You build a business over decades and sell it once. The cruel surprise is that you don’t set the price — the buyer does, and so does the buyer’s lender, and they decide it from your numbers. This is a practitioner’s hub on getting ready, pricing it right, and walking away with what the business is really worth.
Why now: the silver tsunami
Baby boomers own roughly 12 million U.S. businesses — about 41% of all small businesses. Over the next several years an estimated $10 trillion in business value will change hands as they retire, with the peak around 2030 and roughly 10,000 boomers turning 65 every day. Fewer than a third have a succession plan. For sellers, that wave is a tailwind — and a warning.
More buyers are coming — but so are more sellers, many of them unprepared. In a crowded market, buyers can be choosy, and they pay up only for the businesses that are clearly ready. More on the macro picture in The Silver Tsunami.
Start free: the Seller’s Readiness toolkit
The “Are You Ready to Sell?” guide and the one-page Readiness Checklist — the worksheets that tell you whether you, and the business, are ready to sell well. Free, no signup.
The questions every seller must answer
Each links to a short, free read. Start anywhere, then download the toolkit.
Why now?
The silver tsunami: more buyers, more sellers, and why the prepared business wins.
Should I sell — am I ready?
Your number, the value gap, the day after, and the timing that gets the best price.
What’s it worth?
SDE, EBITDA, the multiples — and what you actually net after fees and tax.
How do I raise the price?
The five value-drivers, and the 12–24 months that move you up the range.
What does the process look like?
From prep to close: confidentiality, diligence, the LOI, and the hand-off.