Selling an owner-operated business in the United States.

Who this is for

Owners and shareholders of established, profitable US businesses where the owner is still close to the work: trades and home services, distribution, light manufacturing, professional and healthcare practices, B2B services and multi-location consumer businesses. Typically the company has several years of tax returns behind it, steady earnings, and an owner who is thinking about a sale in the next one to three years.

It is also for owners who have not decided yet. A written valuation and a plain list of what a buyer will question is useful whether you sell next year or in five.

What the service covers

• Valuation. A written range built from seller's discretionary earnings (SDE) times a multiple, then tested two ways: can a buyer financing the deal service the debt out of the cash flow with room to spare, and what floor do the assets set on their own. You get the range and the reasoning, not a single number.
• Sale preparation. Normalizing earnings, documenting every add-back, reviewing contracts, leases and staff arrangements, and building the file a buyer and a lender will ask for before anyone sees the business.
• Buyer search and qualification. An anonymized profile goes only to buyers who have signed a non-disclosure agreement and shown they can fund the deal. Your name is not shared until you agree.
• Deal negotiation. Letter of intent, structure, seller financing, earn-outs and working capital, then diligence and closing alongside your own attorney and CPA.

In Florida, California, Georgia and Arizona, state real estate licensing law can reach marketing a business to buyers and negotiating its sale. In those four states our work is valuation, exit readiness, sale preparation and deal structuring advice. Marketing the business, introducing buyers and negotiating the sale are run alongside a broker licensed in that state, and we work with them.

Who buys businesses in this range

Individual operators using SBA 7(a) financing

Often the deepest pool for businesses up to the low millions. An SBA 7(a) loan is made by a bank and partly guaranteed by the US Small Business Administration, up to a maximum of USD 5 million. The lender underwrites the business as closely as the buyer, so documented earnings matter more than a good story.

Search funds and ETA buyers

Entrepreneurship-through-acquisition buyers, often backed by a group of investors, looking for a stable business with recurring customers and a team that can run without the founder.

Private-equity add-ons

Platforms that already own a company in your sector and buy smaller ones to add customers, staff and coverage.

Strategic acquirers

Competitors and adjacent operators. They can often pay the most and carry the greatest confidentiality risk, which is why qualification comes before any name is shared.

How the process runs

1. Conversation. A confidential discussion of the business, the numbers and what you want from a sale.
2. Valuation. We normalize earnings from tax returns, bank statements and payroll, and give you a written range with the soft points stated plainly.
3. Preparation. We fix what can be fixed before buyers look: records, contracts, key staff, the lease.
4. Buyer search and qualification. NDA, identity and proof of funds first, including lender pre-qualification where the buyer is borrowing.
5. Negotiation and closing. Letter of intent, diligence and closing, managed to a timetable your attorney and CPA can hold to.

Every engagement is agreed in writing and signed before any work begins. The first conversation is confidential and carries no cost or obligation.

Where we work

New York

Washington, DC region

Texas

North Carolina

Tennessee

Florida

Georgia

California

Arizona

Who you deal with

Joseph Coello built and sold businesses in New York before founding Coello Advisory. He is based in New York and Dubai, works with owners in the United States and the UAE, and runs each engagement personally. More on his background is on the about page.

Where a sale includes real property, or a lease that has to be assigned or renegotiated, that part is handled by a real estate professional who holds the right state license, working alongside us. The same applies to any part of a transaction that needs a securities professional.