Selling without an intermediary is normal at the small end and saves a commission that can be a quarter of the price. What it costs is your time and the discipline to do the parts a broker would do for you: screening, pricing from evidence and refusing to hand over your accounts to the curious.
Get quotes to sell my business
Assemble before you advertise
Three years of profit and loss statements and tax returns, a balance sheet, the lease, an equipment list, and a written add back schedule with a document behind each item. Buyers who ask and wait assume the worst. This folder is also what a lender will want, so preparing it once serves both.
Screen before you disclose
Take enquiries through the listing platform or a dedicated email address. Require a signed non disclosure agreement and proof of funds or a lender pre approval before the business is named or detailed figures are released. Most enquiries are not buyers, and the screening is what protects your staff and customers from hearing about it early.
Where to spend the saving
A lawyer who does business sales to draft or review the purchase agreement, and an accountant for the structure, the price allocation and any deferred consideration. A few thousand dollars here protects the whole price. A template agreement from the internet does not carry your warranties, your escrow or your tax position.
Other questions people ask
Where do I list it?
General marketplaces reach the widest pool of individual buyers; trade associations and industry forums reach buyers who understand your business. Listing on both is cheap and normal.
How do I set the price?
From seller's discretionary earnings and evidence of what similar businesses have actually sold for, not from asking prices. Asking prices are wishes.
What if a buyer wants my customer list?
Not before a letter of intent, and often only to their adviser rather than to them. Staged disclosure is the protection, particularly if the buyer is anywhere near your trade.