If you’ve decided to sell your small business, you’ll need help. Many owners retain the services of attorneys and CPAs to provide expertise during the sale process. While some founders hire business brokers, others are able to successfully sell the business without a broker’s help.
This article explains why an owner may sell the business without a broker, and the steps that are necessary to close a sale. You’ll also learn why the services of an attorney and a CPA are important, even if you choose to sell the business without a broker. Finally, you’ll read about the benefits of ’s Sell By Owner program.
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If you choose to sell your business without a broker, you’ll need to invest time to prepare for the sale in advance.
Business Broker Fees And Other Business Sale Expenses
You should have an attorney write a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), and have each potential buyer sign the NDA before you provide sensitive information about your business. Have these records organized and ready for review, so that you can provide the records quickly.
As the owner, you’re the individual best positioned to explain why your business is valuable. Create a marketing plan to market your company to prospective buyers.
You can post an advertising listing on ’s Sell By Owner listing website and other sites. Some sites earn listing fees from the business owners that advertise their companies but includes their listing website as part of their Sell By Owner Marketing & Listing program. Potential buyers sign an NDA and complete a form to send the owner a message about the listing.
Should You Sell Your Company Without A Broker?
Speak with people in your professional network. Ask business peers, attorneys and CPAs if they know of any potential buyers for your business. Attorneys and CPAs often work on business transactions, and they may be able to refer you to a buyer.
Ask each potential buyer for a personal financial statement, in order to verify that the buyer has the ability to buy your business. The statement will list the buyer’s assets, which may include other businesses. A buyer may also provide documentation that they have financing to buy the business.
If a potential buyer has the interest and the financing to purchase your business, start the due diligence process. Organize your records and plan meetings so that the buyer can review your documents in detail.
Reasons You Should Hire A Business Broker To Sell Your Business
The due diligence review includes financial, marketing, and operational details that you use to manage your business. As mentioned above, ask an attorney to write an NDA, and have the buyer sign the NDA before you share documents.
If you provide information quickly, you can keep the due diligence process on track and move the potential buyer closer to making an offer.
A buyer will analyze the sales of similar companies, evaluate industry trends, and consider other market factors. Do your own research to understand the metrics that the purchaser is using to evaluate your business.
Sell A Business
Talk with a CPA about the tax impact of the transaction. Will the buyer pay a lump sum, or will you receive sales proceeds over a period of time? Does the sale include company equity, or is the transaction a sale of assets? These factors impact how the sale is taxed, and the after-tax dollars you receive for selling the business.
To market and sell your company without a business broker, you need a tool to manage the process. ’s Sell By Owner program provides the resources you need to sell your business.
’s Sell By Owner program provides you with a comprehensive collection of online tools, software, marketing materials, and business listing services to help you orchestrate the sale (or transfer ownership) of your company yourself.
Sell My Business
Use this program to restructure your business into a built-to-sell company, maximize value, and to find the ideal buyer for your business. Contact us today to sign up for the program and start your business sale process.
Winter Park Lodging Company, a family-owned vacation rental company in Colorado, has been acquired by Sunset Management Company. exclusively represented the Steamboat Springs-based company during the sale process.
Are you in the market to buy or sell a franchise business? If so, you’re in good company. Many business owners and investors recognize the value of ventures that follow this model and seek opportunities to make a profit.
Why Working With A Business Broker To Sell Your Business Matters
Whether you want to sell or buy a tech company, a professional technology business broker can be an extremely helpful guide. They’ll be able to advise you on unique factors that can affect your transaction, while also staying on top of the dizzying trends and ensuring the deal you make is as lucrative as possible. Home / Blog / How to Start a Small Business / Sell a Small Business Without ... How to Sell a Small Business Without a Broker (Step by Step)
Congratulations, someone wants to buy your business! Now, you have two options: hire a broker to deal with the negotiations and paperwork or learn how to sell a small business without a broker, keeping a higher percentage of your profits.
When you’re finished reading, you’ll have a good understanding of how business 💼 sales work and where to find advanced resources on specific parts of the process.
How To Sell Your Business Without The Hassle Of Doing It Yourself
I am not a legal professional, accountant, or business sales broker. This article is only meant to give you a basic understanding of how to sell a business,
To replace professional legal or financial advice. If you choose to sell your business without a broker, please still seek legal counsel to draft and finalize contracts.
The first thing you need to understand is what brokers do and what you’ll be required to do on your own if you decide not to hire one.
Should I Diy Or Use A Broker To Sell My Business?
A business broker 🤝 is someone who helps you understand the value of your business, vet potential buyers, negotiate the terms of your sales contract, and transfer your business to its new owner once the sale is complete. They also make sure your sale follows local laws and regulations. In most cases, they don’t charge anything up front; they take their fees from the sale itself.
They know what clauses to look for in contracts to make sure you’re protected AND that you get the best deal possible
If you work in a specialized industry, you might actually know more about the market values for similar businesses than they do
How To Sell A Business: Broker Vs. Diy
You’ll need to have a firm grasp of your business’s financial position over the past few years in order to establish its value properly. Plus, once negotiations start, your buyer will review those documents with their CPA. You want to make sure it’s easy for them to get the information they need and process your documents ahead of the sale.
The financial documents for your business. This includes things like receipts, invoices, and leases. We recommend working with a CPA to get these documents organized in a buyer-friendly manner.
👉 For more information on how to organize your financial documents, check out Morgan & Westfield’s guide to preparing financial documents for a business sale.
Sell Your Small Business Without A Broker
Either way, remember that valuation is just a guideline. Your buyer is, in the end, the one who determines the value of your business when they decide what they’re actually willing to pay. The buyer is also looking to make a profit, which means that the amount they’re willing to pay will typically be somewhat less than the estimated value. Go into negotiations with an understanding of how much you’re willing to compromise on price.
This next step might not seem important if you’ve already got a buyer lined up, but interest isn’t enough to run a successful business. Moreover, you owe it to the business you’ve built, your own reputation as a business owner, and any employees you have to make sure that the person buying your business is qualified to run it going forward.
In most instances, buyers will need to finance some portion of the purchase through a loan. Don’t be shy about asking what loan they’re going to use and whether they’ve been pre-qualified for that loan.
How To Sell A Business By Jacob Orosz
Have they run a business before? Do they have the technical and managerial experience needed to make it work? Do they understand your industry well enough to work in it? Ask these questions upfront and don’t be afraid to ask for a resume to confirm it.
If the buyer doesn’t intend to keep the business running long-term or isn’t interested in keeping your current employees during the transfer, you might want to find a different buyer.
A Letter of Intent (LOI) is a document that establishes a buyer’s intent to purchase a business, along with the terms and conditions of the sale.
Hire A Broker To Sell My It Msp Business
An LOI may also be preceded by a confidentiality agreement to keep the details of the sale private. Check out the BDC guide to LOIs for more information. You can also find Letter of Intent templates online, though I strongly recommend working with a lawyer to draft this document.
Now that you have a basic structure laid out for the sale, it’s time to negotiate the details in a Definitive Agreement. This is a larger legal document that finalizes the details of the purchase and transfer of ownership, including:
Definitive Agreements are also
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