How To Sell Your Business

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How To Sell Your Business

By submitting this form, I agree to the Privacy Policy and consent to the processing of my personal data as described therein.

Achieving Success through Teamwork and Leadership

We are their world's leading specialist in Business Sales and will continue to lead their way with innovative and creative systems to enable every entrepreneurial minded person to create and build their future, through business.


  1. Schedule an appointment to meet with a First Choice Business Sales Professional.
  2. Gather documents requested by your FCBB Business Broker for your meeting.
  3. During your meeting you will be asked a series of comprehensive questions to help us develop a clearer picture of your business and what approach we will take to obtain buyer interest in YOUR business.
  4. Determine Market Valuation/Price for your business utilizing FCBB's proven valuation methods including discretionary income and expenses.
  5. Listing Agreement authorizing FCBB to represent you in the sale of your business.
  6. Seller pre-approval of Listing Marketing/Advertising and potential terms offered.
  7. FCBB Business Broker to manage Buyer inquiries and Buyer pre-qualification process including buyer signing of NDA (Confidentiality Agreement)
  8. FCBB Business Broker to arrange meeting between Buyer and Seller.
  9. FCBB Business Broker to assist in writing and/or presenting offers and subsequent contract negotiations.
  10. FCBB Business Broker to manage the timeline from offer acceptance to closing (transfer of ownership to the Buyer)

Achieving Success through Teamwork and Leadership

We are the world's leading specialist in Business Sales and will continue to lead the way with innovative and creative systems to enable every entrepreneurial minded person to create and build the future, through business.


  1. Schedule an appointment to meet with a First Choice Business Sales Professional.
  2. Gather documents requested by your FCBB Business Broker for your meeting.
  3. During your meeting you will be asked a series of comprehensive questions to help us develop a clearer picture of your business and what approach we will take to obtain buyer interest in YOUR business.
  4. Determine Market Valuation/Price for your business utilizing FCBB's proven valuation methods including discretionary income and expenses.
  5. Listing Agreement authorizing FCBB to represent you in the sale of your business.
  6. Seller pre-approval of Listing Marketing/Advertising and potential terms offered.
  7. FCBB Business Broker to manage Buyer inquiries and Buyer pre-qualification process including buyer signing of NDA (Confidentiality Agreement)
  8. FCBB Business Broker to arrange meeting between Buyer and Seller.
  9. FCBB Business Broker to assist in writing and/or presenting offers and subsequent contract negotiations.
  10. FCBB Business Broker to manage the timeline from offer acceptance to closing (transfer of ownership to the Buyer)

Sellers Frequently Asked Questions

Why should I use a Business Broker to sell my business?


Business Owners who have sold a business in the past will likely tell you it is long, stressful process. Selling your own business can actually hurt the value of your business as it takes your focus away from the day to day operating of your business at a critical time when you should be increasing or at least maintaining your current business. When a Business Broker assists you in the process it can pay off in more ways than just the price obtained. Business Brokers will help properly value your business, reach out to buyers they already have, reach a larger number of new buyers, allow you to continue running your business rather than taking your focus away, maintain confidentiality and most importantly assist with the closing of your transaction based upon experience and training. The most common mistake potential Sellers make is comparing the selling of their business to selling a house. Unlike realtors, we keep your listing entirely confidential, and work with you each step of the way until we sell your business. 



Why First Choice Business Brokers (FCBB)?


With unsurpassed experience since 1994, offices across the U.S. and some of the most highly trained Business Brokers in the industry First Choice is the "Clear Choice" when it comes to choosing a Business Brokerage to represent you. Our Business Brokers are experts in the field of business valuation, business sales, business marketing and buy/sell negotiations to satisfy both buyers and sellers alike.



How is my business for sale kept confidential?


Unlike the sale of a home or even commercial building businesses do not have a "for sale" sign. Business Sales must be kept confidential; all buyers are required to sign a NDA (Buyer Confidentiality Agreement) prior to detailed information about your business being provided. This helps to prevent employees, suppliers, customers and competitors from finding out that you are selling your business. 



How will my business be advertised?


With First Choice Business Brokers your business will be on the highest rated Websites specifically for your area as well as national and international sites. Other advertising mediums may be employed based on your type of business.



How do I know how much my business is worth?


FCBB's proven methods of valuing and marketing will put your business in the best possible position to sell. First Choice Business Sales Professionals are some of the most highly trained professionals in the industry.



How long will it take to sell my business?


The average properly priced business tends to sell in approximately 90 days however this time frame can vary greatly based on the income of your business (and how easy it is to prove), type of business, the terms offered and the area in which your business is located. Your local First Choice Business Sales Professional will provide you with more information on your local market.



Will Buyers be visiting my business?


After a Buyer has signed an NDA (Buyer Confidentiality), reviewed initial information and expressed a further interest in your business your FCBB Business Sales Professional will schedule a meeting for the Buyer to view your business at a time that is appropriate for your type of business.



How do Buyers write offers to buy my business?


Most Buyers looking at your business will be represented by a Professional Business Broker who will assist them in writing an offer that expresses their price, terms, contingencies (if any) and request for further documentation (if any). The offer will then be presented to you for your approval by your FCBB Business Broker and/or the Buyer's Agent.



Who will handle all the inquiry calls on the sale of my business?


