How to Sell Your Business
Successfully

Selling your life's work on your own terms is possible. This guide walks you through Rejigg's step-by-step process of selling a business successfully.

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Everything You Need to Know

If you've ever considered selling your business, you know that it's a complicated process. There's just no obvious way to do it. Your choices seem limited: hire aggressive brokers who take 5-10% of your sale, or wait for cold calls and sell to the most persistent buyer rather than the right one. It's painful and unnecessarily complicated and often can feel like chewing glass.

Yet selling your life's work on your own terms is possible. This guide walks you through Rejigg's step-by-step process of selling a business successfully.

We'll cover when to sell, how to find buyers, valuation basics, negotiations, due diligence, and closing the deal. Our goal is to provide you a framework to confidently approach this process for a smooth selling experience while avoiding common pitfalls.

1

Know When to Sell

Reflect on your motivations and the right timing for your exit

Read Step 1

Industry Insights

Explore the questions buyers are asking in your industry. Each page surfaces the topics, FAQs, and trends that matter most to potential acquirers.

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Agriculture
Construction
Consumer & Retail
Education
Finance
Food & Hospitality
Government
Healthcare
Home & Facility
Industrial
IT & Security
Marketing
Media
Professional
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Cloud Software

What counts as ARR in your reporting, and can you tie it back to your billing system?

Software

View all 101 industries

Success Stories

Hear directly from owners who have successfully exited their businesses using Rejigg. We'd love to make you our next success story.

Some of Our Recent Transactions

Spokane Software
Spokane Software

Rejigg announced today that Spokane Software, an agricultural ERP software solution based in Spokane Valley, WA, has been acquired by a boutique software private equity firm.

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Alaska Insulation Supply
Alaska Insulation Supply

Rejigg announced today that AIS Inc., a full-service insulation distributor and fabrication contractor located in Anchorage, AK, has been acquired by a boutique private equity firm.

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Audience Synergy
Audience Synergy

Rejigg announced today that Audience Synergy, a healthcare advertising and data company located in Portland, OR, has been acquired by a self-funded searcher.

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Midway Electric
Midway Electric

Rejigg announced today that Midway Electric, a full-service electrical contracting company located in Columbia, MO, has been acquired by a long-term holding company.

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Grand Meadows
Grand Meadows

Rejigg announced today that Grand Meadows, a supplier of high-quality nutritional supplements for horses, was acquired by an individual investor.

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UNCO Industries
UNCO Industries

Rejigg announced today that UNCO Industries, Inc. is a Wisconsin-based producer of organic soil products, best known for its Wiggle Worm Soil Builder earthworm castings, has been acquired by a self-funded searcher.

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DiggyPOD
DiggyPOD

Rejigg announced today that DiggyPOD, a self‑publishing and print‑on‑demand company, has been acquired by an individual investor.

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Serpentix Conveyor Corporation
Serpentix Conveyor Corporation

Rejigg announced today that Serpentix Conveyor Corporation, a designer and manufacturer of advanced conveyor systems and custom automation solutions, has been acquired by Dry Fly Capital.

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SenSpa
SenSpa

Rejigg announced today that SenSpa, an award‑winning luxury wellness retreat in San Francisco’s historic Presidio, has been acquired by an individual investor.

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Prowest Electric Inc.
Prowest Electric Inc.

Rejigg announced today that Prowest Electric Inc, a leading provider of commercial and industrial electrical services in Westminster, CO, has been acquired by Enclave Equity and Olivier Labbé.

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Competitive Solutions, Inc. (CSI)
Competitive Solutions, Inc. (CSI)

Rejigg announced today that Competitive Solutions Inc. (CSI), an industry leader in business transformation, leadership development, and digital execution systems, has been acquired by Bridgeview Legacy Holdings, Inc.

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Tnola
Tnola

Rejigg announced today that Tnola, a New Orleans–based provider of interpretation and translation services, has been acquired by Effectif, a language-access firm offering 24/7 phone, video, on-site, ASL interpreting plus translation and localization for sectors like healthcare, education, government and tech.

Read more

Ready to Take the Next Step?

Whether you're just exploring or ready to list, we can help.

Get a Free Valuation

See what your business could be worth based on real transaction data.

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Talk to an Expert

Schedule a free consultation. We'll answer your questions and help you plan your exit.

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Read the Full Guide

Our 6-step owner's guide covers everything from deciding to sell through post-sale transition.

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Frequently Asked Questions About Selling a Business

For businesses doing $1M+ in revenue, expect at least 6 months from start to close. The process includes preparation, finding buyers, negotiations, due diligence, and closing. It's a lot to manage — which is why Rejigg's platform keeps everything in one place. Your 6-step guide maps the full timeline, and our built-in deal tracker lets you manage every buyer conversation, document, meeting, and offer from a single dashboard so nothing falls through the cracks over those months.

Traditional brokers charge 5-10% of the sale price — on a $3M deal that's $150K-$300K. Rejigg is not a broker. We're a platform with the tools you'd normally pay a broker for — buyer vetting, NDA signing, scheduling, document sharing, deal tracking — built right in. You connect directly with pre-vetted buyers and keep more of what you've built. You'll still want an M&A attorney and accountant ($10,000-$50,000 depending on deal complexity), but the platform itself replaces the broker. See our pricing page for details.

