Online programs generally offer the luxury of working in your own home and at your own pace. The Business Broker Center offers a course dealing with contracts and manuals. The contracts portion offers templates for legal documents like Business Listing and Asset Purchase agreements. It also includes manuals for operations, sales and marketing, etc. Another course offered is Broker Prep 101, which includes writing a business plan so you can launch your brokerage upon its completion. Online programs sometimes are part of a local school for a related field such as real estate. For instance, Nevada issues business broker permits only in conjunction with permits to sell real estate. To ensure you find a reputable business broker program, contact the Better Business Bureau. You may also contact broker offices to find a good training program and learn state requirements for permits to sell any type of real estate.
Another way to educate yourself about becoming a business broker is attending a short, intensive seminar. These allow for anywhere from one to four days of training before receiving a permit to operate as a business broker. Some states require clinics for all new and self-employed brokers. For example, the state of Arizona requires all brokers to attend a three-hour broker management clinic every two years. Seminars for licensing/permitting can be useful if you're working a full-time job and wish to make a transition into being self-employed as a business broker.
Colleges or technical schools don't offer business brokerage programs per se, but you can complete courses that will complement a business broker permit. Instruction in operations management and sales and marketing, for instance, can provide in-depth knowledge that will help you promote your brokerage and properties for sale. You can obtain a general business degree from a community or four-year college and follow up with training as a business broker.
Websites serving as general information centers seem to offer information that will lead to generating income as a broker. One way to make these sites work in your favor, even if you've not yet found and completed a program, is to get an idea about services offered, fees or commissions for brokers, and listings of businesses for sale. Finding out what others are doing in the field before you get your permit can give you vision and goals. Such thinking and planning for your work will help you apply what you learn from the program of your choice.