A Price Comes Before a Plan
Owners usually start asking for one of a few reasons. Retirement is getting close. A partner wants to cash out. A competitor or an investor called with an offer that sounded either too good or too low.
In each case the first question is the same: what is the company worth to someone else? Guess high and the sale drags on with no takers.
Guess low and the buyer pockets the difference. A broker who works with Hampton Roads companies can give you a realistic range and explain what moves it.
What Buyers Actually Pay For
Buyers pay for profit they can verify on tax returns and bank statements. Revenue gets their attention, but the price follows the earnings.
For a company where the owner works full time, brokers usually measure seller's discretionary earnings. That is net profit with the owner's salary, benefits and personal expenses added back.
Larger companies with a management team are usually priced on EBITDA, which treats every salary, including a replacement for the owner, as a real cost.
Many established companies sell for about two to three times their yearly cash flow. Risk decides where in that range yours falls: how much depends on you, how spread out the customers are, and how clean the books are.
Our guide on recasting your profit and loss statement shows how brokers rebuild the numbers.
The Virginia Beach Economy Shapes Your Buyer Pool
Few local economies lean on the military the way this one does. Naval Air Station Oceana and the base at Little Creek and Fort Story support contractors, repair shops, movers and service firms across the city.
Tourism along the Oceanfront brings in hotels, restaurants and rental companies, and their sales rise and fall with the seasons. Construction, health care, marine trades and professional services fill in the rest.
That mix tells a broker where buyers may come from. A defense firm may draw interest from a larger contractor in Norfolk or Northern Virginia.
A restaurant often sells to someone who already runs one nearby. The sectors and trades pages cover what buyers check first in each field.
Signs Your Company Is Ready to Sell
- Tax returns, financial statements and bank deposits that match
- A team that can get through a normal week without you
- No single customer carrying most of the sales
- A lease with years remaining, or a building you own outright
- Licenses, contracts and insurance a new owner can keep or replace
Almost no company checks every box. A broker can tell you which gaps buyers care about and which ones they overlook, and whether a year of cleanup would pay off.
If you also own your building, read keeping your building when you sell the business before you set a price on either one.
Virginia Paperwork Is Part of Every Sale
A sale here involves Virginia Tax, the Virginia Employment Commission, the State Corporation Commission and the city Commissioner of the Revenue. Restaurants and bars also deal with Virginia ABC.
The closing obligations pages explain sales tax successor liability, the city business license, the business property return, unemployment tax accounts, ABC licenses and closing out your entity.
What Happens After You Reach Out
A broker reviews what you sent and calls, usually within one business day. The first conversation covers a likely price range, your timing and what you want out of a sale. Nothing about your company goes to a buyer unless you approve it.
To talk first, call (757) 555-0161 on a weekday, or use the short form at the top of this page.