Start With What a Stranger Would Pay
Owners think about selling for many reasons. Some want to retire, a partner is leaving, or an unexpected offer arrived and nobody could say if it was fair.
Every one of them needs the same first fact: what a buyer with money and no history with your company would pay. Set the ask too high and the listing sits. Set it too low and the buyer keeps the difference.
A broker who sells companies around Missouri and the Illinois side of the river can show a realistic range and explain what pushes it up or down.
Buyers Pay for Profit, Not Sales
Provable earnings set the price. A company with seven million dollars in sales can still sell for about two million when margins are thin.
If the owner works in the business, brokers use seller discretionary earnings, meaning what one working owner could take home. Larger companies with managers in place are priced on EBITDA.
Most Main Street companies trade at roughly two to three times that cash flow. Where yours lands depends on risk, such as how much rests on you and how many customers you share the revenue with.
Our note on asset sales and how the price gets split shows how structure changes what you keep.
A Metro Built on Making, Moving and Serving
St. Louis sits where the Missouri and Mississippi rivers and several interstates meet, so freight, machine work, food production, healthcare and the trades all have deep roots here.
Each draws a different buyer. Our what buyers pay for pages explain what each type of buyer checks first.
Signs Your Company May Be Ready
- Yearly sales near one million dollars or more
- Tax returns and internal books that tell the same story
- A crew that keeps working when you are away for a week
- No single customer making up a large slice of sales
- A lease, or a deed, that is current and in writing
If a few are missing, you know where to start. A broker can tell you which gaps cost real money and which ones buyers shrug off.
How Long Selling Takes
Plan on seven to nine months from signing with a broker to closing. Six months counts as quick, though many owners feel it drags even when the sale moves at a normal pace.
Keep the company performing the whole way. A slump worries buyers, and a sudden jump just before listing makes them suspicious. Steady results sell best.
Read what slows a sale down before you set a date in your head.
Why Owners Use a Broker
Most owners sell one company in a lifetime, and many buyers have done it before. A broker evens the match, screens buyers, protects your privacy and creates competition for your company.
The fee bothers some owners. Taxes on a sale usually cost more than the commission, and a good broker often earns the fee back through a better price or a deal that survives the buyer's review.
Before you sign anything, read how brokers get paid. A buyer who calls you directly and asks for exclusivity often hopes for a bargain.
Who Sees Your Details
We send your answers to one brokerage partner, and we may be paid a referral fee. Nothing about your company reaches a buyer without your approval, and the first call carries no commitment.