Preparing to sell an owner-operated business in Atlanta.

The Atlanta business mix

• Logistics and freight: trucking, freight brokerage, third-party logistics, warehousing and courier firms around Hartsfield-Jackson and along I-75, I-85 and I-20.
• Payments and technology services: Atlanta is home to several of the largest US payment processors, and around them sit independent sales organizations, payment software resellers, IT managed service providers and B2B software firms.
• Film and production services: equipment rental, set construction, catering, transport and post-production firms that serve the studios across the metro area.
• Franchise and multi-unit operators: several national franchise brands are headquartered here, and local operators hold groups of restaurant, fitness and service units.
• Home and building services: HVAC, plumbing, roofing, electrical and pest control companies across Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb and Gwinnett counties.
• Health and personal services: dental, veterinary, physical therapy, home care and med spas.

Who buys Atlanta businesses

Individual operators using SBA 7(a) financing

Corporate managers and relocated professionals financing with an SBA 7(a) loan, which can go up to 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, including searchers from the city's business schools, looking for recurring revenue and a team that can run without the founder.

Private-equity add-ons and strategic acquirers

Platforms in logistics, home services, healthcare and payments buying Georgia coverage, and regional competitors from Charlotte, Nashville, Birmingham and Florida entering the Atlanta market.

Multi-unit franchisees

Existing franchisees adding units in a brand they already run. The franchisor usually has to approve the buyer, so its transfer rules shape the timetable.

What Atlanta sellers typically get wrong

• Gross freight revenue presented as revenue. In freight brokerage and logistics, buyers price on net revenue after carrier costs, not on gross billings. Show both, by customer, for three years.
• Franchise transfer terms read too late. Transfer fees, training requirements, remodel obligations and the franchisor's right to approve or match an offer are all in the franchise agreement. Read it before setting a price expectation.
• One studio, one shipper, one client. Production services and logistics firms often depend on a few large accounts. Show the history and expect structure if the concentration cannot be reduced.
• Cash and mixed accounts. Personal spending through the company and unrecorded cash reduce what a lender will finance. Separate them a year before going to market.
• The lease. Most owner-operated sales assign a lease. In Georgia, where a sale involves a lease or any other interest in property, the sale as a whole runs through a broker licensed in Georgia from the start. Check the lease term and assignment clause early, because it decides how the sale is set up.

Before you go to market

Twelve to twenty-four months of preparation changes the result more than any negotiation does. For an Atlanta business that usually means three things. First, clean books with business and personal spending separated, so every add-back can be shown. Second, written agreements with key customers, carriers and suppliers, so a buyer is not relying on your handshake. Third, a manager who can run the day without you. Buyers pay for a business they can step into and discount one that only works with the founder in the room.

How we value an Atlanta business

We start from seller's discretionary earnings, documented line by line, and apply a multiple that reflects size, customer concentration, recurring revenue and how much the business depends on you. The debt-service test asks whether a buyer financing the purchase could pay the loan from the cash flow with room to spare. The asset floor shows what trucks, equipment, inventory and receivables support on their own. You get a range and the reasoning.

How the process runs

1. Conversation. A confidential discussion of the business, the numbers and your timing. No cost, no obligation.
2. Valuation and preparation. A written range from tax returns, bank statements and payroll, and a list of what to fix before buyers look.
3. Marketing, buyer introductions and negotiation. In Georgia, these steps are run alongside a broker licensed in Georgia, and we work with them. We prepare the valuation, the file and the figures the process relies on.
4. Deal structuring advice and closing. Advice to you on structure, seller financing, earn-outs and working capital, with diligence and closing handled alongside your attorney and CPA.

Every engagement is agreed in writing and signed before any work begins. The first conversation is confidential and carries no cost or obligation. See the United States overview, or our pages on Charlotte and Nashville.