Start With a Number You Can Defend
Owners usually come to us with a figure in mind. Sometimes it came from a friend who sold, sometimes from a buyer who called out of the blue, sometimes from a rule of thumb heard at a trade show.
None of those is a price. A price is what a qualified buyer will pay after reading your financials, visiting the business and talking to their lender.
The estimate a broker gives you is built the same way buyers build theirs: from the earnings the company produces, adjusted for what a new owner would actually take home, and multiplied by a figure that reflects risk.
A buyer pays for the next five years of your company, not the last twenty.
What Pushes a Central Ohio Company's Price Up?
Buyers in this market are practical. They want proof that the profit will keep showing up after you hand over the keys. These things help:
- Books that match the tax returns without a long explanation
- Customers spread out, with no single one carrying the company
- A manager or lead who already runs the day to day
- Contracts, memberships or repeat orders instead of one off jobs
- A lease with years left, or real estate the buyer can also buy
Our page on what your company is worth explains SDE, EBITDA and the add backs that move the number.
Ohio Has Its Own Closing Checklist
Every state has paperwork. Ohio's has a few teeth. A buyer who doesn't hold back money for your unpaid sales tax or payroll withholding can end up owing it, so buyers and their lenders ask for proof early.
Workers' comp and unemployment accounts can follow the business to the new owner, along with their claims history. Columbus collects its own income tax, and the city account needs a final return.
We wrote a plain guide to each of these in our seller paperwork section, starting with Ohio sales tax successor liability.
Who Buys Companies Around Columbus?
More people than most owners expect. Individual buyers using SBA loans of up to $5 million look for steady service and trade companies. Competitors buy to pick up crews, customers or a new part of town.
Private equity groups look for platform companies and add ons. Out of state buyers watch Central Ohio because of its steady job growth and the large employers moving in.
Each group pays for different things. A broker who knows which ones are active in your industry can bring the right ones to the table at the same time.
Is My Company Big Enough for a Broker?
Our partner works mostly with companies doing about $1 million or more in yearly sales. Below that, the cost of a full brokered sale often eats too much of the gain.
Above it, running a quiet, competitive process instead of taking the first offer can easily be worth more than a year of profit.
Brokers are usually paid a success fee at closing. BizQuest puts the common rate near 10% on deals of $1 million or less, with larger deals on a sliding scale. You can read how the desk works before you send anything.
The Industries We Hear From Most
Staffing agencies, child care centers, car washes, home health agencies, funeral homes, print and sign shops, gyms and cabinet shops each have their own page further down.
If yours isn't listed, the basics still apply. We also cover the suburbs, from Dublin and Westerville to Hilliard and Grove City.
When you're ready, use the value form at the top of this page or call (614) 555-0148. What you send stays private, and asking doesn't commit you to selling.