If you have got as far as typing this, the question underneath it is usually money and time: what does selling cost me, and how long am I going to be doing it. This page answers both with the costs written down in the order you meet them, from the ones you pay before a buyer exists to the ones deducted at closing.
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What you pay before a buyer exists
An accountant to normalise the books and prepare the add back schedule, typically a few thousand dollars for a small company. A lawyer to review the listing or engagement agreement before you sign it, which is an hour or two of time that regularly saves a percentage point. If you use an M&A adviser rather than a broker, a retainer starts here too. None of this is refundable if you change your mind, which is the argument for deciding whether you actually want to sell first.
What you pay at closing
The commission is the big line. Of the firms whose own pages are read for the record on this site, the published figures run from 5% to 15% of the sale price, and the higher end belongs to firms selling online businesses end to end. Below a certain price a minimum fee bites instead, which is what makes small sales expensive in percentage terms. Legal fees for the purchase agreement are usually the second largest line and are billed hourly.
What you do not get on the day
Escrow holds part of the price against the warranties you gave, commonly for a year or two. A seller note means you are financing part of your own exit and carrying the risk that the buyer runs the business badly. An earnout pays you on results after you have handed over the controls. Each is a legitimate way to bridge a gap on price, and each is a reason the number in the headline is not the number in your account.
The timetable, honestly
Preparation three to six months. Marketing and offers two to four months. Signed letter of intent to closing another two to four. Sellers who describe a nine month sale as slow are usually comparing it to a house, which is the wrong comparison: nobody does forensic accounting on a house. The stage that stretches is diligence, and it stretches in proportion to how tidy the records were before you started.
Questions people ask about selling my business
Can I sell my business myself?
Yes. Self service marketplaces list a business for a small fee and leave the work to you: answering buyers, screening them, assembling diligence, negotiating. Owners who do this successfully usually already know who is likely to buy.
Do I pay the broker if the deal falls through?
Usually not the success fee, which is contingent on closing. Retainers and marketing charges are not refunded, and a tail clause can still make you liable if you later close with a buyer the broker introduced. The tail is the clause to read twice.
Is the commission negotiable?
The rate sometimes, the minimum rarely, the tail often. On a business at the smaller end the minimum fee is the term that decides your effective rate, so negotiate that before arguing over a point of commission.
Should I tell my customers?
Not before closing, other than any customer whose contract requires consent to a change of control. Those consents are diligence items and are worth finding early, because a contract that can be canceled on a sale is a discount the buyer will find on their own.