Keeping details minimal here as I’m in the very early stages of considering whether this is even something I want to do.
I’ve been in the industry for over a decade. Owned the business as a sole prop for 6 years and as an LLC for 5. It’s just me running it - occasionally I hire freelancers when I have too much work. No marketing, advertising, or intentional growth. Everything has grown organically from referrals. I’ve intentionally capped growth because I have zero interest in hiring permanent employees.
Income has been stable for the last 5 years including the pandemic and whatever weird economy we’re in right now. Gross net income ranges from 350-450k per year. Probably going to do close to 500k this year. Lowest of the last five was my first year doing it full time at 250k. It’s all digital contract work so profit margins are around 85-90 percent.
A few questions:
-
As a single owner - is it even viable to consider trying to sell the business with no employee structure?
-
Where would I start looking to get more info or should I contact a brokerage who sells businesses?
-
What’s a reasonable measure to guess sale value? Should I be using any multiples?
-
Anybody here with any experience with selling a business and what it felt like to walk away from something you’ve built for so long?
I’ve done some googling for basic info, but wanted to ask some real people as part of my research. Thanks in advance for any info!
You must log in or register to comment.
Your gross net income?
What would you sell? It sounds like you do freelance work fairly successfully, are you going to sell yourself?
Realized that error after I posted 🤦🏻♂️Just gross income.
The company is branded as a larger company than a single individual. Could easily be taken over by someone who has a similar skill set and grown much bigger.
You’re going to have a hell of a time selling it as a solo person with no employees. Even if you were to somehow find a superstar, you have all of your institutional knowledge in your head. Good margin, but if you’ve been stable for a few years without growth, that could be a red flag.
All this said, your best bet may be to sell to a competitor if you can. They may have know-how and like your client list.
No idea on valuation because of the above. Way too subjective.
I sold my company earlier this year. It’s a mixed bag, but ultimately good. Getting some cash was nice. At the tail end of a short earn out now and should see a bit more next month after which I’ll likely leave altogether.