No. For most businesses under $10M, many owners get better results connecting directly with qualified buyers. The reason people hire brokers is for access to buyers and help managing the process. Rejigg gives you both without the 5-10% fee. Our platform handles the entire workflow: pre-vetted buyers reach out to you, they sign NDAs digitally before seeing sensitive information, you schedule calls with built-in Zoom integration, share documents through your secure data room, and track every deal from a single dashboard. You stay in the driver's seat. Talk to our team to see if direct selling is right for you.

Most businesses are valued using multiples of EBITDA, typically ranging from 3-7x depending on size, industry, growth rate, and other factors. Rejigg's free valuation calculator uses real transaction data to give you a starting estimate. If you use QuickBooks, you can connect your account and automatically import your financial data — no manual entry required. For SBA-financed deals, our SBA loan calculator helps you understand how buyers think about financing and what deal terms look like from their side.

Most deals include a transition period (30 days to 2 years) where you help the new owner learn the business. Post-sale involvement ranges from complete departure to ongoing consulting, employment, or board roles. Setting clear expectations early prevents conflict later. On Rejigg, transition terms are part of the deal conversation from the start — our offer tracking captures these details alongside price and structure so nothing gets left to a handshake. Read our transition guide for a step-by-step calendar.

At minimum: 3 years of tax returns, monthly P&Ls, and a balance sheet. Buyers and their lenders want numbers that reconcile to your tax returns and bank deposits. Prepare a normalized EBITDA or SDE bridge with documented add-backs. Messy financials are the number one reason deals slow down or fall apart. Rejigg makes this easier in two ways: our QuickBooks integration automatically imports your financial data so you don't have to build spreadsheets from scratch, and our built-in data room lets you upload and organize all your documents in one place. When a buyer asks for something, you share it in a click — no digging through email chains. Our preparation checklist covers exactly what to have ready.

Add-backs are personal or one-time expenses run through the business that a new owner wouldn't incur. Things like above-market owner salary, personal vehicles, or one-time legal fees. A clear add-back schedule with supporting documentation is essential — if you can't defend an add-back in one sentence with evidence, don't include it. Rejigg's valuation calculator factors in common add-backs to give you a clearer picture of your adjusted earnings, and when it's time to share your add-back schedule with buyers, your data room keeps everything organized and access-controlled.

Owner dependence is the number one concern buyers raise across every industry. They want to know the business can run without you. The fix: document your processes, delegate key responsibilities, and show evidence the business operated while you were away. Even a two-week vacation with no fires is powerful proof. On Rejigg, buyer conversations happen through the platform — so you can share process documentation, org charts, and operational evidence directly through your data room as you build trust. Read more in our preparation guide.

If one or two customers represent 30%+ of revenue, buyers see fragility. They'll either discount the price, push for an earnout, or walk away. Before listing, prepare a top-10 customer breakdown showing revenue share, contract terms, renewal history, and who owns each relationship. Diversification over time is the best fix, but even documenting the risk clearly helps. Our valuation tool can help you see how concentration affects your multiple, and when buyers ask the tough questions, having this analysis ready in your Rejigg data room shows you've done the work.

A data room is a secure, organized collection of the documents buyers need during diligence: financials, tax returns, contracts, org charts, equipment lists, and legal agreements. Sellers with a well-organized data room close faster and at better terms because they can respond to buyer requests within 24-48 hours instead of scrambling. Rejigg's built-in document management is a core part of the platform, not an afterthought. When you list on Rejigg, you get a secure data room where you can upload, organize, and share documents directly with buyers — but only after they've signed an NDA through the platform. You control exactly who sees what and when, all from one place. No third-party file-sharing tools, no back-and-forth email attachments, no guesswork.

An earnout ties a portion of the purchase price to post-sale performance, like hitting a revenue target or retaining key customers. They're common when the buyer sees transfer risk: high owner dependence, concentrated revenue, or unproven systems. You can reduce earnout exposure by addressing these risks before going to market. On Rejigg, every offer — whether it's an IOI or a formal LOI — is tracked in your deal dashboard with full terms, so you can compare structures side by side and see exactly what you're agreeing to. Our negotiation guide covers strategies for structuring terms that protect you.

Deal structure is how the purchase price gets paid: cash at close, seller financing (a note you carry), earnouts tied to performance, or rollover equity where you keep a stake. Structure often matters more than headline price — a $5M offer with 80% cash at close can be worth more than a $6M offer with half tied to an earnout. Rejigg's offer management captures the full picture: enterprise value, total consideration, ownership percentages, and key terms are all tracked for every offer you receive. Our deal negotiation guide helps you define your non-negotiables before conversations start, and our SBA calculator shows how lender financing affects deal terms.

Serious buyers ask specific financial questions early, have a clear acquisition thesis, and can explain how they'll fund the deal. They'll sign an NDA promptly, engage with your data room, and move on a reasonable timeline. Rejigg is built to surface these signals. Every buyer is pre-vetted before they can contact you, with profiles showing their financing capability and acquisition history. When a buyer reaches out, they submit a pitch explaining their interest and background. NDAs are signed digitally through the platform before they see any sensitive information. From there, you schedule calls with built-in Zoom integration, share documents through your data room, and track their engagement from your deal dashboard — so you always know who's serious and who's just browsing. Learn how Rejigg qualifies buyers.