Sell Your Cary Business With a Plan for What Comes Next
Deciding to sell is the quick part. Knowing what the company is worth, who should own it next, and how much of the money you actually keep takes longer.
We sell mostly owner-operated companies. Contractors and home service businesses, restaurants, auto shops, salons, practices, and trade companies that one person built over many years.
Two things start on the first phone call. You find out what the business is realistically worth, and nothing about the sale leaves the room until you decide it should.
That first conversation and the valuation are free, with no obligation attached to either.
Call Today 919-746-7038What Is Your Cary Business Actually Worth?
Revenue is the number owners quote each other. Buyers spend very little time on it.
Many owner-operated small businesses are valued using Seller’s Discretionary Earnings, or SDE. That is net profit plus your salary and the personal expenses legitimately run through the company. It shows a buyer what the business would actually put in their pocket.
The multiple applied to that figure depends on the industry, financial performance, recurring revenue, owner involvement, customer concentration, and other factors. A contracting business, a restaurant, and a professional practice do not price the same way.
Which is why two Cary companies doing identical revenue can be worth very different amounts.
One has service agreements, a manager running the schedule, and forty accounts spreading the risk. The other has the owner answering every call, three customers producing most of the income, and a year of receipts in a box. Same top line. Different price, and not by a small margin.
Here is what a buyer examines: how the earnings are documented, how much of the business depends on you personally, whether revenue repeats or restarts every month, who the customers actually belong to, and whether the team stays after you leave.
We review the financials, explain the factors affecting value, and give you a realistic estimate of what the business may be worth. The initial valuation is free, and there is no obligation to sell.
Prepare Your Business Before You Put It on the Market
We handle almost everything that raises your price before a buyer ever sees the company.
These are the areas that move the number most:
- Financial records. Statements and returns a lender can work through in a week rather than a quarter, with documented add-backs instead of verbal explanations.
- Owner dependence. If quoting, relationships, and problem-solving all run through you, a buyer is purchasing a job rather than a business.
- Recurring revenue. Service agreements, contracts, and repeat customers carry more weight than one-time work, even at the same annual total.
- Customer concentration. When one or two accounts produce most of the revenue, a buyer prices in the risk of losing them.
- Employees. A trained team likely to stay through a transition is one of the strongest assets you can hand over.
- Contracts and leases. Remaining term, rent, transferability, and whether the location is essential to how the work gets done.
- Operational issues. Aging equipment, licensing gaps, pending disputes, and anything else a buyer will find later and reprice around.
None of this requires a decision to sell.
Owners who call a year or two ahead generally end up with more because they still have time to address these items before anyone evaluates them. Waiting until you are ready to list means the buyer discovers them instead, and discovery always costs more than preparation.
Call, and you’ll get a straight assessment of which of these apply to your company and which ones to address first.
Keep the Sale Confidential From the People Around You
A leaked sale does more damage than a low offer.
Your best technician starts taking calls. A competitor works your accounts on the theory that you have checked out. A supplier quietly shortens your terms. None of it reverses easily, and all of it lands before you have a signed deal.
So the sale runs quietly from the beginning.
Your business is marketed without being named, described by industry, approximate size, and general area only. Every prospective buyer signs a nondisclosure agreement before receiving any detail. We release financial information in stages, after we confirm the buyer has the capital and background to close. Introductory meetings happen away from your location, and we schedule walkthroughs when your staff and customers aren’t there.
Your employees, your customers, and your competitors find out when you decide to tell them.
From Valuation to Cash at Closing
The whole path, start to finish:
- Valuation. We review your financials and give you a realistic range, free and obligation-free.
- Preparation. We address the items that affect price and assemble the package buyers and lenders will ask for.
- Buyer identification. We take the business to market confidentially, and we screen prospects for capital and operating experience before they get anywhere near you.
- Negotiation. Price, terms, what happens to your employees, and how long you stay on after closing.
- Due diligence and financing. The buyer and their lender verify what we presented. We pre-qualify your business with SBA lenders before buyers sit down, so financing doesn’t kill the deal in month four.
- Closing. Documents are signed, funds transfer, and you hand over the business on a date you agreed to.
Financing is what determines how much you take home on closing day.
Some buyers will ask you to carry most of the purchase price yourself. That leaves you holding the risk while someone else runs the company your name is still attached to. When a deal is structured with bank financing instead, sellers commonly receive 80 to 90 percent of the proceeds in cash at closing, with the remainder tied to a short transition period or a small note.
Most prepared businesses reach closing within a few months of going to market. Our compensation is a success fee paid at closing, and the engagement agreement sets the terms before you commit.
Find Out What Your Cary Business Could Sell For
Many buyers will push for heavy seller financing, which keeps the risk on you. In a market with this many qualified buyers, you rarely have to accept it.
We work with SBA lenders across Wake County and get your business pre-qualified before a buyer ever sits down. Structured right, the bank funds the deal and you leave closing with the bulk of your money in cash.
Our fee is a success fee at closing. No retainers, no hidden charges. No sale, no fee.
Find Out What Your Cary Business Could Sell For
You do not need to be ready to sell.
One conversation gets you a real number, a clear read on timing, and an honest answer about whether the business is ready for a buyer. It stays confidential, the valuation is free, and you owe nothing either way.
