By Jody Robinson
In Southern California, where ambition is as much a lifestyle choice as surfboards and sunrise walks, owning a business is often deeply personal.
These are not just balance sheets and profit margins—they’re decades of early mornings, late nights, family sacrifices, and hard-earned pride. And eventually, for every owner, the same quiet but monumental question arrives: What’s next?
That moment of reckoning is where The Deal Firm comes in.
A client-centered business brokerage and M&A firm with a distinctly human approach, The Deal Firm has built its reputation by rethinking an industry long plagued by inefficiency and detachment. Selling a business, after all, is rarely just a transaction. It’s a turning point. And according to the firm’s leadership, it deserves to be treated that way.
At the heart of The Deal Firm’s Southern California presence is Tom Burns, a broker whose credibility comes not from theory, but from lived experience. Burns joined The Deal Firm in 2008, but his story began long before brokerage. For 19 years, he owned and operated a garment manufacturing company in the Los Angeles apparel industry, managing 70 employees across five departments and working closely with banks, accountants, factors, and major retailers. Along the way, he also owned and sold three restaurants—one in Dana Point, one in Palm Springs, and another in Laguna Beach.
“That experience gave me the confidence to sit across the table from business owners and truly understand what they’re dealing with,” Burns says. “Their problems, their successes, the pressure—it’s familiar territory.”
Burns’ path into brokerage was sparked by frustration. While searching online for a restaurant to purchase—at the same time he was running his manufacturing business—he found himself disappointed by the brokers he encountered. “I thought I could do a better job than these people,” he recalls. That dissatisfaction became motivation, and eventually, a calling.
Today, Burns has sold a remarkably diverse range of businesses, from main-street operations to mid-tier companies valued between $250,000 and $10 million. Restaurants, small manufacturing firms, fashion boutiques, law offices, hair salons, laundromats—even a fishing resort near Mammoth—each transaction different, each owner’s story deeply personal.
The Deal Firm’s strength lies in that diversity, and in the team behind it. Burns is quick to emphasize that he doesn’t work alone. The firm is intentionally small, made up of seasoned brokers with decades of experience across multiple industries. “If one of us hasn’t sold a certain type of business before, you can be sure someone else on the team has,” he says. That collaborative approach allows clients to benefit from collective wisdom while still receiving individualized attention.
And attention is the point.
The Deal Firm prides itself on creating an environment where clients feel comfortable sharing the “little secrets” of their businesses—the nuances that don’t show up on spreadsheets but can make or break a deal. That level of trust is essential when helping owners prepare for what is often the most significant financial decision of their lives.
Burns holds a B.S. in Business Management from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and an MBA from Long Island University, but he’ll tell you education only goes so far. What matters most is empathy. “I love talking to business owners,” he says. “Listening to their stories and helping them prepare an exit strategy—now or even years down the road.”
In a region defined by reinvention, The Deal Firm stands out by honoring what came before. With modern tools, transparent processes, and a deeply personal approach, the firm is redefining what it means to sell a business in Southern California—helping owners close one chapter with clarity, confidence, and the respect their life’s work deserves.
Interested in knowing what your business is worth?
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The sale of a business can be challenging. We guide business owners every step of the way, so that they can arrive at a successful sale and enjoy the next phase of life.