Your First Choice Business Sales Professional is trained to deal with incoming inquires (often tire kickers) and help determine which of those Buyers might be ready to move to the next level.



Who will handle the negotiations on the sale of my business?


Your First Choice Business Sales Professional is trained to deal with negotiations on the sale of your business. Your FCBB Business Broker will help navigate you through the entire process; we'll be with you every step of the way.



How long will I have to train the person who buys my business?


This is a negotiable point but we have found that most Buyers will ask for 30 days. Some types of businesses only require a week or two of training while other more complicated businesses may require a longer familiarization period. If a longer period is required we often find that Sellers will negotiate a consulting fee for extended training periods. 



After I sell my business can I open another one at some point in the future?


All Buyers will ask that you sign a covenant not to compete within a certain area and/or time period.



Will I need to finance part of the purchase price of the business?


There is no requirement that you "carry paper" on your business however in today's market it is very common that Buyers will ask for some type of Seller Carry Note which in reality opens your business to a larger pool of Buyers.



When should I notify my employees that I am selling the business?


While you may have a close relationship with your employees it has been proven time and time again that the best time to tell your employees is when you introduce them to the new owners. This may be difficult for you emotionally however experience dictates that silence is the best practice. The exception to this rule would be if a "key" employee is part of the negotiation for the Buyer to keep them on after the sale is complete. In this case there may be some advance notice required to this person and this person alone. Your First Choice Business Broker will guide you through the proper timing for this very important part of the business. Timing is everything!



Will my First Choice Business Broker qualify the Buyer by checking their credit?


First Choice does not check the credit of Buyers however through the offer and acceptance process you may request that the Buyer provide you with a copy of their credit report. This is not often asked of the Buyer as the property owner and/or landlord will likely be obtaining a credit report for their review.

Recent Posts

Will your business be more valuable this time next year?

By Kim Santos • January 21, 2025
For many, January is a time of rebirth and resolutions. It’s a month to reflect on last year’s achievements and to set goals for the year ahead. Some people will set personal goals like losing weight or quitting a nasty habit, and most company owners will set business goals that focus on hitting certain revenue or profit milestones. But if your goal is to own a more valuable business in 2014, you may want to make one of the following New Year’s resolutions: Take a two-week vacation without checking in with the office. When you return, you’ll see how well your company performed and where you need to make a key hire or create a new system. Write down at least one process per month. You know you need to document your systems, but you may be overwhelmed by the task of taking what’s inside your head and putting it down in writing for others to follow. Resolve to document one system a month and by the end of the year you’ll own a more sellable company. Offload at least one customer relationship. If you’re like most business owners, you’re still your company’s best salesperson, but this can be a liability in the eyes of an acquirer, which is why you should wean your customers off relying on you as their point person. By the time you sell, none of your key customers should think of you as their relationship manager. Cultivate a new relationship with a new supplier. Having a “go to” group of suppliers is great, but an over-reliance on one or two suppliers can create a liability for your business. By spreading some of your business to other suppliers, you keep your best suppliers hungry and you can make a case to an acquirer that you have other sources of supply for your critical inputs. Create a recurring revenue stream. Valuable companies can look into the future and see where their revenue is going to come from. Recurring revenue models can vary from charging customers a small amount for a special level of service to offering a warranty or service contract. Find your lease (and any other key contracts). When it comes time to sell your company, a buyer will want to see your lease and understand your obligations to your landlord. Having your lease handy can save time and avoid any nasty surprises at the eleventh hour in the process of selling your company. Check your contracts and make sure they would survive the change of ownership of your company. If not, talk to your lawyer about adding a line to your agreements that states the obligations of the contract “surviving” in the event of a change of ownership of your company. Start tracking your Net Promoter Score (NPS). The NPS methodology is the best predictor that your customers will re-purchase from you and/or refer you, which are two key indicators of a healthy and successful company. It’s also why many strategic acquirers and private equity companies use NPS as a way to measure the health of their acquisition targets during due diligence. Get your Value Builder Score. All goals start with a benchmark of where you’re at today, and by understanding your company’s Value Builder Score, you can pinpoint how you’re doing now and which areas of your business are dragging down your company’s value. A lot of company owners will set New Year’s resolutions around their revenue or profits for the year ahead, but those goals are blunt instruments. Instead of just building a bigger company, also consider making this the year you build a more valuable one.

