by Scott Sylvan Bell | Apr 9, 2026 | Uncategorized
The most frequently asked question I get that has nothing to do with exit multiples is about the shirts. Scott, you wear Aloha shirts everywhere — at business meetings, in London, in Tahiti, on stage, in YouTube videos. You have 4,000 videos in Aloha shirts. What are...
by Scott Sylvan Bell | Apr 8, 2026 | Uncategorized
Earn outs are structured as deferred compensation. The reality is they are the most common way mid-market sellers leave money on the table after close — not because the business performed badly, but because the seller no longer controlled the decisions that drove the...
by Scott Sylvan Bell | Apr 8, 2026 | Uncategorized
The LOI is signed. The buyer seemed serious. The process was moving forward. Then something changed — the offer came back lower, the deal structure shifted, or the buyer walked away entirely. A retraded LOI is one of the most frustrating and expensive experiences in a...
by Scott Sylvan Bell | Apr 8, 2026 | Uncategorized
Your EBITDA multiple came in lower than you expected. The business you built, the profit you generated, the years of work — and the number the buyer put in front of you does not reflect what you thought it was worth. This is not random. A lower-than-expected EBITDA...
by Scott Sylvan Bell | Apr 8, 2026 | Uncategorized
When you sell your business you are not just negotiating a price — you are negotiating the structure of the transaction itself. Asset sale versus stock sale is one of the most consequential structural decisions in any business acquisition. Buyers typically prefer...
by Scott Sylvan Bell | Apr 8, 2026 | Uncategorized
Most business owners ask the wrong question when they think about selling. They ask what is my business worth. The right question is what makes a business unsellable — because that answer tells you exactly what to fix before you go to market. Unsellability is not...
by Scott Sylvan Bell | Apr 8, 2026 | Uncategorized
SDE and EBITDA are the two most common financial metrics used to value businesses in M&A — but they measure different things, apply to different business sizes, and produce very different valuation numbers on the same business. Using the wrong metric — or not...
by Scott Sylvan Bell | Apr 8, 2026 | Uncategorized
When you decide to sell your business, you will eventually face a decision about who you want to buy it. A strategic buyer and a private equity buyer are fundamentally different types of acquirers with different motivations, timelines, and deal structures....
by Scott Sylvan Bell | Apr 8, 2026 | Uncategorized
Most businesses fail to sell not because the market was bad or the timing was wrong. They fail to sell because the seller went to market unprepared and a buyer found exactly what they expected to find — a business built around an owner who cannot be replaced. This is...
by Scott Sylvan Bell | Apr 8, 2026 | Uncategorized
You decided to sell your business. The first question most owners ask is who do I call. The answer depends on the size of your business, the complexity of your deal, and what you are trying to accomplish. A business broker and an M&A advisor are not the same...
