Need Help Selling Your Small Business? Start Here.

If you need help selling your small business, you're not alone — and you're not late. Most owners wait too long to ask. They spend years thinking "I'll figure it out when the time comes," and then the time comes and the process feels overwhelming. The good news: the help exists, it's accessible, and knowing where to start makes the whole thing much less daunting. This post breaks down who to turn to, what to prepare, and how to avoid the mistakes that derail most sales.

What Kind of Help Do You Actually Need?

Before you call anyone, it helps to know what stage you're in — because the right kind of help depends on where you are in the process.

Still figuring out if you want to sell — you need an honest valuation and a confidential conversation with someone who can tell you what your business is worth and what the process looks like. No commitment required.
Ready to sell but don't know where to start — you need a broker or advisor who can help you prepare your financials, build your deal materials, and bring the right buyers to the table.
Already have a buyer but need help closing — you need an M&A attorney and a CPA with transaction experience to make sure the deal is structured right and you're protected.
Had a deal fall through — you need someone who can diagnose why and whether it's fixable. Most failed deals come down to price, financials, or a mismatch with the wrong buyer — all of which are correctable.

Who Should You Call First?

For most small business owners, the first call is to a business broker. A broker's job is to:

Tell you what your business is realistically worth
Help you get your financials and documents in order
Find qualified buyers and screen out time-wasters
Manage the negotiation and keep the deal moving
Coordinate with your legal and financial team through close

Brokers typically charge 8–12% commission on the final sale price, paid at closing. You pay nothing upfront.

The alternative is selling on your own — which is possible, but it's a significant amount of work and requires knowing how to handle buyer inquiries, due diligence requests, and negotiations without someone in your corner. Our guides on selling with a broker and selling without a broker walk through the trade-offs in detail.

Silver Surf works specifically with owners in the $200K–$5M range — a segment that traditional brokers often overlook because the deals are smaller. If you're in that range and need help selling your small business, it's worth a conversation.

What Do You Need to Have Ready Before You Ask for Help?

You don't need everything buttoned up before your first conversation with an advisor — but the more organized you are, the better picture they can give you. Start pulling together:

Three years of tax returns — the foundation of any valuation and due diligence process
Profit and loss statements — ideally month-by-month for the last two to three years
A rough sense of your SDE — your net profit plus your owner salary plus any personal expenses running through the business
A list of assets — equipment, vehicles, inventory, and any real estate
Key contracts — leases, vendor agreements, customer contracts, anything that transfers with the business

These don't need to be perfect. A good advisor will help you clean them up. But having them available speeds the process and signals to buyers that you're a serious seller.

What Does Good Help Actually Look Like?

Not all help is equal. Here's what you should expect from someone who genuinely knows what they're doing:

They give you a realistic valuation range — not a number inflated to win your listing
They explain the process in plain terms, including timeline (typically 6–12 months from listing to close)
They ask about your goals beyond price — do you want to stay involved post-sale? Do you care who buys it? Do your employees need protecting?
They've closed deals at your business size and in your industry, or similar ones
They're upfront about what makes your business easier or harder to sell

What you don't want: someone who promises a fast sale at a high price with no explanation of how. Unrealistic expectations set early are one of the most common reasons deals fall apart later.

How Do You Avoid Getting Taken Advantage Of?

Selling a business is one of the biggest financial transactions most owners will ever make. A few things that protect you:

Get a valuation before you agree to anything. Know your number before someone else sets it for you.
Understand how your broker gets paid. The standard model is a success fee at closing — be cautious of anyone charging large upfront fees before results.
Don't sign an exclusivity agreement longer than 12 months. Six months is standard. Eighteen months or more is a red flag.
Get a lawyer before you sign the purchase agreement — not after. The agreement is where the real risk lives, and it's much harder to fix terms once you've signed.
Keep the sale confidential. Telling employees, customers, or suppliers before a deal closes can damage the business's value and spook buyers. A good broker manages this carefully from day one.