6 little things that make a big difference to the value of your company

By Kim Santos • January 17, 2025
With the Sochi Olympic Games taking place this month, it is interesting to reflect back on some of the big events of the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver. In the Men’s Downhill race at Whistler, for example, the winning time of 1:54:31 was posted by Didier Défago of Switzerland. The time among medalists was the closest in Olympic history, and while Mario Scheiber of Austria posted a time of 1:54:52 – just two tenths of a second slower than Défago – he finished out of the medals in fourth place. In ski racing, one fifth of a second can be lost in the tiniest of miscalculations. And when it comes to selling your business, markets can be equally cruel. Get everything right, and you can successfully sell your business for a premium. Misjudge a couple of minor details and a buyer can walk, leaving you with nothing. Here is a list of six little details to get right before you put your business on the market: 1. Find your lease. If you rent space, you may be required to notify your landlord if you intend to sell your company. Read through the fine print and ensure you’re not scrambling at the last minute to seek permission from your landlord to sell. 2. Professionalize your books. Consider having audited financial statements prepared to give a buyer confidence in your bookkeeping. 3. Stop using your company as an ATM. Many business owners run trips and other perks through their business, but if you’re planning to sell, these treats will artificially depress your earnings, which will reduce the value of your company in the eyes of a buyer by much more than the value of the perks. 4. Protect your gross margin. Oftentimes, when leading up to being listed for sale, companies grow by chasing low-margin business. You tell yourself you need top-line growth, but when an acquirer sees your growth has come at the expense of your gross margin, she will question your pricing authority and assume your journey to the bottom of the commoditization heap has begun. 5. If you’re lucky enough to have formal contracts with your customers, make sure your customer contracts include a “survivor clause” stipulating that the obligations of the contract “survive” the change of ownership of your company. That way, your customers can’t use the sale of your company to wiggle out of their commitments to your business. Have a lawyer paper the language to ensure it has teeth in your jurisdiction. 6. Get your Value Builder Score. Take 13 minutes to answer the Value Builder questionnaire now. You’ll see how you performed on the eight key drivers of company value and you can identify any gaps you need to fill before taking your business to market. Like competing in the Olympics, selling a business can be an all-or-nothing affair. Get it right and you will walk away a winner. Fumble your preparation, and you could end up out of the medals.

5 “strategic” ways to sell your company

By Kim Santos • January 16, 2025
Did you see the news that Facebook has recently acquired Internet messaging service WhatsApp for $19 billion? It represents the largest-ever acquisition of an Internet company in history. WhatsApp is a pearl for sure. The messaging service allows users to avoid text-messaging charges by moving texts across the Internet instead of the mobile phone carrier networks. This can save people who travel, or who live in emerging markets, hundreds of dollars a year, which is why WhatsApp is adding one million new users per day. At the time of the acquisition in February 2014, WhatsApp had acquired some 450 million users. Their business model is to charge a subscription of $1 per year after their first full year of service. Even if all 450 million WhatsApp users were already paying, that is still less than half a billion in revenue. Why would Facebook acquire WhatsApp for a number that is somewhere north of 40 times revenue? Nobody know for sure what is in Mark Zuckerberg’s head, but we can only assume that at least part of the opportunity Facebook sees is the opportunity to sell more Facebook ads because of the information they glean from WhatsApp users. Global advertising giant Publicis estimates 2013 online advertising spending in the US alone to be around $500 billion. Presumably Facebook believes they can get a larger chunk of the global online ad buy because they know more about its users by owning WhatsApp. And therein lies the definition of a strategic acquisition. Most acquisitions run a predictable pattern of industry norms, but a strategic can pay a significant premium for your business because they are looking at your business for what it is worth in their hands. Rather than forecasting out your future profits and estimating what that cash is worth in today’s dollars, a strategic is calculating the economic benefit of grafting your business onto theirs. There can be many strategic reasons why a big company might want to buy yours. Here are a few to consider: 1. To control their supply chain In 2011, Starbucks announced it had acquired Evolution Fresh, one of their providers of juice drinks, for $30 million. Now Starbucks is no longer beholden to one of its suppliers. 2. To give their sales people something else in their briefcase Also in 2011, AOL announced the acquisition of The Huffington Post for $315 million, even though HuffPo had just turned its first modest profit on paper. AOL wanted to give its advertising sales people more inventory to sell and HuffPo had 26 million unique visitors a month. 3. To make their cash cow product look sexier Microsoft bought Skype for $8.5 billion dollars even though Skype was losing money. The good folks in Redmond must have assumed they could sell more Windows, Office and Xbox by integrating Skype into everything they already sell. 4. To enter a new geographic market Herman Miller paid $50 million to acquire China’s POSH Office Systems in order to get a beachhead into the world’s fastest growing market for office furniture. 5. To get a hold of your employees Facebook reportedly acquired Internet start-up Hot Potato for $10 million, largely to get hold of the talented developers working at the company. Most acquisitions are done for rational reasons where an acquirer agrees to pay today for the rights to your future stream of cash. You may, however, be able to get a significant premium for your company if you can figure out how much it is worth in someone else’s hands.

Will your business be more valuable this time next year?

