You can sell a small business without a broker, and for many owners it is the right call. A broker markets the business, screens buyers, and runs the deal for a commission that usually lands around 10% of the sale price. Whether that is worth it depends on your deal size, your time, and one thing you should settle before anything else: what your business is actually worth. This page covers the real math on brokers, the steps to run a sale yourself, and the single factor that sets your price.
First, know your number
You cannot judge a broker's fee, weigh an offer, or decide whether to sell on your own until you know what the business is worth. Value is a multiple of seller's discretionary earnings (SDE): your profit plus your own pay, benefits, and add-backs. Owner-operated businesses commonly sell in the low single digits of SDE, and revenue is a weak guide, because two businesses at the same revenue can be worth very different amounts. Get that number first. What a business sells for walks through the method, and the calculator gives you a figure from your own earnings.
What a broker's commission actually buys
Business broker commissions on small deals commonly run 8% to 12%, with around 10% the usual quote, sliding toward 5% or 6% on deals above a few million dollars. Many brokers also set a minimum fee, often $50,000 to $150,000 regardless of sale price, and some charge a retainer of $5,000 to $25,000 or monthly marketing fees. On a $300,000 sale, 10% is $30,000 or more. On a $500,000 sale, it is $50,000. For a smaller business, that minimum fee can swallow a large share of the price.
For that fee, a broker gives you real things: access to a database of buyers, confidential marketing, screening so you are not handing your financials to tire-kickers, and someone to manage the deal and negotiate. Those are worth paying for in the right situation.
Here is the part brokers rarely lead with. A listing is not a guarantee of a sale. Depending on the source, only about 15% to 30% of small businesses listed with brokers actually sell. So the fee buys effort and access, not an outcome. Decide based on your deal size and your appetite for running a process, not on the fear that you cannot do it without them.
How to sell your business yourself, step by step
Running the sale yourself is a real process, not a listing you post and forget. The path most owners follow:
- Get your number. Value the business on its SDE so you can price it and judge offers.
- Assemble a small team. Even without a broker, you want a transaction attorney and a CPA. They cost far less than a commission.
- Prepare the business and clean the financials. Ideally a year ahead, so the numbers a buyer sees are tidy and defensible.
- Write the selling document. A short confidential summary of the business, its numbers, and why it is a good buy. Outsourced, these run a few hundred to a few thousand dollars; you can also write your own.
- Market it confidentially. List it blind (no name), require a signed non-disclosure agreement before revealing details, then share the summary. Online marketplaces put it in front of active buyers.
- Screen buyers. Ask for proof of funds and gauge seriousness before spending time.
- Sign a letter of intent. It sets price and broad terms and is usually not legally binding, but it moves you to the next stage.
- Pass due diligence. The buyer verifies your numbers and records. Clean books pay off here.
- Sign the definitive agreement. Price, any seller financing, a transition or training period, a non-compete, and any earnout.
- Close and transition. Your attorney and escrow handle the mechanics, then you hand over.
Plan for time: a sale often takes somewhere between a few months and a year, with one to two years of preparation beforehand and a transition period after closing.
The one thing that sets your price: can the buyer run it without you?
Whether you use a broker or not, the biggest driver of your price is how much the business depends on you. A buyer cannot buy you. If the business only works because you are in it every day, the price falls, because the buyer is taking on your job, not just your business. If it runs on systems and a team, the price rises. No broker does this work for you. Reducing your own indispensability, in the year before you sell, is the surest way to raise the number.
Price it before you decide anything. A grounded, SDE-based figure tells you whether a broker's fee is worth it, whether an offer is fair, and what to fix before you list. The calculator gets you there from your own numbers.
So, do you need a broker?
A fair rule of thumb from the math above: the smaller and simpler the business, or the closer you already are to a likely buyer (an employee, a competitor, a family member), the more a do-it-yourself sale makes sense. The larger and more complex the business, or the further you are from finding a buyer on your own, the more a broker's access and deal management earn their fee. Either way, the first move is the same: know what your business is worth, then decide who, if anyone, you need to sell it.