3,578 resident workers — a base supported by proximity to major medical campuses in neighboring Loma Linda and San Bernardino. Qualified buyers for clinics, home-health agencies, and behavioral health practices are active and often competing for limited inventory.

SBA-financed owner-operators form the third major buyer profile. Retail Trade is Highland's top employment sector by resident workers (3,641 people), and the Base Line Road corridor draws owner-operators from San Bernardino, Redlands, and Fontana who want established, community-serving businesses at suburban price points. Retirement-driven sellers — 38% of sellers nationally in 2024 — create acquisition windows for first-time buyers. The SBA Orange County / Inland Empire District Office (Santa Ana) supports these buyers with SBA 7(a) loan programs that make Highland's sub-$1M deals accessible to entrepreneurs who qualify.

Choosing a Broker

Start with the license check. California law (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §10131) requires any broker negotiating a business sale for compensation to hold a DRE real estate broker license. The DRE license lookup is free and public. Run every candidate through it before a first meeting. This is not optional due diligence — unlicensed brokerage is a criminal offense in California.

Beyond the license, match the broker to Highland's actual deal flow. Retail Trade and Health Care & Social Assistance are the city's top two employment sectors. A broker who has closed deals in grocery-anchored retail, medical practices, or home-health agencies understands the buyer qualification requirements, deal structures, and regulatory steps — like ABC license transfers or Medi-Cal billing transitions — that generic brokers often miss. Ask candidates directly: how many retail or healthcare business sales have you closed in San Bernardino County in the past three years?

Test for Inland Empire market reach. A broker whose active buyer network includes San Bernardino, Redlands, Loma Linda, Fontana, and Rancho Cucamonga will expose your listing to the full pool of regional buyers — including the logistics-sector acquirers tracking deals along the I-210 corridor. Ask how they distribute listings beyond their own website.

Confidentiality protocols deserve specific attention along Highland's commercial strips on Base Line Road and Highland Avenue, where your employees, suppliers, and competitors may share the same customer base. Ask how the broker screens and qualifies buyers before releasing your financials.

Professional designations like CBI (Certified Business Intermediary, issued by IBBA) and M&AMI (M&A Master Intermediary) signal formal training in deal structure and ethics. They don't replace track record, but they're a useful baseline filter.

The Highland Area Chamber of Commerce is a practical starting point for local referrals and peer feedback on brokers active in the market.

Fees & Engagement

Business broker commissions in California are negotiable, but typical ranges follow the size of the deal. For Main Street transactions under $1 million — which covers most Highland business sales — expect commissions in the 8–12% range. Middle-market deals above $1 million typically run 4–8%, sometimes structured on a modified Lehman scale that applies a declining percentage to higher deal tiers. These are not fixed rates; negotiate them before signing.

Most brokers use an exclusive listing agreement running six to twelve months. Read the tail clause carefully — it specifies how long the broker retains commission rights after the agreement expires if a buyer they introduced later closes the deal. Some brokers charge an upfront engagement or valuation fee; others work on a pure success-fee basis. Ask the question directly before you commit. There is no universal standard.

Because California DRE licensure governs the broker relationship, the compensation agreement falls under real estate agency law, giving sellers defined statutory protections that don't exist in states without this framework. That's a meaningful difference from selling a business in a state where broker regulation is looser.

Before spending money on a broker, consider a free pre-sale session with the Inland Empire Small Business Development Center (IESBDC), hosted at California State University, San Bernardino (5500 University Pkwy, San Bernardino, CA 92407). IESBDC advisors can help you assess your financials, understand valuation drivers, and identify gaps that would lower your asking price — at no cost. Coming to a broker engagement better prepared typically shortens the listing period and strengthens your negotiating position on fees.

Local Resources

These are the verified resources most directly useful to Highland business buyers and sellers:

[Inland Empire Small Business Development Center (IESBDC)](https://www.iece.csusb.edu/content/sbdc-team) — Hosted by California State University, San Bernardino at 5500 University Pkwy, San Bernardino, CA 92407. The closest free advisory resource to Highland for exit planning, business valuation, and financial preparation before you engage a broker. No cost to qualify.

[SBA Orange County / Inland Empire District Office](https://www.sba.gov/district/orange-county-inland-empire) — Located at 5 Hutton Centre Dr., Suite 900, Santa Ana, CA 92707 (714-550-7420). Administers SBA 7(a) loan programs that Highland buyers commonly use to finance acquisitions in retail and service sectors.

[Highland Area Chamber of Commerce](https://www.highlandchamber.org/) — The hyper-local business network for Highland. Useful for seller referrals, informal buyer introductions, and getting a ground-level read on the Base Line Road and Highland Avenue commercial corridors.

