STEADY LEGACYBusiness Exits

How a sale works

There isn't one way to sell a trade business. There are four common ones, and the right one depends on what you need retirement to look like — a clean break, a monthly check, or a few more years of turning wrenches on your own terms.

Here they are in plain English, including the parts that aren't in our favor. If a buyer only ever shows you one structure, it's because that one is best for the buyer.

Retiring shop owner shaking hands with the next owner inside a garage service bay
Owner and his wife going over the company's numbers at the kitchen table
Film coming soonSTEADY LEGACY

Film

What is my business worth?

We walk through how trade and service companies are actually valued — owner's earnings, equipment, service agreements, and how much of the work still depends on you.

We're filming this one now. In the meantime, everything it covers is written out on this site — or you can just call and ask.

Option 1

Full cash sale

We pay the agreed price at closing, funded by us and our lending partners. You hand over the keys and you're done.

What's good about it

  • All of your money at closing, no risk on future performance
  • Cleanest break — usually a short 30-day handoff
  • Simplest paperwork of any structure

The trade-offs

  • The full gain lands in one tax year, which often means a bigger tax bill
  • Cash offers are typically a little lower than financed ones
  • No ongoing income from the business afterward

Who it fits: Owners who want to be finished, have savings or a pension already, and value certainty over total price.

Option 2

Seller-financed sale

You receive a down payment at closing and the balance in monthly payments with interest over an agreed term — usually five to ten years.

What's good about it

  • A steady monthly check in retirement instead of one lump sum
  • Interest on the balance means a higher total price than cash
  • Spreading the gain over years is often lighter after tax (your CPA confirms)

The trade-offs

  • You're paid over time, so the business has to keep running well
  • Requires trust in the buyer — worth checking who we are
  • You'll want your attorney to paper the note and security properly

Who it fits: Owners whose retirement plan is monthly income, and who want the highest realistic total price.

Option 3

Majority sale with a transition period

We buy most of the company now, you keep a minority piece and stay on part-time — a few days a week — while customers and crew get used to the change.

What's good about it

  • Cash now while keeping some upside as the business grows
  • You slow down gradually instead of stopping cold
  • Customers and long-time employees see continuity from you

The trade-offs

  • You're not fully out yet — some obligations continue
  • Decisions are shared, so you're no longer the only vote
  • The remaining piece is paid out later, not at closing

Who it fits: Owners who still enjoy the work but want the weight of ownership and payroll off their shoulders.

Option 4

Partnership / earn-out

A base price at closing plus additional payments tied to how the business performs over the next one to three years.

What's good about it

  • Highest ceiling if the company keeps growing
  • Recognizes value you know is there but can't yet prove on paper
  • Can bridge a gap when we see the numbers differently

The trade-offs

  • Part of your price depends on future results
  • Needs clear, written measurements to be fair
  • Usually means staying involved during the earn-out

Who it fits: Owners with a strong growth story, a backlog, or a recent expansion the historical numbers don't reflect yet.

A retirement paycheck

A seller-financed sale can pay you monthly for a decade — often more after tax than a lump sum ever would, because the gain is spread over years instead of stacked into one, and because you're paid interest a cash buyer never owes you.

Practically, it looks like this: a down payment at closing, then a fixed deposit that shows up the same day every month for the length of the note, secured by the business itself. Same rhythm as a paycheck, without the 5 a.m. call about a burst line.

The honest trade-off: you're paid over time, so the company has to keep running well and you have to trust the person running it. Ask us hard questions about that — it's the right thing to press on.

Two tradesmen agreeing on a seller-financed sale in a garage bay
Film coming soonSTEADY LEGACY

Film

A retirement paycheck instead of one big check

How a seller-financed sale pays you monthly, with interest, over a set term — and the honest trade-offs of getting paid over time.

We're filming this one now. In the meantime, everything it covers is written out on this site — or you can just call and ask.

A word on taxes

How a deal is structured usually matters as much to your net as the price itself — how the price is allocated between equipment, goodwill and the name, whether it's paid over years, and how depreciated trucks are treated all change what you actually keep.

We'll lay out the structure clearly, in writing, so your CPA and attorney can review it line by line before you decide anything. We don't give tax advice, and you shouldn't take it from a buyer.

Free worksheets on how the sale itself works

No cost, no obligation. Read them at the kitchen table before you talk to any buyer — including us.

What Buyers Actually Pay For

Plain English on how trade businesses get valued — earnings, recurring service, crew, reputation — and what gets discounted.

Seller-Financed Notes 101

How a down payment, interest rate, term and security work when the business pays you monthly — including the questions to bring to your attorney.

The Confidentiality Playbook

How to explore a sale without your crew, customers or competitors hearing about it before you're ready to tell them yourself.

Free Business Evaluation Worksheet

The same handful of numbers we ask for first — revenue, owner pay, equipment, recurring work — laid out on one page so you can see what your company looks like to a buyer.

See all owner resources.

Not sure which one fits you?

That's exactly what the first conversation is for. Send us the basics and we'll come back with a straight answer.

Get my confidential business evaluation

Looking three to five years out? Modernize before you exit — it's the surest way to raise the number when the day comes.