By Kim Santos • January 21, 2025
For many, January is a time of rebirth and resolutions. It’s a month to reflect on last year’s achievements and to set goals for the year ahead. Some people will set personal goals like losing weight or quitting a nasty habit, and most company owners will set business goals that focus on hitting certain revenue or profit milestones. But if your goal is to own a more valuable business in 2014, you may want to make one of the following New Year’s resolutions: Take a two-week vacation without checking in with the office. When you return, you’ll see how well your company performed and where you need to make a key hire or create a new system. Write down at least one process per month. You know you need to document your systems, but you may be overwhelmed by the task of taking what’s inside your head and putting it down in writing for others to follow. Resolve to document one system a month and by the end of the year you’ll own a more sellable company. Offload at least one customer relationship. If you’re like most business owners, you’re still your company’s best salesperson, but this can be a liability in the eyes of an acquirer, which is why you should wean your customers off relying on you as their point person. By the time you sell, none of your key customers should think of you as their relationship manager. Cultivate a new relationship with a new supplier. Having a “go to” group of suppliers is great, but an over-reliance on one or two suppliers can create a liability for your business. By spreading some of your business to other suppliers, you keep your best suppliers hungry and you can make a case to an acquirer that you have other sources of supply for your critical inputs. Create a recurring revenue stream. Valuable companies can look into the future and see where their revenue is going to come from. Recurring revenue models can vary from charging customers a small amount for a special level of service to offering a warranty or service contract. Find your lease (and any other key contracts). When it comes time to sell your company, a buyer will want to see your lease and understand your obligations to your landlord. Having your lease handy can save time and avoid any nasty surprises at the eleventh hour in the process of selling your company. Check your contracts and make sure they would survive the change of ownership of your company. If not, talk to your lawyer about adding a line to your agreements that states the obligations of the contract “surviving” in the event of a change of ownership of your company. Start tracking your Net Promoter Score (NPS). The NPS methodology is the best predictor that your customers will re-purchase from you and/or refer you, which are two key indicators of a healthy and successful company. It’s also why many strategic acquirers and private equity companies use NPS as a way to measure the health of their acquisition targets during due diligence. Get your Value Builder Score. All goals start with a benchmark of where you’re at today, and by understanding your company’s Value Builder Score, you can pinpoint how you’re doing now and which areas of your business are dragging down your company’s value. A lot of company owners will set New Year’s resolutions around their revenue or profits for the year ahead, but those goals are blunt instruments. Instead of just building a bigger company, also consider making this the year you build a more valuable one.

6 little things that make a big difference to the value of your company

By Kim Santos • January 17, 2025
With the Sochi Olympic Games taking place this month, it is interesting to reflect back on some of the big events of the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver. In the Men’s Downhill race at Whistler, for example, the winning time of 1:54:31 was posted by Didier Défago of Switzerland. The time among medalists was the closest in Olympic history, and while Mario Scheiber of Austria posted a time of 1:54:52 – just two tenths of a second slower than Défago – he finished out of the medals in fourth place. In ski racing, one fifth of a second can be lost in the tiniest of miscalculations. And when it comes to selling your business, markets can be equally cruel. Get everything right, and you can successfully sell your business for a premium. Misjudge a couple of minor details and a buyer can walk, leaving you with nothing. Here is a list of six little details to get right before you put your business on the market: 1. Find your lease. If you rent space, you may be required to notify your landlord if you intend to sell your company. Read through the fine print and ensure you’re not scrambling at the last minute to seek permission from your landlord to sell. 2. Professionalize your books. Consider having audited financial statements prepared to give a buyer confidence in your bookkeeping. 3. Stop using your company as an ATM. Many business owners run trips and other perks through their business, but if you’re planning to sell, these treats will artificially depress your earnings, which will reduce the value of your company in the eyes of a buyer by much more than the value of the perks. 4. Protect your gross margin. Oftentimes, when leading up to being listed for sale, companies grow by chasing low-margin business. You tell yourself you need top-line growth, but when an acquirer sees your growth has come at the expense of your gross margin, she will question your pricing authority and assume your journey to the bottom of the commoditization heap has begun. 5. If you’re lucky enough to have formal contracts with your customers, make sure your customer contracts include a “survivor clause” stipulating that the obligations of the contract “survive” the change of ownership of your company. That way, your customers can’t use the sale of your company to wiggle out of their commitments to your business. Have a lawyer paper the language to ensure it has teeth in your jurisdiction. 6. Get your Value Builder Score. Take 13 minutes to answer the Value Builder questionnaire now. You’ll see how you performed on the eight key drivers of company value and you can identify any gaps you need to fill before taking your business to market. Like competing in the Olympics, selling a business can be an all-or-nothing affair. Get it right and you will walk away a winner. Fumble your preparation, and you could end up out of the medals.

5 “strategic” ways to sell your company

By Kim Santos • January 16, 2025
Did you see the news that Facebook has recently acquired Internet messaging service WhatsApp for $19 billion? It represents the largest-ever acquisition of an Internet company in history. WhatsApp is a pearl for sure. The messaging service allows users to avoid text-messaging charges by moving texts across the Internet instead of the mobile phone carrier networks. This can save people who travel, or who live in emerging markets, hundreds of dollars a year, which is why WhatsApp is adding one million new users per day. At the time of the acquisition in February 2014, WhatsApp had acquired some 450 million users. Their business model is to charge a subscription of $1 per year after their first full year of service. Even if all 450 million WhatsApp users were already paying, that is still less than half a billion in revenue. Why would Facebook acquire WhatsApp for a number that is somewhere north of 40 times revenue? Nobody know for sure what is in Mark Zuckerberg’s head, but we can only assume that at least part of the opportunity Facebook sees is the opportunity to sell more Facebook ads because of the information they glean from WhatsApp users. Global advertising giant Publicis estimates 2013 online advertising spending in the US alone to be around $500 billion. Presumably Facebook believes they can get a larger chunk of the global online ad buy because they know more about its users by owning WhatsApp. And therein lies the definition of a strategic acquisition. Most acquisitions run a predictable pattern of industry norms, but a strategic can pay a significant premium for your business because they are looking at your business for what it is worth in their hands. Rather than forecasting out your future profits and estimating what that cash is worth in today’s dollars, a strategic is calculating the economic benefit of grafting your business onto theirs. There can be many strategic reasons why a big company might want to buy yours. Here are a few to consider: 1. To control their supply chain In 2011, Starbucks announced it had acquired Evolution Fresh, one of their providers of juice drinks, for $30 million. Now Starbucks is no longer beholden to one of its suppliers. 2. To give their sales people something else in their briefcase Also in 2011, AOL announced the acquisition of The Huffington Post for $315 million, even though HuffPo had just turned its first modest profit on paper. AOL wanted to give its advertising sales people more inventory to sell and HuffPo had 26 million unique visitors a month. 3. To make their cash cow product look sexier Microsoft bought Skype for $8.5 billion dollars even though Skype was losing money. The good folks in Redmond must have assumed they could sell more Windows, Office and Xbox by integrating Skype into everything they already sell. 4. To enter a new geographic market Herman Miller paid $50 million to acquire China’s POSH Office Systems in order to get a beachhead into the world’s fastest growing market for office furniture. 5. To get a hold of your employees Facebook reportedly acquired Internet start-up Hot Potato for $10 million, largely to get hold of the talented developers working at the company. Most acquisitions are done for rational reasons where an acquirer agrees to pay today for the rights to your future stream of cash. You may, however, be able to get a significant premium for your company if you can figure out how much it is worth in someone else’s hands.

