Decide When and Why to Sell
Selling starts with clear motives, not urgency or market timing. Owners sell for security, burnout, life changes, risk, or legacy, often staying involved. Set realistic expectations and define your goals: timing, role, buyer type, and priorities beyond price.
As you weigh options, consider two things:
1.Selling shouldn't be an urgent decision.
Despite beliefs that opportunities fade fast, most companies have inherent, stable value from customer relationships, talent, processes, and market share. Be patient. Quality buyers will appear.
2.Selling is not quitting.
Nor does it require severing company ties. Many owners sell majority stakes while remaining integral to operations and strategy. Others retain minority shares to participate in future growth. With the right buyer fit, you leave on your terms.
Why would you want to sell?
If you're reading this, you might be at least a little interested in selling your business. Below are the seven main reasons why owners, like you, decide to sell. Some might resonate more than others.
Financial Security
Sales proceeds provide retirement savings and lifelong financial comfort after decades spent plowing profits back into the business.
Exhaustion
Building and running a growing small business is grueling and all-consuming. After years of relentless grind, selling provides freedom to focus energy elsewhere rather than burn out.
Health Considerations
The daily stresses and constant problem-solving of business ownership can negatively impact personal health, especially as you get older. Selling allows you to add years to your life.
Family & Life Obligations
Changing life circumstances like marriages, new children, divorces, aging parents, or other family responsibilities often help crystallize the decision to transition away from full-time leadership.
Risk Mitigation
Every business faces ups and downs over time across factors like customer demand, supplier costs, competition, technology change, regulatory shifts, and economic cycles. Selling allows you to de-risk your financial position.
Legacy Planning
As a business becomes successful, most owners care deeply about legacy: ensuring the company and employees are looked after once they step away while reputation and brand remain intact.
Personality/Skills Mismatch
The entrepreneurial traits that made you successful launching often differ tremendously from the skills required to take it to the next level as a larger company.
Common Misconceptions
Many sellers hold incorrect beliefs about the process that lead to avoidable mistakes. Dispelling these assumptions upfront helps set realistic expectations.
"I can sell my business in just a few months."
Truth: It will virtually never take less than 6 months for a business doing $1m+ of revenue.
"I can sell without letting the buyer meet key team members or see data on margins and customers."
Truth: Due diligence is comprehensive.
"I can do a great deal without talking to many buyers, or by just picking a broker at random."
Truth: This is often a cause of seller's remorse.
"I can hire my personal family lawyer or accountant without M&A experience."
Truth: You want to hire lawyers and accountants that have experience helping people sell small businesses.
"I can sell my business for the same price or multiple that friends or people online mentioned."
Truth: Price is a case-by-case basis. Avoid taking hearsay as gospel.
Don't Try to "Time" the Market
While it's tempting to hold out for perfect exit market conditions, this rarely works in practice and can backfire through loss of momentum.
Focus first on personal motivations, goals for the transition, and finding a buyer who shares your values around stewarding the company going forward rather than macroeconomic cycles. Even if the market conditions are good, you shouldn't push a sale across the line before you're ready. This will often result in a deal you are not happy with.
Be Clear About Your Goals Upfront
Before starting the process of finding buyers and negotiating deals, outline your specific desired outcomes across these areas:
Ideal Transition Timeline
From immediate complete exit to 2+ years of ongoing leadership
Post-Sale Role
From no involvement to continuing full-time in leadership
Type of Buyer
From owner-operator to search fund to private equity
Deal Priorities Beyond Valuation
Protecting legacy, culture fit, employee welfare
Cheat Sheet from "The Messy Marketplace"
Use these prompts to narrow down your target outcomes:
I want between $__ and $__ of cash as a financial result.
I'm looking for a buyer/partner that will take the ____ role in the company.
The characteristics/values of an ideal buyer would be: ____
My ideal timeline for a transaction would be __, but I'd be happy to sell in __ years.
My top non-financial goals are: ____
Source: The Messy Marketplace by Brent Beshore
Get a Sense of What Your Business Is Worth
Before setting financial expectations, it helps to understand your business's approximate value. Our free valuation calculator can give you a data-driven estimate based on comparable transactions.
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