So let me take you back to a humid Tuesday morning — the kind where your shirt sticks to your back before you’ve had your first sip of coffee. I was staring at the same spreadsheet I’d been tweaking for days, half-hypnotized, half-horrified. And it hit me like a freight train in slow motion: It’s time to sell the company.
Yeah, that company. The one I built from scratch with a busted laptop, too much coffee, and enough trial-and-error to qualify as a psychological experiment. It was my baby, my burden, and, increasingly, my burnout.
What follows is not some soulless MBA checklist. This is the real-deal, gritted-teeth, reggae-on-repeat journey I took to let go of a business I loved — and do it without selling my soul or ending up in a fetal position on my office floor (okay, just once… but that’s a story for another time).
Step 1: Get Real With Yourself — Like, Brutally Real
Before I even talked to a broker or whispered a word to my team, I had to stare down the existential beast in the mirror.
Why was I selling? Burnout? Boredom? A desire to go live on a beach in Jamaica and write a philosophy book nobody asked for?
(Answer: All of the above.)
But here’s the truth — you’ve got to name your “why” or you’ll get knocked around in this process like a leaf in a hurricane. I journaled. I meditated. I even talked to my plants. You don’t need to go full Bob Marley-zen like I did, but take the time to figure it out. You’ll need that clarity when the emotional sucker punches start flying.
Step 2: Get Your House in Order (a.k.a. Clean Up Your Mess)
You ever try to sell your car with fast food wrappers still in the back seat? Yeah — don’t be that person with your business.
I started digging into my financials and found things I hadn’t looked at since the Obama administration. Subscription I forgot to cancel? Check. Vendor overcharging me for years? Double check. Some revenue “estimates” that were, let’s say, optimistically creative? Yeah… that too.
So I rolled up my sleeves, put on some dub, and did the work:
Cleaned up my books with my CPA.
Documented key systems and processes.
Put contracts, leases, and licenses in a neat little Dropbox folder.
And yep, finally canceled that $89/month software I hadn’t used since 2018.
If a buyer is going to look under the hood, don’t let them find a raccoon living in the engine, know what I mean?
Step 3: Find Your Tribe (Because Going Solo is for Suckers)
Next up? I brought in the pros. Look, I thought I could DIY this sale at first. I mean, I sold $500K worth of product last year — how hard could this be?
Spoiler alert: hard. Like “suddenly you’re on a Zoom call with a private equity guy who talks like a Bond villain” hard.
So I hired a business broker. A good one. (Sidenote: interview at least three and trust your gut — mine wore Birkenstocks to our first meeting and I weirdly respected it.)
The broker:
Helped me value the company realistically (not emotionally).
Created a killer info packet for buyers.
Acted as a buffer so I didn’t have to talk money like a used car salesman.
And perhaps most importantly — kept me from throwing in the towel when I got ghosted by that “serious” buyer from Boston.
Step 4: Keep It Hush-Hush (Until It’s Time)
Listen, loose lips sink ships — especially in the business world. I kept things very under wraps.
Only my lawyer, my accountant, and my broker knew in the beginning. Not even my top managers had a clue. I didn’t want rumors flying and morale tanking before I even had an offer.
When it was time to tell the team, I sat everyone down, face to face. I told them the truth: I was proud, I was tired, and I wanted them to be part of something bigger moving forward.
There were tears. There were hugs. And then… there was cake. Always bring cake.
Step 5: Negotiate Like a Rasta with a Rolex
Selling your company is not a garage sale. Don’t slap a price tag on it and hope for the best. This is a dance — and you’ve got to know your worth.
We had three serious offers. One lowballed. One overpromised and underdelivered. And one — the one we chose — came in slightly under our asking price but had the smoothest transition plan and the best vibes.
Yup. Vibes matter.
I negotiated hard, but fair. We tossed in an earn-out clause, a 90-day training period, and a champagne clause (okay, not really — but I did toast with champagne when we closed).
Step 6: Let Go — Gently, But Fully
The last week before the handoff, I stood in my empty office and ran my hand along the dent in the wall where I once threw a stapler during a particularly passionate sales call.
Letting go is weird. It’s like breaking up with someone you still love, but who you know you can’t build the future with.
But guess what?
It felt right.
Now? I’m sipping iced coffee on a porch somewhere warm, running a small advisory biz, and trying to figure out TikTok. (Don’t judge.)
Key Takeaways (a.k.a. The TL;DR for the Skimmers)
Get honest about why you’re selling — don’t just chase the money.
Clean up your books and documents so buyers don’t get scared off.
Hire a solid business broker — it’s like having a tour guide through a jungle.
Keep it quiet at first, then communicate with your team with heart.
Negotiate smart — don’t settle, but don’t get greedy either.
Let go fully — so you can move on to whatever’s next with peace.
Selling your company isn’t just a business decision. It’s a personal, emotional, spiritual odyssey, man. And if you do it right, it can be a beautiful chapter — not a tragic ending.
You don’t need to be rich or ruthless to pull it off.
You just need to be real.
Now go light some incense or pop a bottle. You earned it.
Peace, profits, and perspective ✌️
— A guy who lived it, loved it, and let it go