Will your business be more valuable this time next year?

By Kim Santos • January 21, 2025
For many, January is a time of rebirth and resolutions. It’s a month to reflect on last year’s achievements and to set goals for the year ahead. Some people will set personal goals like losing weight or quitting a nasty habit, and most company owners will set business goals that focus on hitting certain revenue or profit milestones. But if your goal is to own a more valuable business in 2014, you may want to make one of the following New Year’s resolutions: Take a two-week vacation without checking in with the office. When you return, you’ll see how well your company performed and where you need to make a key hire or create a new system. Write down at least one process per month. You know you need to document your systems, but you may be overwhelmed by the task of taking what’s inside your head and putting it down in writing for others to follow. Resolve to document one system a month and by the end of the year you’ll own a more sellable company. Offload at least one customer relationship. If you’re like most business owners, you’re still your company’s best salesperson, but this can be a liability in the eyes of an acquirer, which is why you should wean your customers off relying on you as their point person. By the time you sell, none of your key customers should think of you as their relationship manager. Cultivate a new relationship with a new supplier. Having a “go to” group of suppliers is great, but an over-reliance on one or two suppliers can create a liability for your business. By spreading some of your business to other suppliers, you keep your best suppliers hungry and you can make a case to an acquirer that you have other sources of supply for your critical inputs. Create a recurring revenue stream. Valuable companies can look into the future and see where their revenue is going to come from. Recurring revenue models can vary from charging customers a small amount for a special level of service to offering a warranty or service contract. Find your lease (and any other key contracts). When it comes time to sell your company, a buyer will want to see your lease and understand your obligations to your landlord. Having your lease handy can save time and avoid any nasty surprises at the eleventh hour in the process of selling your company. Check your contracts and make sure they would survive the change of ownership of your company. If not, talk to your lawyer about adding a line to your agreements that states the obligations of the contract “surviving” in the event of a change of ownership of your company. Start tracking your Net Promoter Score (NPS). The NPS methodology is the best predictor that your customers will re-purchase from you and/or refer you, which are two key indicators of a healthy and successful company. It’s also why many strategic acquirers and private equity companies use NPS as a way to measure the health of their acquisition targets during due diligence. Get your Value Builder Score. All goals start with a benchmark of where you’re at today, and by understanding your company’s Value Builder Score, you can pinpoint how you’re doing now and which areas of your business are dragging down your company’s value. A lot of company owners will set New Year’s resolutions around their revenue or profits for the year ahead, but those goals are blunt instruments. Instead of just building a bigger company, also consider making this the year you build a more valuable one.

6 little things that make a big difference to the value of your company

By Kim Santos • January 17, 2025
With the Sochi Olympic Games taking place this month, it is interesting to reflect back on some of the big events of the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver. In the Men’s Downhill race at Whistler, for example, the winning time of 1:54:31 was posted by Didier Défago of Switzerland. The time among medalists was the closest in Olympic history, and while Mario Scheiber of Austria posted a time of 1:54:52 – just two tenths of a second slower than Défago – he finished out of the medals in fourth place. In ski racing, one fifth of a second can be lost in the tiniest of miscalculations. And when it comes to selling your business, markets can be equally cruel. Get everything right, and you can successfully sell your business for a premium. Misjudge a couple of minor details and a buyer can walk, leaving you with nothing. Here is a list of six little details to get right before you put your business on the market: 1. Find your lease. If you rent space, you may be required to notify your landlord if you intend to sell your company. Read through the fine print and ensure you’re not scrambling at the last minute to seek permission from your landlord to sell. 2. Professionalize your books. Consider having audited financial statements prepared to give a buyer confidence in your bookkeeping. 3. Stop using your company as an ATM. Many business owners run trips and other perks through their business, but if you’re planning to sell, these treats will artificially depress your earnings, which will reduce the value of your company in the eyes of a buyer by much more than the value of the perks. 4. Protect your gross margin. Oftentimes, when leading up to being listed for sale, companies grow by chasing low-margin business. You tell yourself you need top-line growth, but when an acquirer sees your growth has come at the expense of your gross margin, she will question your pricing authority and assume your journey to the bottom of the commoditization heap has begun. 5. If you’re lucky enough to have formal contracts with your customers, make sure your customer contracts include a “survivor clause” stipulating that the obligations of the contract “survive” the change of ownership of your company. That way, your customers can’t use the sale of your company to wiggle out of their commitments to your business. Have a lawyer paper the language to ensure it has teeth in your jurisdiction. 6. Get your Value Builder Score. Take 13 minutes to answer the Value Builder questionnaire now. You’ll see how you performed on the eight key drivers of company value and you can identify any gaps you need to fill before taking your business to market. Like competing in the Olympics, selling a business can be an all-or-nothing affair. Get it right and you will walk away a winner. Fumble your preparation, and you could end up out of the medals.

