Insights
Selling a business
What owners should know before they sell: what buyers check, what moves the price, and how to run a process that gets the best offer. Written from our sell-side M&A work with owners of businesses with $2M to $25M in earnings.
M&A advisoryExit readiness assessmentFree books on selling a business
17 articles
One Motivated Buyer Beats Forty Polite Ones
Capital is available but buyers are selective. Broad auction vs. targeted process, why one motivated buyer sets the price, and how to build the list.
October 6, 2026 Selling a businessYour CPA, Your Attorney, and the Person Who Actually Sells Your Business
Your CPA and attorney are essential, and neither sells companies. Broker vs. investment banker, how they're paid, and the licensing question to ask.
April 2, 2026 Selling a businessThe Multiple Gets the Headline. The Add-Backs Get the Money.
Two sellers, same multiple, $2M apart. How add-backs decide the real price, and why documented beats aggressive or conservative.
January 8, 2026 Selling a businessWhat You Hold Back From Your Advisor Costs You at Signing
The issue you hold back from your advisor surfaces in the reps and warranties at signing. Why late disclosure costs more than the issue itself.
September 25, 2025 Selling a businessHow a Revenue Recognition Issue Recut a Deal by Three Times
A buyer's QoE team found $1.2M of revenue booked too early. The valuation was recut by three times that. Why revenue recognition is the most common deal-killer.
May 8, 2025 Selling a businessA Sell-By Date Hands the Buyer Your Leverage
Once a buyer knows you have a deadline, he waits and retrades. How owners give away timing without saying it, and how to keep the option to walk.
February 27, 2025 Selling a businessThe Working Capital Peg: Where Sellers Quietly Lose 3–7%
Quality of earnings reviews flag two things consistently. The second, the net working capital peg, quietly moves 3–7% of enterprise value.
October 17, 2024 Selling a businessTelling Your Employees Doesn't Reassure Them
Telling employees about a sale rarely reassures them. How news of a sale leaks, and how to widen the circle on a schedule you choose.
July 25, 2024 Selling a businessOne Customer at 35% of Revenue Can Cost You a Turn of EBITDA
Customer concentration looks like focus to an owner and fragility to a buyer. How it gets priced at exit and how to fix it before a process.
March 21, 2024 Selling a businessWhat a Buyer Asks For First, and What Being Slow Costs You
The buyer's first document request starts a clock you cannot see. What's on the list, what slow costs you, and what ready looks like.
December 28, 2023 Selling a businessThe Best Time to Sell Is When You Don't Want To
Owners who sell from strength get better multiples and terms. What changes when you wait until you're tired, and how to tell which position you're in.
August 17, 2023 Selling a businessNever Let the Buyer Write the NDA
Whoever drafts the NDA drafts it in their own interest. The clauses that hurt sellers, the ones that are missing, and what to supply instead.
May 4, 2023 Selling a businessExit Planning Starts the Day You Open Your Books
Most owners want to sell in three to five years; few are building a company anyone would buy. The three things buyers look for long before a deal.
January 12, 2023 Selling a businessWhy You Cannot Find Your Own Buyer
Owners know their industry, yet self-run buyer searches fail most reliably. Why the buyer who pays a premium is often outside your industry.
November 3, 2022 Selling a businessWhat It Costs to Have Only One Buyer
With one buyer, the discount comes off twice: a low opening and a late retrade. Why one credible alternative changes both.
April 28, 2022 Selling a businessYour Asking Price Is Lowering What Your Business Is Worth
A high asking price is not a free option. Time on market lowers what buyers will pay, and the serious buyers you lose talk to the others.
September 30, 2021 Selling a businessWhy Two Companies With the Same Earnings Sell for Different Money
Earnings set the starting point. Risk sets the multiple. The seven things a buyer prices, and why a valuation is not a price.
February 18, 2021What's next for your company?
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