Four Significant Issues You Need to Consider When Selling Your Business

By Michael D. Rubin, CEO & Founder · Updated September 2026 · 710 words

Four issues decide whether a sale goes smoothly: trying to run the company and the sale at the same time, getting emotionally fixed on one price, losing months to buyers who were never going to close, and failing to line up the other owners. None of them is about the business itself. They are about how the owner manages the process, which is why they catch capable operators by surprise.

Owners selling for the first time tend to underestimate all four. Each can be handled with a decision made before the company goes to market.

Doing everything yourself

Founders are usually involved in every decision, and that habit is hard to break. A sale adds what amounts to a second job: preparing the package, answering buyers, attending meetings and responding to due diligence requests, often dozens of them in a week. Something gives, and it is usually the business.

Decide in advance who runs daily operations while you are occupied, and give that person real authority. Let your advisor handle buyer traffic and the paperwork. Our answer on selling without distracting the management team explains how to keep key people focused and informed only as much as they need to be.

Fixing on one number

Many owners settle on a price early, sometimes years before selling, and then judge every offer against it. That creates two problems. Offers below the number get rejected even when they are strong, and offers above it get accepted even when the terms are poor.

Price is one term among several. Cash at closing, an earnout (part of the price paid later only if the business hits targets), a seller note, the working capital left in the business and your role after the sale all change what you actually keep. Before going to market, write down three things: the price you are aiming for, the lowest total you would accept, and the terms that matter most to you. A third party negotiating on your behalf keeps emotion out of the room and gives you time to think before answering.

Spending time on buyers who will not close

Every sale attracts curious competitors, people exploring ownership for the first time and buyers with no financing. Each meeting with one of them costs you time and risks exposing the sale. The answer is screening before access: no detailed information until a buyer has signed a confidentiality agreement and shown, through a financial profile, that they can fund the purchase. This is built into the ten-step process, so the owner meets only buyers who have passed it.

Time matters for a second reason. The longer a company is on the market, the more people know it is for sale and the more buyers wonder why nobody has bought it. A focused process with several qualified buyers moving at the same pace protects both your confidentiality and your price. When one buyer stalls, the others keep the pressure on, and you are never forced to wait on a single party who controls the calendar.

Bringing the other owners along

If you have partners, family shareholders or outside investors, their approval may be required by your company agreement, and their expectations may differ from yours. Surprises between owners late in a sale are among the fastest ways to lose a buyer. Settle these points with your transaction attorney before the first buyer call:

• What vote the company documents require to approve a sale.
• Whether drag-along rights exist, which let majority owners require minority owners to sell on the same terms.
• Who has authority to negotiate and sign.
• The target price, the floor and the terms each owner cares about.
• Each owner's plans after closing: staying, leaving or rolling over equity.

Where MDR & Associates fits

The firm takes on the marketing, buyer screening and coordination so you keep running the company. Where the market allows, it negotiates multiple letters of intent at the same time, and a principal is present in every negotiation. Every offer is presented to you in person, and the firm can walk your co-owners through the same comparison so everyone decides with the same facts. More on sell-side representation. For a first view of value to anchor the conversation between owners, request a free valuation snapshot.

Where this fitsSell your business in Texas →

Questions owners ask next

What happens if a minority shareholder objects to the sale?

It depends on your company agreement and state law, so your transaction attorney should review it before you go to market. Some agreements let the majority require others to sell on equal terms. Where disputes over price are likely, an independent valuation or fairness opinion can help.

How much of my time will the sale actually take?

It comes in waves. Preparation and the owner meetings take focused hours, and due diligence is the heaviest stretch, when buyers and their advisors send detailed requests. With an advisor handling buyer traffic, most owners keep running the business day to day throughout.