When it’s time to sell, the conventional wisdom kicks in fast: you need a broker. Brokers have the buyer networks. Brokers know how to position a business. Brokers handle the messy parts so you can keep running your company. It feels like the responsible choice—the grown-up way to do a real transaction. So most owners never seriously question it.
They should. Because for most small business owners, you don’t need a broker at all—and the belief that you do can cost you six figures on your way out.
Brokers take 10% of the deal value. On a $500K to $1 million sale, that’s $50K to $100K coming directly out of your pocket. On a $1.5 million exit, you’re handing over $150K. That money could stay in your bank account, go to your employees as bonuses, or fund your retirement. But instead, the industry default is to assume you need an intermediary to make a sale happen.
Here’s what you actually need: access to buyers, credibility with those buyers, and the ability to manage a transaction to close. Two decades ago, brokers had a monopoly on buyer networks. Today? That’s not true anymore.
Online marketplaces have fundamentally changed how small businesses get sold. Platforms like Owners Club, Flippa, MicroAcquire, and others reach thousands of active buyers looking for exactly what you’re selling. Serious acquirers use these platforms regularly. They’re not bargain-hunting for distressed businesses—they’re actively looking for profitable companies they can scale. The buyer quality is there. The volume is there. The only thing missing is your listing.
What does DIY selling actually require? Start with the foundations: a realistic valuation based on your SDE, a clean set of financials, and a brief executive summary (called a CIM, or Confidential Information Memorandum) that positions your business clearly. Then you need a blind listing—a way to market your business to buyers without revealing your identity until you’ve vetted their seriousness. Screening potential buyers with an NDA (nondisclosure agreement) prevents your exit from becoming common knowledge. And when you move toward a letter of intent and term sheet, you absolutely want an M&A attorney in your corner to review the documents and protect your interests.
AI tools and templates exist to help with all of this. You can create a professional CIM using readily available templates or tools. You can establish a blind listing on a marketplace in an afternoon. An M&A attorney—someone who specializes in small business acquisitions, not a general practitioner—typically costs $3K to $8K and is worth every penny to avoid expensive mistakes.
Compare that to broker fees. Even if you spend $5K on a good M&A attorney and $1K on professional materials, you’ve saved $45K to $95K on a transaction that might have taken you three months to manage. Could a broker bring other value—like buyer relationships, negotiation leverage, or transactional expertise? Maybe. But that value needs to justify six figures of your exit proceeds.
Here’s the honest truth: brokers are useful for certain situations. If you’re a first-time seller with zero deal experience, or if your business is unusual or tough to position, broker value starts to make sense. But if you can document your business’s performance, you’re willing to spend a few weeks on marketing and screening, and you want to keep more of what you’ve built, the DIY path is absolutely viable.
The online tools exist. The buyers are out there. The only barrier is the belief that you need an intermediary.
Ready to explore selling on your own terms? Owners Club provides the templates, guidance, and tools to position your business for sale and connect directly with qualified buyers—keeping more of what you’ve earned.