Resources for owners thinking about a sale.
Plain-English guides and free tools on value, preparation, taxes and buyers. Start where you are. Most owners begin with step one.
Thinking about selling
How buyers put a price on a business, what they look for, and the mistakes that cost owners the most.
What Is My Business Actually Worth?
How buyers value a lower-middle market business: EBITDA, multiples by industry, add-backs, and the factors that push your price up or down.
Read the guide Guide · 8 min readWhat Buyers Actually Look For
How private equity, strategic acquirers and individual buyers evaluate a lower-middle market business, the red flags that kill deals, and how to close the gaps.
Read the guide Guide · 7 min read5 Mistakes Owners Make When Selling a Business
The avoidable errors that cost owners the most when they sell: going to market unprepared, misreading value, signing the wrong LOI and tax surprises.
Read the guideGetting ready
The preparation that protects your price: a readiness checklist, a realistic timeline and the tax decisions to make early.
The Seller Readiness Checklist
A 24-month checklist for preparing a business for sale: financial cleanup, legal housekeeping, owner dependency and what buyers ask for in diligence.
Read the guide Guide · 7 min readThe Exit Planning Timeline
What to do, and when, in the 24 months before selling your business, so you are not scrambling in the final months before closing.
Read the guide Guide · 9 min readThe Tax Trap: What to Know Before You Sign
Asset versus stock sale, purchase price allocation, non-competes and installment sales: the tax decisions to understand before you sign anything.
Read the guideReady to go
Who is buying right now and what you would actually take home from a sale.
Inside Vanla's Buyer Network
Who is acquiring through Vanla Group, how many buyers fit a business like yours, and how we match owners with the right buyers.
Read the guide CalculatorNet Proceeds Calculator
Turn a headline price into what you would actually take home after debt, fees and taxes.
Open the calculatorTake it with you.
Printable checklists to work through on your own time, with your CPA or your leadership team. Tell us where to send it and the download starts right away.
Exit Readiness Checklist
A printable checklist to find the gaps in your financial, legal and operational readiness before a buyer does.
Your download is ready.
Download the PDFNext step: see how buyers would rate your business. Get your Sellability Score in 4 minutes
Popular in Insights
The 18-Month Exit Planning Timeline
What to do, and when, in the 18 months before a sale so you go to market prepared.
Read the article ArticleBusiness Broker and M&A Advisor Fees in 2026
Success fees by deal size, the Lehman formula worked out, and how common retainers are.
Read the article ArticleHow to Sell Your Business Confidentially
How a properly structured process keeps employees, customers and competitors from finding out.
Read the articleFind out what your business could sell for.
An instant range first, then a confidential valuation from our advisors when you want one. Success-fee only: nothing is owed unless your business sells.