The number one reason most founders don't sell comes down to the disparity between their expectations and the markets' realities. Understanding what you need from the transaction, finding out how that lines up with the way buyers will value your business, and being clear on your true bottom lines and the right structure can close or eliminate the gap.

If you're selling your company, or even taking in capital, there's a few things to expect from your buyer, and they're predictable behaviors based on buyer type. Prepare for them, and you'll be ready to respond appropriately, but fail to anticipate them and you might overreact and blow up your deal. Here's a few tips...

Do you want to retire? Do you want to do something else? Change your role? Are you burned out? Getting clear on this will help to navigate through challenges in every facet of your capital event!

If you're a founder going into a sale or financing transaction without professional advice, it's important to understand that your buyer is probably a full-time predator (they do this every day) and you are part-time prey (you'll probably only do this 1x). You need protection - a professional shield and maybe even an army on your side.

Guest Podcast by John Lee Dumas on EOFire

In case you missed it, we were featured on Entrepreneurs on Fire last week. EOF is John Lee Dumas' award winning podcast and a must listen for all founders! The topic was full-time predators (buyers) and part-time prey (sellers). We covered best practices and the Six Secrets to every successful sale. Here's a brief overview.

Lots of founders reached out last week after with discussed whether it's too late to sell their companies. A couple of key take aways emerged; 1) Still plenty of $ to do deals, 2) A-tier company deals are still moving forward, 3) Financing is still available for businesses with strong fundamentals.

If you're a founder or deal professional involved in a buyout or recap transaction, there will be a point in marking up documents and exchanging information where it might seem like your buyer is your enemy. Take a step back, check in with your WHY and the judgement of your advisors, and appreciate the nuance of negotiating versus battling.

EBITDA (pronounced E-BIT-DUH)… Here's a quick primer on understanding why this arcane accounting terms captures the transferrable economics of a business.

If you're a founder in the process of selling your successful company and you also have a close peer group of fellow entrepreneurs like Vistage Worldwide, Inc. or YPO, take advantage of the groups' expertise AND be sure to hire the right advisor(s). The combination, in our experience, is a great formula for a terrific outcome. Here's a quick summary..

Why don't more businesses sell to employees? For founders of some businesses, it might be the best path to answering the WHY in selling all or part of their company to their most valued stakeholders, and there may even be tax advantages. Here's a quick overview of why it doesn't happen more often, and why founders might want to give it more consideration.

This is much more than semantics or terms of art – some are necessary, and others are completely optional or altogether wrong for your plans.

Ever heard of Retrade?

Many founders, whether other transactional advisors are involved or not, rely on their generalist corporate counsel to represent them in the sale of their business. Here's a few reason that familiarity and cost savings in the short run may cost millions of $ in the long run.

Many founders, whether other transactional advisors are involved or not, rely on their generalist corporate counsel to represent them in the sale of their business. Here's a few reason that familiarity and cost savings in the short run may cost millions of $ in the long run.

If you're a founder contemplating the sale of your business, or you just want to better understand the process, the term "Adjusted EBITDA" will come up. A lot. And while the trip from Net Income to EBITDA is basic accounting arithmetic, get to that "Adjusted" number is a bit more art than science...here's a few tips.

One of our other takeaways from @SXSW is that small, committed groups of people and organizations make all the difference in social change, technology, entertainment, business, and more broadly in the World. If you're a founder and a much larger acquirer is using high-priced and arrogant advisors to steamroll you from LOI through diligence, remember that greatly rarely comes from large organizations - know your value and lean on your team to get full value and protect your legacy.

Buyers of business like yours pay more for specific things, including profit margin, consistency, and growth, but there's more to it than just nailing those points. Here's a few tips that will be worth a lot of $$ when it's time for you to sell your company.

If you're selling your business and your prospective buyer is asking for more information than they need to provide you with an LOI and a sense of valuation, they may be signalling what it's like to work with them longer term.

If you're a founder selling your business, and your buyer wants to have a Quality of Earnings analysis performed on your financials, strap in and prepare yourself for an invasive and potentially frustrating process. To navigate it well and keep your deal on track, here's a few key tips.