Why Not Sell Your Business Yourself?

The owner of a business is usually an intelligent negotiatior, so why not just sell your business without a broker? After all, the fee can be saved. How difficult can it really be? Isn’t selling a business just photocopying financial statements and waiting for an offer? Can’t the company lawyer or CPA just take care of it?

The answer is yes – the business owner can and often does complete the sale of the business without a broker. Those that choose to go down that road, are generally thrown by just how difficult of a process it turns out to be. Even those that sucessfullly sell their business have their share of regrets when it comes to the process, time, and money it costs. That is why it is best to leave that headache to the professionals. Just like running a successful business, it takes practice and experience to sell a business.

Business brokers act as intermediaries between the buyer and seller. Their job is to bring the two parties together to assist them in developing and negotiating mutually beneficial agreements. Experienced brokers have access to potential buyers and easily know how to find them. This saves the seller countless hours as well as money. With their expertise and professional advice, a business broker is on your side to ensure you will get the most out of selling your business.

The goal of selling a business is not just to complete the sale, the real goal is to complete the sale with the best possible outcome. This means not only maximizing the after-tax cash, but also maximizing the “extras” such as: deferred compensation, non-compete agreement, carried interest in the company going forward and post-sale employment agreements.