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The ContractorExit blog
Plain, practical advice on buying and selling trade businesses in the United States - valuation, the sale process, the legal steps and everything in between.
Why Business Sales Fall Through: The 7 Deal Killers
Why do business sales fall through? Diligence surprises, valuation gaps, financing collapse, lease assignment fights and more, plus how to prevent each one.
ContractorExit Editorial Team 路 18 Sep 2026 路 9 min read
How to Sell a Business Confidentially (Without Employees or Customers Finding Out)
How to sell a business confidentially: blind listings, NDAs before financials, and a staged plan for what to tell employees and customers, and when.
16 Sep 2026 路 9 min read
Selling a Business With Bad Financial Records: How to Fix It Before You List
Unreported cash income is worth zero to a buyer and messy books sink deals. What bad records cost you, and the cleanup plan that recovers the multiple.
14 Sep 2026 路 10 min read
Business Broker Fees: What Brokers Charge and What You Get
Business broker fees run 8% to 12% of the sale price on Main Street deals, with a Lehman-style formula above $1 million - here's what that commission buys.
11 Sep 2026 路 9 min read
How to Sell a Business Without a Broker
Skipping a broker saves 8-12% of the sale price but shifts five jobs onto you: valuing, marketing, negotiating, diligence and closing the sale yourself.
9 Sep 2026 路 9 min read
How Long Does It Take to Sell a Business?
Most businesses take 6 to 12 months from listing to close. What BizBuySell and IBBA Market Pulse data show about time on market and what speeds up a sale.
7 Sep 2026 路 8 min read
Owner Dependence: The Number One Thing Cutting Your Sale Price
Owner dependence is the biggest thing cutting your sale price - worth one to two full turns of SDE. How buyers test for it, and how to fix it before you list.
4 Sep 2026 路 9 min read
How to Prepare Your Business for Sale: The 12-24 Month Checklist
How to prepare a business for sale: the 12-24 month checklist covering management, clean books, contracts and customer diversification before you list.
2 Sep 2026 路 8 min read
How to Sell an Electrical Contracting Business
How to sell an electrical contracting business: the six-stage process, why the qualifier problem gets asked in the first call, and what decides your price.
31 Aug 2026 路 10 min read
How to Sell a Landscaping Business
How to sell a landscaping business: the six-stage process, why timing inside the year matters here more than in any trade, and what decides your price.
28 Aug 2026 路 11 min read
How to Sell an HVAC Business: Process, Buyers and Price
How to sell an HVAC business: the six-stage process, the three buyer types shopping right now, and the maintenance base and licensing that set the price.
26 Aug 2026 路 9 min read
How to Sell a Plumbing Business
How to sell a plumbing business: the six-stage process, where buyers come from, and the license, fleet and contract details that decide your price.
24 Aug 2026 路 8 min read
How to Sell a Blue Collar Business: The Complete Guide
How to sell a blue collar business: what it's worth, how to prepare, where buyers come from, how deals are structured, and how to close cleanly.
10 Jun 2026 路 12 min read
Selling your business: what actually happens, step by step
From first valuation to completion - the real timeline, who does what, and where deals usually slow down.
28 May 2026 路 8 min read
Why blind listings protect you (and your staff)
Selling quietly matters. Here's how a blind listing keeps your customers, crew and competitors out of it.
19 May 2026 路 4 min read
Getting your books sale-ready before you list
Clean numbers sell businesses faster and for more. The simple tidy-up that makes buyers comfortable.
28 Apr 2026 路 6 min read
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