The Business Is Only Worth the Price If the People Stay
Buyers say they’re buying revenue, customers, and systems. Very often, what they’re really buying is the three or four people who make those things work. That makes employees in a business sale one of the biggest risks in the deal — and one of the least planned for. If the general manager, the lead technician, […]
Asset Sale or Stock Sale? The Choice That Shapes the Whole Deal
Before anyone argues about price, a business sale has to answer a more basic question: what exactly is being sold? The answer to asset sale vs stock sale decides what the buyer walks away with, what the seller leaves behind, and which problems follow the business after closing. It often gets settled in a single […]
Representations and Warranties When You Sell Your Business: What You Have to Disclose
The purchase agreement will have a section, usually a long one, where you make formal statements about your business. That the financials are accurate. That you own what you’re selling. That your taxes are paid. That there’s no lawsuit you haven’t mentioned. That you’ve complied with the laws that apply to you. Those are the […]
The Diligence Checklist a Buyer Will Run on You — and What to Fix First
There’s a version of selling your business where diligence goes smoothly, the buyer’s questions get answered in a day, and the price you agreed to in the letter of intent is the price at closing. That version happens when the cleanup was done before anyone went looking. The opposite version is more common. A buyer’s […]
How to Sell a Business in Pennsylvania: What Actually Happens From LOI to Closing
Most people sell one business in their life. The buyer across the table may have bought three. The broker has done a hundred. You’re the only person in the room learning the process while it’s happening. So here’s the sequence, in the order it actually happens, with the parts that cost sellers money marked. Step […]
Can You Buy an LLC Online? Risks of Purchasing an Existing or Shelf Company
You can buy an LLC online, but the website listing and electronic signature do not make the entity clean or useful. An existing LLC can carry debts, tax exposure, lawsuits, contracts, liens, compliance failures, and a disputed ownership history. A shelf LLC may have been formed earlier and held inactive, yet its age does not […]
The Non-Compete You Sign When You Sell Your Business Is a Different Animal
You’ve heard that non-competes are hard to enforce. You may have heard it from a lawyer. That’s mostly about employment non-competes — the ones companies ask employees to sign. The non-compete you sign as part of selling your business is analyzed differently, and courts have long treated it more favorably. Assume the one in your […]