5 “strategic” ways to sell your company

By Kim Santos • January 16, 2025
Did you see the news that Facebook has recently acquired Internet messaging service WhatsApp for $19 billion? It represents the largest-ever acquisition of an Internet company in history. WhatsApp is a pearl for sure. The messaging service allows users to avoid text-messaging charges by moving texts across the Internet instead of the mobile phone carrier networks. This can save people who travel, or who live in emerging markets, hundreds of dollars a year, which is why WhatsApp is adding one million new users per day. At the time of the acquisition in February 2014, WhatsApp had acquired some 450 million users. Their business model is to charge a subscription of $1 per year after their first full year of service. Even if all 450 million WhatsApp users were already paying, that is still less than half a billion in revenue. Why would Facebook acquire WhatsApp for a number that is somewhere north of 40 times revenue? Nobody know for sure what is in Mark Zuckerberg’s head, but we can only assume that at least part of the opportunity Facebook sees is the opportunity to sell more Facebook ads because of the information they glean from WhatsApp users. Global advertising giant Publicis estimates 2013 online advertising spending in the US alone to be around $500 billion. Presumably Facebook believes they can get a larger chunk of the global online ad buy because they know more about its users by owning WhatsApp. And therein lies the definition of a strategic acquisition. Most acquisitions run a predictable pattern of industry norms, but a strategic can pay a significant premium for your business because they are looking at your business for what it is worth in their hands. Rather than forecasting out your future profits and estimating what that cash is worth in today’s dollars, a strategic is calculating the economic benefit of grafting your business onto theirs. There can be many strategic reasons why a big company might want to buy yours. Here are a few to consider: 1. To control their supply chain In 2011, Starbucks announced it had acquired Evolution Fresh, one of their providers of juice drinks, for $30 million. Now Starbucks is no longer beholden to one of its suppliers. 2. To give their sales people something else in their briefcase Also in 2011, AOL announced the acquisition of The Huffington Post for $315 million, even though HuffPo had just turned its first modest profit on paper. AOL wanted to give its advertising sales people more inventory to sell and HuffPo had 26 million unique visitors a month. 3. To make their cash cow product look sexier Microsoft bought Skype for $8.5 billion dollars even though Skype was losing money. The good folks in Redmond must have assumed they could sell more Windows, Office and Xbox by integrating Skype into everything they already sell. 4. To enter a new geographic market Herman Miller paid $50 million to acquire China’s POSH Office Systems in order to get a beachhead into the world’s fastest growing market for office furniture. 5. To get a hold of your employees Facebook reportedly acquired Internet start-up Hot Potato for $10 million, largely to get hold of the talented developers working at the company. Most acquisitions are done for rational reasons where an acquirer agrees to pay today for the rights to your future stream of cash. You may, however, be able to get a significant premium for your company if you can figure out how much it is worth in someone else’s hands.

Sellers Frequently Asked Questions

Why should I use a Business Broker to sell my business?


Business Owners who have sold a business in the past will likely tell you it is long, stressful process. Selling your own business can actually hurt the value of your business as it takes your focus away from the day to day operating of your business at a critical time when you should be increasing or at least maintaining your current business. When a Business Broker assists you in the process it can pay off in more ways than just the price obtained. Business Brokers will help properly value your business, reach out to buyers they already have, reach a larger number of new buyers, allow you to continue running your business rather than taking the your focus away, maintain confidentiality and most importantly assist with the closing of your transaction based upon experience and training. The most common mistake potential Sellers make is comparing the selling of their business to selling a house. Unlike realtors, we keep your listing entirely confidential, and work with you each step of the way until we sell your business. 



Why First Choice Business Brokers (FCBB)?


With unsurpassed experience since 1994, offices across the U.S. and some of the most highly trained Business Brokers in the industry First Choice is the "Clear Choice" when it comes to choosing a Business Brokerage to represent you. Our Business Brokers are experts in the field of business evaluation, business sales, business marketing and buy/sell negotiations to satisfy both buyers and sellers alike.



How is my business for sale kept confidential?


Unlike the sale of a home or even commercial building businesses do not have a "for sale" sign. Business Sales must be kept confidential; all buyers are required to sign a NDA (Buyer Confidentiality Agreement) prior to detailed information about your business being provided. This helps to prevent employees, suppliers, customers and competitors from finding out that you are selling your business. 



How will my business be advertised?


With First Choice Business Brokers your business will be on the highest rated Websites specifically for your area as well as national and international sites. Other advertising mediums may be employed based on your type of business.



