Sell a Business
Selling a privately held business is the largest financial transaction most owners will ever make, and the one with the least room for error. A Neumann & Associates, LLC represents business owners across the East Coast through the entire sale: an independent valuation that establishes what the company is truly worth, confidential marketing to qualified buyers, and experienced deal management from the first conversation to closing.
The firm has maintained an A+ Better Business Bureau rating for more than 20 years in a row, has performed over 5,000 business valuations through its affiliations, and has helped hundreds of owners resolve the questions that decide a successful sale: what the business is worth, who the right buyer is, and how to reach closing without the sale ever becoming public knowledge.
We work with owners of privately held companies valued at $1 million and above, from manufacturing and contracting to distribution, healthcare and technology.
How We Sell Your Business
The success of a sale is decided by the skill applied to four things: determining your company’s value, preserving confidentiality, finding the best buyer and arranging a timely closing. Our process addresses each one in order:
- Independent business valuation. Every engagement starts with an independent third-party business valuation that determines the true market value of your company. You cannot negotiate well against a number you do not have, and buyers take a documented, independent valuation far more seriously than an asking price.
- Confidential Memorandum. We prepare a Confidential Memorandum that presents the vital information about your business professionally to potential buyers and investors, without revealing the identity of the company.
- Confidential marketing on two tracks. A generic, non-disclosing business profile reaches thousands of national and international buyers on key investor websites, while we proactively identify the right market participants through our proprietary CRM of more than one million data points and contact them directly by personal letter, email and phone.
- Buyer qualification under NDA. Every prospective buyer is qualified financially and signs a non-disclosure agreement before learning the name of your business. Employees, customers, suppliers and competitors never learn the business is for sale.
- Negotiation, due diligence and closing. We manage offers, deal structure, sell side due diligence and the path to a timely closing.
A step-by-step description of each stage is on our selling process page.
Confidentiality by Design
Your business is never exposed on a public marketplace. Buyers see a generic profile first, are qualified financially, and sign an NDA before any identifying detail is shared. This qualification process runs on both the buy side and the sell side, and it is the reason owners trust us with sales their own employees never hear about until the owner chooses to announce them.
Common questions about this are answered on how we keep a business sale confidential and in our article on why confidentiality is crucial when selling your business.
What Is Your Business Worth?
Every sale we manage is grounded in a valuation performed by an accredited, independent valuation firm. Your cash flow is recast from the past three years of tax returns to reflect the business’s true earning power, then compared against actual completed transactions in your industry. The result is a defensible fair market value, not an opinion, and it becomes the anchor for every negotiation that follows. Learn more about our business valuation services, or contact us for a free, confidential consultation.
Find out what your business is worth. The first step is a free, confidential consultation with a senior M&A advisor. No obligation, and your employees, customers and competitors never learn we spoke.
Request a Confidential Consultation or call (732) 872-6777Timeline and Fees
Selling a privately held business takes months, not weeks. The timeline is driven by preparation, buyer fit and due diligence, and the single biggest factor an owner controls is starting with clean, recast financials and a documented valuation. Owners who prepare before going to market consistently close faster and keep more of the negotiated price.
Most business brokers and M&A advisors work on a success fee: a percentage of the final sale price, paid only when your business actually sells. That alignment matters. We only succeed when you close at a price worth accepting.
Who We Work With
A Neumann & Associates, LLC maintains field offices along the East Coast and represents owner-operated companies across dozens of industries, including manufacturing, contracting and construction, and technology. You can browse every industry we work with on our industries we serve page, and every market we cover in our business brokers directory.
Frequently Asked Questions
Buyers first see only a generic, non-disclosing profile of the business. Before any identifying information is shared, each prospective buyer is financially qualified and signs a non-disclosure agreement. Employees, customers, suppliers and competitors do not learn the business is for sale, and the business is never listed publicly under its own name.
The honest answer is that nobody knows until the cash flow is recast and compared against completed transactions in your industry. That is why every engagement starts with an independent third-party valuation performed by an accredited valuation firm. It establishes a defensible fair market value that holds up in negotiation.
Most private business sales take months, not weeks, from valuation to closing. Preparation is the biggest controllable factor: owners who start with recast financials and a documented valuation move through buyer review and due diligence considerably faster than owners who go to market unprepared.
Like most M&A advisors, we work primarily on a success fee: a percentage of the final sale price, paid when the business actually sells. The independent valuation at the start of the process is a separate step, and its cost is modest compared to the pricing mistakes it prevents.
No. The firm maintains field offices along the East Coast and represents privately held companies across the region. Wherever the business is located, the process is the same: independent valuation first, then confidential, NDA-protected marketing to qualified buyers.
Ready to sell your business confidentially? Every engagement starts with an independent valuation and a private conversation about your goals. Talk to us before you talk to a buyer.
Start with a Confidential Consultation or call (732) 872-6777