How to Sell a Small Business Without a Broker
Selling a small business without a broker is both feasible and increasingly common among owners of enterprises valued under $5 million. The decision to pursue a direct sale rather than engage intermediaries stems from multiple motivations: cost control, transaction privacy, relationship preservation with buyers, and the belief that no external party understands the business better […]
Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Business Broker
Selecting a business broker to represent your company sale or acquisition ranks among the most consequential decisions in the transaction lifecycle. The wrong broker can cost you months of wasted time, compromise your confidentiality, or leave significant value on the table. Yet most business owners approach broker selection with less rigor than they apply to […]
Private Equity vs Venture Capital: What Founders Should Know
Founders seeking growth capital face a binary choice that will shape their company’s trajectory for years: private equity or venture capital. While both deploy institutional money into private companies, the structural, operational, and strategic differences between PE and VC are profound. Understanding these distinctions is essential for founders navigating capital raises, particularly as companies scale […]
What Is SDE? Seller’s Discretionary Earnings Explained
Valuation Fundamentals What Is SDE? Seller’s Discretionary Earnings Explained SDE measures what a business actually delivers to a single owner-operator. It sets the valuation, the debt an acquirer can raise against the business, and how much of the price arrives at closing. By Jeff Barrington, Founder and Managing Director · Last reviewed August 27, 2026 […]
What Happens When Employees Find Out You’re Selling Your Business
When a mid-market software company’s CFO casually mentioned an upcoming transaction to a trusted senior developer in 2023, the owner assumed discretion was implied. Within 72 hours, twelve of seventeen engineers had updated their LinkedIn profiles to “open to opportunities.” The buyer, conducting final due diligence, discovered the exodus through routine reference checks. The purchase […]
Private Equity Concerns: How Founders Can Protect Their Companies During a Sale
The decision to sell to private equity represents one of the most consequential moments in a founder’s career. While PE firms bring capital, operational expertise, and growth resources, many entrepreneurs harbor legitimate anxieties about what happens after the transaction closes. The fear of losing control, watching company culture deteriorate, or witnessing aggressive cost-cutting measures dominates […]
Stock Sale vs Asset Sale: Key Differences, Benefits, and Tax Impact
When business owners decide to sell their company, they face a big decision between two main transaction structures. Asset sales are generally more favorable to buyers, while stock sales are more advantageous to sellers because of the way each is treated for tax purposes. This fundamental difference shapes every aspect of the deal negotiation. In […]
CARR vs ARR: Key Differences, Formulas, and Business Impact
Subscription businesses often wrestle with picking the best revenue metric to understand their financial health and growth. CARR and ARR both track recurring revenue, but they highlight different aspects of a company’s performance. CARR scoops up future contracted revenue and expected churn, while ARR only looks at current active subscriptions. So, CARR is more forward-looking, […]
Fair Value vs Market Value: Key Differences and Accounting Impact
Valuation Fair Value vs Market Value: Key Differences and Accounting Impact Fair value and market value are not the same number. Each answers a different question, and the distinction changes how assets are reported and how a private company is priced when it is sold. By Jeff Barrington, Founder and Managing Director · Last reviewed […]
How Much Can I Sell My Business For? Key Factors & Valuation Methods
Selling a business is a huge financial move, maybe the biggest one you’ll ever make. But let’s be honest, most owners have no idea what a realistic sale price looks like. The process itself, from preparation through close, is covered in How to Sell a Business. Most businesses sell for 2 to 4 times their […]