Selling a Business: The Guides

What a business is actually worth, what buyers pay for, and how a sale really runs from first valuation to closing. Written by a licensed broker, with real numbers.

• Family Business Succession Planning

  Most family succession plans are one sentence: the kids will take over. Here is what a real plan contains, what happens without one, and when selling is the succession plan.

• What Is My Business Worth?

  What your business is worth depends on earnings, not revenue. How SDE and EBITDA multiples work, what moves your number, and a free instant estimate.

• Asset Sale vs Stock Sale

  Nearly every small business sale is an asset sale, and nearly every seller would rather have a stock sale. What actually transfers, why the two sides want opposite things, and what it costs you.

• Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors

  What an ABC is, why companies choose it over Chapter 7, what happens to personal guarantees, and the sale you may still be able to run instead.

• Business Exit Planning

  Exit planning is what you do in the two years before a sale that changes the price. What buyers pay for, what they discount, and the order to fix things in.

• Small Business Valuation

  How small businesses are actually valued: SDE, industry multiples, the adjustments buyers make, and the three methods brokers use.

• How to Sell a Business

  The full sale process from valuation to closing: preparation, confidential marketing, LOI, due diligence and close, with realistic timelines at each stage.

• Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS)

  Section 1202 can exclude a large share of the gain on qualifying C corporation stock. The five tests, why most Main Street businesses fail them, and what changed for stock issued after July 2025.

• Buy-Sell Agreements and What Triggers Them

  The five events that trigger a buy-sell agreement, why the valuation clause is the part that usually fails, and how key man and cross-purchase insurance actually fund it.

• Letter of Intent in a Business Purchase

  What a letter of intent does and does not commit you to, the terms that matter more than price, and the exclusivity clause owners underestimate.

• Business Valuation for Divorce

  Why a divorce valuation is not a sale valuation, how personal goodwill can change the number dramatically, who does the work, and what it costs.

• Buying Out a Business Partner

  How to value a partner's share, why the two sides predictably disagree, how buyouts get financed including SBA rules, and what to do when you cannot fund it.

• Bulk Sales Laws and Business Sales

  Bulk sales and successor liability rules make a buyer responsible for a seller's unpaid state taxes unless notice is given. What that means for your closing date and your proceeds.

• Do Business Brokers Need a Licence?

  Licensing for business brokers varies by state and hinges on whether real property is part of the deal. What the rules actually turn on, and the question that matters more than the credential.

• Selling a Business Fast

  What the six-to-twelve month timeline is actually spent on, the three things that genuinely compress it, what speed costs in price, and what to do if a buyer has already approached you.

• EBITDA and SDE Multiples by Industry

  Current SDE and EBITDA multiples by industry, when each applies, and why the same business shows two very different multiples.

• Section 363 Sales in Bankruptcy

  How a Section 363 sale works, why buyers pay a premium for free and clear title, what a stalking horse bid does, and the option most owners should examine before filing.

• Capital Gains Tax When You Sell a Business

  Why the purchase price allocation decides your tax bill, the depreciation recapture that surprises sellers, and the structures that legitimately reduce what you owe.

• Business Broker Fees and Commission

  What business brokers actually charge, how commission is structured by deal size, what retainers are for, and when a broker is worth it.

• What a Business Valuation Costs

  Three different things get called a business valuation and they cost nothing, a few thousand, or fifteen thousand. Which one you need depends entirely on who is going to read it.

• How Long Does It Take to Sell a Business?

  Realistic timelines for selling a business, stage by stage, what makes a sale take longer, and what you can compress.

• Selling a Franchise Business

  The franchisor is a third party to your sale with approval rights, transfer fees and often a right of first refusal. How that changes the timeline, the buyer pool and the price.

Looking for your specific industry?See valuation guides by industry →