For a variety of reasons, many business owners will attempt to sell their company on their own, without representation. While that might save a brokerage fee, it could be a penny saved and a dollar lost since from the outset, we think, the owner-seller may be operating from a compromised position; in particular, between anonymity and confidentiality necessary to the protection of the on-going business, and the level of disclosure required by a buyer to make a full fair market offer.

In addition, quantity and quality of buyer may be compromised, assuming the owner will not have the best access to pre-qualified buyers, or at least, not without risking anonymity and confidentiality. Presentation and justification may be compromised, because the owner will probably never be viewed as an objective analyst. Time and effort may be compromised between that devoted to selling the business and that devoted to running the business, the result of which may be compromised earnings and thus ultimately, a compromised selling price.

Business-Trader.com offers an online intermediation service designed to mitigate these issues to a great degree, but while we think it to be an advantageous program and much preferable to no intermediation services, we do not believe it will generally replace the benefit of a good, experienced, qualified, business broker or other third party representative.

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