How do I know how much my business is worth?


FCBB's proven methods of valuing and marketing will put your business in the best possible position to sell. First Choice Business Sales Professionals are some of the most highly trained professionals in the industry.



How long will it take to sell my business?


The average properly priced business tends to sell in approximately 90 days however this time frame can vary greatly based on the income of your business (and how easy it is to prove), type of business, the terms offered and the area in which your business is located. Your local First Choice Business Sales Professional will provide you with more information on your local market.



Will Buyers be visiting my business?


After a Buyer has signed an NDA (Buyer Confidentiality), reviewed initial information and expressed a further interest in your business your FCBB Business Sales Professional will schedule a meeting for the Buyer to view your business at a time that is appropriate for your type of business.



How do Buyers write offers to buy my business?


Most Buyers looking at your business will be represented by a Professional Business Broker who will assist them in writing an offer that expresses their price, terms, contingencies (if any) and request for further documentation (if any). The offer will then be presented to you for your approval by your FCBB Business Broker and/or the Buyer's Agent.



Who will handle all the inquiry calls on the sale of my business?


Your First Choice Business Sales Professional is trained to deal with incoming inquires (often tire kickers) and help determine which of those Buyers might be ready to move to the next level.



Who will handle the negotiations on the sale of my business?


Your First Choice Business Sales Professional is trained to deal with negotiations on the sale of your business. Your FCBB Business Broker will help navigate you through the entire process; we'll be with you every step of the way.



How long will I have to train the person who buys my business?


This is a negotiable point but we have found that most Buyers will ask for 30 days. Some types of businesses only require a week or two of training while other more complicated businesses may require a longer familiarization period. If a longer period is required we often find that Sellers will negotiate a consulting fee for extended training periods. 



After I sell my business can I open another one at some point in the future?


All Buyers will ask that you sign a covenant not to compete within a certain area and/or time period.



Will I need to finance part of the purchase price of the business?


There is no requirement that you "carry paper" on your business however in today's market it is very common that Buyers will ask for some type of Seller Carry Note which in reality opens your business to a larger pool of Buyers.



When should I notify my employees that I am selling the business?


While you may have a close relationship with your employees it has been proven time and time again that the best time to tell your employees is when you introduce them to the new owners. This may be difficult for you emotionally however experience dictates that silence is the best practice. The exception to this rule would be if a "key" employee is part of the negotiation for the Buyer to keep them on after the sale is complete. In this case there may be some advance notice required to this person and this person alone. Your First Choice Business Broker will guide you through the proper timing for this very important part of the business sal- timing is everything!



Will my First Choice Business Broker qualify the Buyer by checking their credit?


First Choice does not check the credit of Buyers however through the offer and acceptance process you may request that the Buyer provide you with a copy of their credit report. This is not often asked of the Buyer as the property owner and/or landlord will likely be obtaining a credit report for their review.

Recent Posts

Will your business be more valuable this time next year?

By Kim Santos • January 21, 2025
For many, January is a time of rebirth and resolutions. It’s a month to reflect on last year’s achievements and to set goals for the year ahead. Some people will set personal goals like losing weight or quitting a nasty habit, and most company owners will set business goals that focus on hitting certain revenue or profit milestones. But if your goal is to own a more valuable business in 2014, you may want to make one of the following New Year’s resolutions: Take a two-week vacation without checking in with the office. When you return, you’ll see how well your company performed and where you need to make a key hire or create a new system. Write down at least one process per month. You know you need to document your systems, but you may be overwhelmed by the task of taking what’s inside your head and putting it down in writing for others to follow. Resolve to document one system a month and by the end of the year you’ll own a more sellable company. Offload at least one customer relationship. If you’re like most business owners, you’re still your company’s best salesperson, but this can be a liability in the eyes of an acquirer, which is why you should wean your customers off relying on you as their point person. By the time you sell, none of your key customers should think of you as their relationship manager. Cultivate a new relationship with a new supplier. Having a “go to” group of suppliers is great, but an over-reliance on one or two suppliers can create a liability for your business. By spreading some of your business to other suppliers, you keep your best suppliers hungry and you can make a case to an acquirer that you have other sources of supply for your critical inputs. Create a recurring revenue stream. Valuable companies can look into the future and see where their revenue is going to come from. Recurring revenue models can vary from charging customers a small amount for a special level of service to offering a warranty or service contract. Find your lease (and any other key contracts). When it comes time to sell your company, a buyer will want to see your lease and understand your obligations to your landlord. Having your lease handy can save time and avoid any nasty surprises at the eleventh hour in the process of selling your company. Check your contracts and make sure they would survive the change of ownership of your company. If not, talk to your lawyer about adding a line to your agreements that states the obligations of the contract “surviving” in the event of a change of ownership of your company. Start tracking your Net Promoter Score (NPS). The NPS methodology is the best predictor that your customers will re-purchase from you and/or refer you, which are two key indicators of a healthy and successful company. It’s also why many strategic acquirers and private equity companies use NPS as a way to measure the health of their acquisition targets during due diligence. Get your Value Builder Score. All goals start with a benchmark of where you’re at today, and by understanding your company’s Value Builder Score, you can pinpoint how you’re doing now and which areas of your business are dragging down your company’s value. A lot of company owners will set New Year’s resolutions around their revenue or profits for the year ahead, but those goals are blunt instruments. Instead of just building a bigger company, also consider making this the year you build a more valuable one.

