How Much Does It Cost To Sell a Business?

It can cost next to nothing to sell your business, or it can cost all the way up to 15% of the sale. How much it costs to sell a company is dependent on how you sell your company.

If you manage to sell your business without hiring a business broker, you only have certain fees and payments for the transaction. Typically, however, selling your business on your own results in losing more money than it would have cost to hire a business broker. This is because selling your business on your own almost always results in a significantly lower sale price. It’s extremely difficult to sell your business without the help of a business broker and if you try this route, chances are you will end up paying a business brokerage fee anyway when your efforts fail.

Why waste time and money when there are people with the knowledge and resources to help you sell your business the right way? A business broker’s fees can vary, just as the cost to sell a business through a Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) firm will vary. A skilled intermediary (Business Broker or M&A advisor) will earn his or her success fee by obtaining a higher purchase price through exposure to an extensive buyer network, creating competitive bidding conditions and steering the transaction to an optimal deal structure. They do this, so you, the owner, can focus on maintaining the value and integrity of your business.

Why is there a cost for selling a company? Because business sale transactions are complex and there are countless ways deals go south if there isn’t a trained professional there to guide you through the tedious process.

The business brokers at California Business Advisors add value in many different ways. They provide a Value  Range Analysis, create a thorough go to market strategy, advertise a comprehensive Confidential Business Portfolio to qualified potential buyers, manage negotiations, and help create the best possible deal structure, and so much more.

Once escrow closes on the deal, the business broker gets paid the “success fee” for successfully helping you sell your business based on the final sale price. When a business owner tallies all of the expenses to sell a business, their excitement may wane. But not all is lost. The business owner typically retains a few valuable assets. Current assets such as the cash in the bank, cash in the tills, accounts receivable from customers, security deposits paid to others, personal property, and more. Most importantly, an owner selling a business gets monetary consideration for their hard work and the time to embark on their next adventure.