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Editorial policy

This page documents how content on Buy a Business New York is sourced, reviewed, and corrected. It exists so readers can evaluate the reliability of what they read here.

Source hierarchy

We use primary sources whenever they exist. Priority, in order:

  1. Tier 1 — Primary government sources. U.S. Small Business Administration, NYS Department of Taxation and Finance, NYS Business Express, NYS Department of State, NYS Department of Labor, NYS Workers' Compensation Board, Empire State Development, U.S. Census Bureau (CBP, ZBP, ABS, ACS), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (QCEW, OEWS).
  2. Tier 2 — Authoritative industry & professional bodies. International Business Brokers Association (IBBA), Federal Trade Commission (franchise rule), recognized professional associations. Used for context, terminology, and standards. Never used to assert regulatory facts.
  3. Tier 3 — Marketplace and industry reports. Used only as directional market context. Always labeled as self-reported marketplace data and never as a census of New York transactions.

The full source registry lives at /methodology/. Every mutable number on the site links to a registry entry, so a URL change in one place propagates everywhere.

What we will not publish

  • Invented transaction results, multiples, buyer stories, or testimonials.
  • Invented credentials, licenses, affiliations, staff, or office locations.
  • Confidential seller information — name, exact location, employee details, customer data, or financial information — without explicit authorization.
  • "Businesses for sale" pages that imply browse-able public inventory when the listings are actually confidential and require buyer vetting + NDA. Hedgestone's 500+ active NY listings are real but not publicly browse-able — that's an honest representation, not bait-and-switch.
  • Mass-produced industry × city × county doorway pages. A page becomes indexable only after it passes an evidence and usefulness gate.
  • Legal, tax, lending, or investment advice. We explain issues educationally and direct readers to the appropriate professional.

Review process

  • Every page that cites a mutable number is reviewed against the source registry before publication.
  • Pages with regulatory claims are reviewed on a quarterly cadence against the original source.
  • Calculator pages document their assumptions, formulae, and exclusions on /methodology/.

Conflicts of interest

Buy a Business New York is published by Jason Taken of Hedgestone Business Advisors, a business acquisition advisory. The site\'s commercial model is a lead funnel into Hedgestone Business Advisors's brokerage practice. Every commercial call-to-action on this site points to a single booking URL for a free call with Jason Taken.

This conflict is disclosed on every page footer and on every commercial CTA. The site does not accept paid placements, sponsored content, or affiliate fees that would influence what is recommended. If that ever changes, this page will say so explicitly.

Corrections

If you find an error — a wrong number, a broken source, an outdated form reference, a mischaracterized regulation — email jason.taken@hedgestone.com. Material corrections are made promptly and noted in a visible change log on the affected page.

AI assistance disclosure

Some early-draft content on this site was prepared with AI assistance; every published claim is reviewed by Jason Taken against the source registry before publication. AI assistance does not change the editorial standard described above.