Why “Taking the Call” Matters in Business Broking with Bowen Li
Why “Taking the Call” Matters in Business Broking with Bowen Li
A pizza shop sold in two weeks is not the typical starting point for a business broking career. For Bowen Li, however, that early transaction revealed a natural ability to connect buyers and sellers.
Today, he is a partner at Bizlink Group in Western Australia, working across hospitality, retail and selected professional services. His path into broking began not in an office, but in a commercial kitchen, shaped by the long hours and realities of small business ownership.
From Kitchen To Ownership
Bowen’s first professional ambition was to work in hospitality. Around 2007–2008, he studied commercial cookery and trained to become a chef, gaining hands-on experience in commercial kitchens.
But the work soon revealed something about his interests. “Kitchen is interesting,” he concluded, “but to own a business, to own a hospitality business should be more fun.”
After university, he moved toward that goal and, in 2012, purchased his first pizza shop franchise. The experience gave him a practical education in running a small business from recruiting staff, training teams to working with a franchisor’s systems. It also introduced him to the relentless routine that many owners know well.
For three years, he ran the shop from morning to night, seven days a week. “From 10.30 to open the business… and 10 o’clock to close the business,” he said. “Seven days a week, 364 days a year.”
Eventually, the repetition prompted a rethink.
Discovering Business Broking
In 2014, Bowen Li decided to sell the business. As he began researching the process, he contacted several business broking firms to explore his options.
The experience surprised him. “I chatted with quite a few different business broker firms… then I just found it’s difficult to get to them, even during the weekdays, the office hours,” he recalls.
Rather than wait, he decided to handle the sale himself. Bowen promoted the business across multiple channels, including social media, Gumtree, community newspapers and online forums.
The results came quickly. “I sold my first pizza shop within two weeks, another one within six to seven weeks,” he said. The process revealed an unexpected skill set. “I saw that, okay, I do have a bit of talent, and that’s how I started as a business broker back in 2014.”
Learning The Trade
Bowen’s next step was to gain industry experience. In 2015, he joined a brokerage, where he worked until 2017.
The company specialised in retail businesses such as newsagencies and post offices. For Bowen, it was an opportunity to learn the technical side of the profession while combining it with his hospitality background.
“It’s a good place to learn all this experience,” he said. The role helped him understand valuation, deal structure and the detailed processes involved in selling small businesses.
After gaining that foundation, Bowen launched his own firm in late 2017.
Building Bizlink
The new venture became Bizlink Group, which Bowen later built alongside two business partners, Eric and Steven.
From the start, the team focused on building visibility and trust through consistent online engagement rather than expensive advertising.
Over time, the audience grew steadily. Today, the firm has more than 6,000 Facebook followers, more than 2,000 on Instagram and over 100 Google reviews.
“It took us nearly ten years,” Bowen said. While the company maintains a website, he notes that much of the firm’s visibility comes from organic search and reputation rather than paid campaigns.
“We prefer the organic way to increase our awareness,” he explained. Prospective clients often mention that they discovered the firm through online searches for Western Australian business brokers.
Specialising in Three Industries
One of Bizlink’s defining strategies is specialisation. Rather than operate as a generalist brokerage, the firm concentrates on three core sectors.
Hospitality is the first, covering cafes, restaurants, bars, bistros and taverns. Retail forms the second group, including newsagencies, post offices and bottle shops. The third includes selected professional services such as accounting practices and medical centres.
“We only specialise in three different industries,” Bowen said.
When opportunities arise outside those areas, the firm typically refers the work to trusted partners. Bizlink maintains relationships with other brokerages in Western Australia, creating a reciprocal network where referrals flow both ways.
The approach allows the team to deepen their industry expertise rather than spread it thinly.
A Memorable First Deal
Bowen’s first experience selling his own pizza businesses still shapes how he views the profession today.
Running the shop gave him direct knowledge of equipment, operational costs and day-to-day realities inside hospitality venues. That background now helps when he enters a potential listing.
“Once I walk into the restaurant or cafe, I can tell straight away what sort of equipment you have and the value of that equipment,” he explained.
That familiarity speeds up the appraisal process. By reviewing lease documents and financial records alongside operational factors, he can provide sellers with market guidance relatively quickly.
Experience also influences contract preparation. In Western Australia, sale agreements include special conditions that protect both buyers and sellers.
“If you don’t understand the industries, you don’t know what you should put in,” Bowen said.
WA Market Outlook
From Bowen’s perspective, Western Australia remains one of the stronger business environments in the country.
“I believe we do have a very, very strong economy at this moment,” he said, pointing to mining activity, property markets and sustained population growth.
Having arrived in the state around 21 years ago, he has seen the population rise from about two million to roughly three million residents. Migration from interstate and overseas continues to add skills, capital and new business owners to the market.
“That brings lots and lots of skills, knowledge, business owners, and they want to have their own business in WA,” he explained.
Within the broking sector, the activity is noticeable. Conversations with other firms suggest many have experienced one of their strongest years in a decade.
The Broker’s Work Ethic
For Bowen, the most important characteristic of a successful business broker is availability.
“You have to be available most of the days of the week,” he said. Restricting contact to typical office hours rarely works when buyers and sellers are juggling their own schedules.
His approach reflects the responsiveness he once wished for while selling his own business. Clients often comment in reviews that he answers messages late in the evening or meets on weekends when necessary.
“We can’t believe we can meet Bowen on weekends”, or “Bowen still replies to our message even at eight or nine o’clock at night,” he quoted.
While the hours can resemble those of his earlier hospitality career, the flexibility is different. Work can happen from home or between family commitments rather than in a single fixed location.
Technology And The Future
Like many professional services firms, Bizlink is also exploring the role of artificial intelligence.
Bowen sees its immediate value in data analysis rather than negotiation or deal-making. The firm collects enquiry information from online platforms and social media channels, storing it in a central database.
AI tools then help analyse that data and generate reports that once required manual review.
“The AI will pretty much generate the reports,” he said, making it easier for the team to monitor buyer activity and trends on a weekly basis.
For Bowen, the fundamentals of the profession remain unchanged: industry knowledge, responsiveness and experience.
“Not everyone can be a business broker,” he said. In his view, the most effective advisers combine deep sector understanding with the work ethic required to support clients through one of the biggest transactions of their lives.
And sometimes, it all begins with selling your own pizza shop.
Tags: business broker tips selling feature
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