Who Do You Need to Sell Your Business?

Selling a business isn't a solo operation. You'll need professionals to help with marketing, financial documentation, legal agreements, and the dozens of details that can make or break a deal. The question isn't whether you need help—it's who you need, when you need them, and how to keep everyone working in the same direction.

This last part is where deals often fall apart. It's not that sellers hire the wrong people; it's that those people get involved at the wrong time, or give advice outside their expertise, or create friction that spooks buyers. Assembling a team is the easy part. Coordinating that team to close a deal is where things get complicated.

The Core Team

Business Broker

For most small business sales ($500K to $5M), a broker is the central coordinator. They handle what most owners can't or don't want to: marketing the business confidentially, screening and qualifying buyers, facilitating negotiations, and managing the flow of information and documents between parties.

A good broker isn't just a matchmaker. They're the person keeping the deal moving forward, anticipating problems before they become deal-killers, and managing the emotional dynamics on both sides of the transaction.

When to engage: Before you list. Ideally 2-3 months before you want to go to market, so there's time to prepare documentation and address any issues that might hurt your sale price.

Accountant and/or Bookkeeper

Many business owners are hands-off with their financials. They know the business is profitable, but they couldn't produce clean financial statements on demand. This becomes a problem fast when selling.

Buyers and their lenders need organized financial records: tax returns, profit and loss statements, balance sheets, and documentation of the add-backs that determine your Seller's Discretionary Earnings. If this information isn't readily available, the preparation phase drags on—and every week of delay is a week where something could change.

When to engage: From the very beginning. If you don't want to incur accounting fees during prep, at minimum get your bookkeeper involved to organize and provide the raw information. Trying to reconstruct financial records while simultaneously managing buyer inquiries is a recipe for missed opportunities.

Attorney

Legal counsel handles the purchase agreement, reviews terms, ensures proper asset or stock transfer, and protects you from liabilities that might follow you after the sale. This is non-negotiable expertise.

But timing matters. Lawyers brought in too early can slow things down with excessive caution during stages where flexibility helps. Lawyers brought in too late may find problems that could have been addressed earlier, potentially killing a deal that's already emotionally committed on both sides.

When to engage: Once a Letter of Intent (LOI) is signed and agreed upon. Before that point, the broker handles negotiations and deal structure. Once the main terms are locked in, lawyers take the lead on documentation and due diligence protection. This is typically when the broker steps back—their work of marketing, qualifying buyers, and negotiating key terms is done.

The Coordination Problem

Here's what nobody tells you: your advisors can kill your deal while trying to help you.

Accountants, bookkeepers, and so-called "business advisors" who bill by the hour often don't have direct experience in business transitions. They know their domain—taxes, books, general business strategy—but the sale process is unfamiliar territory.

This creates a dangerous dynamic. They may question things they don't fully understand. They may feel the need to interject somewhere to justify their perceived value to you. They may have closer personal relationships and feel protective. Whatever the reason, they have influence on your emotional response—and that influence can spook you, spook the buyer, or raise concerns about something that's actually immaterial to the deal.

The solution isn't to exclude your trusted advisors. It's to make sure everyone involved understands their role, their limitations, and when to voice an opinion versus when to defer to someone with more relevant experience.

Before the process begins, have a direct conversation with every advisor who might be involved:

• Have you been through a business sale before? In what capacity?
• What's your role in this process, and where does it end?
• If you have concerns, how should you raise them—and to whom?

This isn't about silencing people. It's about creating a structure where concerns are raised productively, to the right person, at the right time—not blurted out in a way that derails momentum.

Stakeholders Who Can Make or Break the Deal

Your Spouse or Partner

This is the stakeholder most often mishandled. Many owners treat their spouse's involvement as optional—especially if the spouse has never been involved in business decisions. That's a mistake.

Consider the dynamics:

If the relationship is stable and the spouse simply isn't involved in business matters, they still need to know. A business sale affects family finances, lifestyle, and future plans. Surprising them late in the process—or worse, after the fact—damages trust and can create last-minute resistance that derails everything.

If the owner wants out but the spouse has been the push factor to stay, there's a deeper problem. Eventually, the spouse will find out. The fallout can collapse any progress made on a deal. These situations need to be resolved before the sale process begins, not during it.

If divorce is on the horizon, some owners want to minimize knowledge of the transaction for settlement purposes. Brokers generally don't want these clients—the legal and ethical complications are significant, and the likelihood of a clean transaction is low.

Business Partners

If you have partners, they need to be aligned before you approach a broker. A conversation has usually already happened—one partner floats the idea of selling, they discuss, they agree to explore it together.

Problems arise when partners have different levels of commitment to the sale. One is serious and responsive; the other is aloof or ambivalent. This creates real obstacles.

Real example: Two directors, one serious about selling, one disengaged. The disengaged director was slow to respond to requests, didn't prioritize providing information to qualified buyers, and generally didn't seem to care. Despite the other director occasionally pushing for action, it was always too late—interested buyers had moved on. Deals need momentum, and one uncommitted partner can kill it through simple neglect.

If you have a multi-owner structure, consider designating someone—whether a shareholder committee member or an outside party—to keep all owners accountable and ensure timely responses. Buyers won't wait while your partner gets around to returning emails.

Landlord

If your business operates in a leased space, the landlord will eventually need to approve the lease transfer or sign a new lease with the buyer. This is rarely a problem—if your business is stable and pays rent consistently, the landlord would much rather maintain operations with a new owner than find a new tenant.

Master Franchisor

If you're selling a franchise, the master franchisor is the ultimate gatekeeper. They decide whether the business can even be sold and whether the buyer is acceptable.

When to engage: From the very beginning. The franchisor must be informed early and involved throughout. They have rules about the sale process, requirements the buyer must meet, and often mandatory training the buyer must complete before closing. A broker experienced in franchise sales will work closely with the franchisor to ensure everything stays on track.

Trying to sell a franchise without early franchisor involvement is a recipe for a killed deal at the finish line.

Putting It Together: The Timeline

The key insight is that different professionals lead at different stages. Overlap creates confusion; gaps create risk. A good broker coordinates this handoff, ensuring everyone knows when they're on point and when they're in a supporting role.

The Bottom Line

Selling a business is a team effort, but it's not a democracy. You need professionals with relevant experience, clear roles, and the judgment to know when to speak up and when to defer. Coordination failures and reliance on those lacking real world transaction experience are what kill most deals that should have closed.

Choose your team carefully. Set expectations early. And make sure everyone is working toward the same goal: a closed transaction that works for you.