Selling Your Business with Confidence: A Practical Playbook for Mid-Market Owners

Level the playing field against professional buyers

As an entrepreneur myself, I understand firsthand the relentless effort required to build a successful business. Your company is not just an asset— it's your life's work, often representing 80-90% of your total net worth. Selling it is a monumental decision that can dramatically impact your financial future, personal satisfaction, and legacy. The stakes could not be higher.

For most owners, selling a business is a once-in-a-lifetime event. However, your buyer and their advisors will be seasoned professionals who have done this hundreds of times and will leverage every possible advantage. This is not the time to learn through trial and error.

For middle-market owners, selling is not just a financial transaction but a deeply personal and emotional journey. Unfortunately, most owners find themselves unprepared, underestimating the time, money, effort, and complexity involved. Because of the many "unknown unknowns," the sale process becomes an exhausting psychological roller coaster. But with the right knowledge, you can confidently navigate the process and make the best decisions.

Drawing from his decades of experience negotiating billions in deals, David McCombie shares his insights regarding both the art and science of selling a mid-market company. This book offers straightforward guidance—free of academic theories and legal jargon—to support you through one of the biggest decisions of your life.

I know you have plenty of pressing matters on your plate. However, there's no better investment of your time than reading this book. Applying its lessons can yield not just (tens of) millions of dollars more, but the peace of mind associated with a smoother, less stressful sales process.

Systematically preparing your business for an optimal exit will lead to a dramatically higher sale price, and allow you to sell from a position of strength, on your own terms and timeline. Whether you want to sell now or someday, it's never too late to get started.
So, what exactly will you learn by reading this book?
 
 

• Overall timeline, mechanics, and common strategies of a deal
• Reasoning behind important elements of the process
• Framework for determining the optimal time to sell
• Roles and expectations of various deal team members, expected fees, and how to prioritize selecting them
• Key questions to ask to make informed decisions
• Understanding the buyer's perspective and their typical strategies
• Negotiation tactics and the underlying psychology behind them
• Interpreting and comparing offers
• Preparing yourself psychologically for this challenging process
• Steps you can take today to improve the value and sellability of your business