Start With What It Would Bring
Most owners who contact us are not putting up a sign next week. They want a number first. Would a sale cover retirement? Pay off a partner? Fund the next venture? Or is the company worth more to you if you keep running it?
A short call answers that. The broker walks through a likely range, what lifts it and what drags it down, and how long a sale would take from where you are now. What you do with that is up to you.
Companies We Hear From Around the Perimeter
Our owners run companies with real history, usually $1 million or more in yearly revenue. Metro Atlanta's mix shows up in who calls.
Freight brokers working the lanes out of the I-75 and I-85 corridors, HVAC contractors who live through every August, staffing firms, cleaning companies with long contracts, child care centers and veterinary clinics all get in touch.
The film business brings equipment rental houses, and the payments industry here brings agencies that sell processing to merchants. Our industries served section takes each one in turn.
Plenty of owners are outside the city limits too, in Marietta, Alpharetta, Sandy Springs, Kennesaw and Lawrenceville. The nearby cities pages cover how sales tend to go in each.
Profit Sets the Price, Not Revenue
A buyer does not pay for sales. A buyer pays for profit that can be proven, and for how many years of that profit the deal is worth. Revenue matters only for what it leaves behind.
For most companies selling for under about $2 million, the measure is seller's discretionary earnings, or SDE: profit plus what the business spends on you as the owner.
Bigger companies with a manager in place are usually measured on EBITDA. That figure is then multiplied. Many established companies sell for something like two to three times yearly cash flow.
Where you land in that range comes down to a few plain things:
- Tax returns that agree with your books
- People who can run a normal week without you
- No handful of customers carrying most of the revenue
- A lease and contracts a new owner can step into
Our page on business valuation before you sell goes deeper, including the adjustments buyers make to your numbers.
Where Atlanta Buyers Get Their Money
Many buyers for companies in this size range borrow through the SBA 7(a) program, which can lend up to $5 million. That brings a lender into your deal, with its own appraisal of the business and its own list of documents.
Larger companies draw private equity groups and strategic buyers, often from well outside Georgia.
A company worth several million can have serious interest from buyers a few states away. Read selling to an SBA financed buyer for what lenders ask of the seller.
Georgia Paperwork That Rides Along
Every sale here carries state and local filings. Georgia lets a buyer hold back part of your price until you show your sales and withholding taxes are paid, so your tax clearance can decide how much cash you leave the closing table with.
Then come the unemployment account, the county personal property return, the City of Atlanta's closing form, and sometimes an alcohol license. The tax and filings guides explain each one without the legal language.
After You Send the Form
A broker reads what you sent and calls you. The first conversation is about value and timing, not paperwork. If you want to go further later, the broker will explain how a confidential sale is run from start to close.
If you would rather talk now, call (404) 555-0139 on a weekday. Or fill in the short form and keep your phone nearby.