[Inland Empire Business Journal](https://iebizjournal.com/) — Regional outlet covering M&A activity, market trends, and deal announcements across San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Worth monitoring for comparable transaction context.

[California Department of Real Estate (DRE)](https://www.dre.ca.gov/) — The public license-verification portal for confirming that any broker you engage holds the DRE real estate broker license required by California law.

[California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA)](https://www.cdtfa.ca.gov/) — Manages the bulk-sale tax clearance process mandatory in California asset sales, plus seller's permit transfers essential to any Highland business transaction.

Areas Served

Base Line Road ties Highland together commercially, running west to east and connecting the city economically to San Bernardino on its western edge and Redlands on its eastern side. That corridor is the practical address for most business transactions in the city.

Western Highland falls under San Bernardino Unified School District and shares demographics and commercial density with the San Bernardino urban core. Buyers priced out of San Bernardino frequently look east into Highland for lower-cost entry points. Eastern Highland, served by Redlands Unified School District, more closely mirrors the business character and income profile of Redlands and Mentone.

Highland's position between the I-210 and SR-330 makes it a natural fit for logistics-adjacent businesses drawing from the broader Inland Empire corridor — a catchment area that includes Rialto, Rancho Cucamonga, and Ontario to the west. Yucaipa and Redlands to the east round out a unified buyer-and-seller market that business brokers routinely work across city lines. Highland incorporated as its own city in 1987, giving it a distinct municipal identity — including its own San Bernardino County Sheriff's station — that sets it apart from the surrounding unincorporated communities.

Last reviewed by BBNet Editorial Team on May 1, 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions About Highland Business Brokers

What does a business broker charge in Highland, California?: Most business brokers charge a success fee — a commission paid only when the deal closes. The standard rate is 10% of the sale price for smaller businesses, though some brokers use the Lehman Formula, which applies a sliding scale on larger deals. Some brokers also charge an upfront retainer or valuation fee. Always confirm the full fee structure in writing before signing a listing agreement.
How long does it take to sell a business in Highland?: Most small-to-mid-size business sales take six to twelve months from listing to closing. The timeline depends on how cleanly your financials are documented, your asking price relative to market value, and buyer financing. Businesses in Highland's top employment sectors — retail trade and health care — tend to attract steady buyer interest, but deals in any sector can stall if due diligence reveals surprises.
What is my Highland business worth?: Business value is typically calculated as a multiple of Seller's Discretionary Earnings (SDE) or EBITDA. The specific multiple depends on your industry, growth trend, customer concentration, and transferability. A retail business on Base Line Road may be valued differently than a health-care services practice near Loma Linda University Medical Center. A qualified broker or certified business valuator can produce a formal opinion of value grounded in comparable sales.
Do I need a licensed broker to sell my business in California?: Yes — California requires anyone who charges a fee to sell a business opportunity to hold a real estate broker license issued by the California Department of Real Estate (DRE). This applies to most business sales that include tangible assets or goodwill. Selling without a licensed broker is legal if you handle the transaction yourself, but most buyers expect professional representation and documented compliance with state disclosure rules.
How do brokers keep my sale confidential in a small city like Highland?: A good broker markets your business without revealing its name, location, or owner. Buyers sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement before receiving any identifying details. Listings use blind profiles that describe the business type and financials in general terms only. In a smaller city like Highland, where suppliers, employees, or competitors could recognize your business quickly, strict NDA enforcement and controlled information release are especially important.
Who is buying businesses in Highland and the Inland Empire right now?: Two buyer profiles dominate the Inland Empire market. First, owner-operators — often local residents with industry experience — are acquiring retail and health-care service businesses along Highland's commercial corridors. Second, logistics-sector investors are drawn to the I-210 and SR-330 corridor because San Bernardino County's logistics and distribution industry posted 82% employment growth over the past decade, making distribution-adjacent businesses attractive acquisition targets for regional operators and private equity.
What California-specific legal steps are required when selling a business?: California sellers must comply with bulk sale notice requirements under the California Commercial Code, which protects creditors by requiring public notice before asset transfers. The seller must also provide a Franchise Disclosure Document if the business is a franchise. Your broker must hold a DRE license to facilitate the transaction. Additionally, any lease assignment needs landlord consent, and sales tax clearance from the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration is typically required before escrow closes.
Which types of businesses sell fastest in Highland?: Businesses with clean books, a loyal customer base, and minimal owner-dependency close fastest. In Highland specifically, retail trade is the top employment sector by resident workers, and health care and social assistance ranks second — meaning buyers familiar with these industries are already active locally. Service businesses with recurring revenue and food-and-beverage operations in established commercial corridors also tend to attract multiple offers more quickly than capital-intensive businesses.