6 little things that make a big difference to the value of your company

By Kim Santos • January 17, 2025
With the Sochi Olympic Games taking place this month, it is interesting to reflect back on some of the big events of the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver. In the Men’s Downhill race at Whistler, for example, the winning time of 1:54:31 was posted by Didier Défago of Switzerland. The time among medalists was the closest in Olympic history, and while Mario Scheiber of Austria posted a time of 1:54:52 – just two tenths of a second slower than Défago – he finished out of the medals in fourth place. In ski racing, one fifth of a second can be lost in the tiniest of miscalculations. And when it comes to selling your business, markets can be equally cruel. Get everything right, and you can successfully sell your business for a premium. Misjudge a couple of minor details and a buyer can walk, leaving you with nothing. Here is a list of six little details to get right before you put your business on the market: 1. Find your lease. If you rent space, you may be required to notify your landlord if you intend to sell your company. Read through the fine print and ensure you’re not scrambling at the last minute to seek permission from your landlord to sell. 2. Professionalize your books. Consider having audited financial statements prepared to give a buyer confidence in your bookkeeping. 3. Stop using your company as an ATM. Many business owners run trips and other perks through their business, but if you’re planning to sell, these treats will artificially depress your earnings, which will reduce the value of your company in the eyes of a buyer by much more than the value of the perks. 4. Protect your gross margin. Oftentimes, when leading up to being listed for sale, companies grow by chasing low-margin business. You tell yourself you need top-line growth, but when an acquirer sees your growth has come at the expense of your gross margin, she will question your pricing authority and assume your journey to the bottom of the commoditization heap has begun. 5. If you’re lucky enough to have formal contracts with your customers, make sure your customer contracts include a “survivor clause” stipulating that the obligations of the contract “survive” the change of ownership of your company. That way, your customers can’t use the sale of your company to wiggle out of their commitments to your business. Have a lawyer paper the language to ensure it has teeth in your jurisdiction. 6. Get your Value Builder Score. Take 13 minutes to answer the Value Builder questionnaire now. You’ll see how you performed on the eight key drivers of company value and you can identify any gaps you need to fill before taking your business to market. Like competing in the Olympics, selling a business can be an all-or-nothing affair. Get it right and you will walk away a winner. Fumble your preparation, and you could end up out of the medals.

5 “strategic” ways to sell your company

By Kim Santos • January 16, 2025
Did you see the news that Facebook has recently acquired Internet messaging service WhatsApp for $19 billion? It represents the largest-ever acquisition of an Internet company in history. WhatsApp is a pearl for sure. The messaging service allows users to avoid text-messaging charges by moving texts across the Internet instead of the mobile phone carrier networks. This can save people who travel, or who live in emerging markets, hundreds of dollars a year, which is why WhatsApp is adding one million new users per day. At the time of the acquisition in February 2014, WhatsApp had acquired some 450 million users. Their business model is to charge a subscription of $1 per year after their first full year of service. Even if all 450 million WhatsApp users were already paying, that is still less than half a billion in revenue. Why would Facebook acquire WhatsApp for a number that is somewhere north of 40 times revenue? Nobody know for sure what is in Mark Zuckerberg’s head, but we can only assume that at least part of the opportunity Facebook sees is the opportunity to sell more Facebook ads because of the information they glean from WhatsApp users. Global advertising giant Publicis estimates 2013 online advertising spending in the US alone to be around $500 billion. Presumably Facebook believes they can get a larger chunk of the global online ad buy because they know more about its users by owning WhatsApp. And therein lies the definition of a strategic acquisition. Most acquisitions run a predictable pattern of industry norms, but a strategic can pay a significant premium for your business because they are looking at your business for what it is worth in their hands. Rather than forecasting out your future profits and estimating what that cash is worth in today’s dollars, a strategic is calculating the economic benefit of grafting your business onto theirs. There can be many strategic reasons why a big company might want to buy yours. Here are a few to consider: 1. To control their supply chain In 2011, Starbucks announced it had acquired Evolution Fresh, one of their providers of juice drinks, for $30 million. Now Starbucks is no longer beholden to one of its suppliers. 2. To give their sales people something else in their briefcase Also in 2011, AOL announced the acquisition of The Huffington Post for $315 million, even though HuffPo had just turned its first modest profit on paper. AOL wanted to give its advertising sales people more inventory to sell and HuffPo had 26 million unique visitors a month. 3. To make their cash cow product look sexier Microsoft bought Skype for $8.5 billion dollars even though Skype was losing money. The good folks in Redmond must have assumed they could sell more Windows, Office and Xbox by integrating Skype into everything they already sell. 4. To enter a new geographic market Herman Miller paid $50 million to acquire China’s POSH Office Systems in order to get a beachhead into the world’s fastest growing market for office furniture. 5. To get a hold of your employees Facebook reportedly acquired Internet start-up Hot Potato for $10 million, largely to get hold of the talented developers working at the company. Most acquisitions are done for rational reasons where an acquirer agrees to pay today for the rights to your future stream of cash. You may, however, be able to get a significant premium for your company if you can figure out how much it is worth in someone else’s hands.
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