Business brokerage & M&A advisory · Southeast & nationwide
The buyer sitting across the table has done it dozens of times. They have a banker, a lawyer, and a model built to find every dollar of leverage in your numbers. BroadCreek exists to even that up — to run a disciplined, confidential process so the person who built the company is the one who captures its value.
BroadCreek is a sell-side business brokerage that represents owner-operated companies through the confidential sale of their business. We handle valuation, financial recasting, blind buyer outreach, buyer qualification, letter of intent negotiation, due diligence, and closing.
Most small-to-mid-size businesses sell for 2.0× to 4.5× Seller's Discretionary Earnings (SDE), with the multiple set by industry, revenue size, growth trajectory, and how dependent the company is on its owner. Businesses above roughly $5M in revenue are valued on EBITDA instead, typically at 3.5× to 6.0×. A typical sale takes six to ten months from engagement to close.
Our position
Selling is likely the most consequential financial transaction of your life, and it happens once. Your employees, customers, and competitors will not know the business is for sale — every buyer signs a non-disclosure agreement before receiving anything identifying. Confidentiality is not a feature of the process, it is the shape of it.
You will also get direct advice rather than a sales pitch. If the timing is not right, or the business needs preparation before it goes to market, you will hear that first — it is usually worth far more than an early listing.
We are deliberately small. You work with the person you met, not a junior associate. And because we represent sellers only, there is never a question about whose interest we are protecting.
The process
A business sale typically takes six to ten months and follows seven steps: a confidential discovery call, a professional valuation, preparation and packaging of the financials, confidential marketing to qualified buyers, buyer screening, negotiation and due diligence, and closing with transition support.
A private conversation about your goals, your timeline, and what you have built. Exploratory, with no obligation and no pressure.
A full analysis of your financials, calculation of Seller's Discretionary Earnings or EBITDA, comparable transaction research, and a realistic market value range.
Normalizing the financials, identifying value drivers, addressing objections before a buyer raises them, and building the confidential business review that qualified buyers will see.
Targeted outreach through the buyer network and industry channels, without disclosing your identity. Every prospect signs a non-disclosure agreement before receiving details.
Every buyer is qualified for financial capability, industry fit, and serious intent before they ever meet you. No time spent on unqualified prospects.
Offers managed and terms negotiated on your behalf, then guidance through buyer diligence — letters of intent, attorney and CPA coordination, and protection of your interests throughout.
Coordination with attorneys, lenders, landlords, and licensing bodies to close. Post-closing transition support so customers and employees experience continuity.
What we do
01 / The work
We represent you through the sale, start to finish. The company goes to market blind — employees, customers, and competitors learn nothing until you decide they should.
02 / How we're paid
There are no upfront fees and no retainers. We are paid at closing, out of the proceeds — which means we are paid when you are, and not before.
Where value is won and lost
Two companies with identical earnings routinely sell for very different numbers. The difference is almost never the industry. It is these six things — and knowing them now gives you time to improve them before going to market.
Who you'll work with
Founder & Principal · M&A Advisor · Business Broker
I represent owners through the sale of their businesses. More than twenty transactions later, what stays with me is how much rides on a decision most owners make only once — and how rarely they have someone on their side of the table who has done it before. I built BroadCreek to run a disciplined, confidential process where the owner talks to the person actually doing the work.
That process rests on a career spent in finance and M&A, most of it on the other side of the table from where owners sit. I was a Vice President in Global Corporate Investment Banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Senior Director of Financial Planning & Analysis at Meridian Waste, Director of Treasury at a $400M company, and VP of Finance at a healthcare business. I know how buyers build their models and where they look for leverage, because I used to build them.
If a business is not ready, I say so. One client spent twelve months making improvements before going to market, then sold in four months at roughly 30% above the original estimate. That conversation is worth more than an early listing.
Outside the office I am with my wife Julie and our two boys, Owen and Jack. I am an avid outdoorsman and shoot sporting clays with friends and family whenever I can.
Common questions
Straight answers, including the ones about money. If your question isn't here, ask it on the call.
Most small-to-mid-size businesses sell for 2.0× to 4.5× Seller's Discretionary Earnings (SDE), depending on industry, revenue size, growth trajectory, and operational quality. Businesses above roughly $5M in revenue are usually valued on EBITDA instead, at 3.5× to 6.0×.
A rule of thumb is a starting point, not a valuation. A real number comes from comparable transactions, normalized financials, and buyer demand in your specific market. We provide a complimentary valuation estimate as part of the first conversation.
Business brokerage fees are typically 10% to 12% of the sale price. BroadCreek's fee is 6%. It is a success fee with no retainer and no upfront cost, paid at closing out of the proceeds. If the sale does not close, you owe nothing.
The fee is agreed in writing before any engagement begins, and a valuation estimate is provided at no cost as part of the first conversation.
A typical business sale takes six to ten months from listing to closing. Well-prepared businesses with accurate pricing, clean financials, and genuine buyer appeal can close faster.
The timeline depends on asking price, industry, how the buyer is financing, and how prepared you are walking in. Books that have to be reconstructed mid-process are the most common source of delay — and of lost leverage.
The company goes to market blind. Buyers first see an anonymized profile describing the business by industry, size, and geography without naming it. They sign a non-disclosure agreement and are screened for financial capability before receiving anything identifying.
Employees and customers typically learn about a sale after closing, or during a planned transition — on your timeline, not the market's.
Most deals include a transition period of 30 to 90 days where you help the new owner learn the operation. Some buyers, particularly private equity firms, will want a longer commitment, a management role, or an earnout tied to continued involvement.
All of it is negotiable and all of it is part of the deal terms, not an afterthought. What you want your life to look like the day after closing is a legitimate input into which offer you accept.
Three types. Private equity groups buying platforms or add-ons pay the highest multiples, roughly 3.5× to 5.0× or more, and often want the owner to stay a year or two. Strategic acquirers — larger companies in your industry — pay around 3.0× to 4.5× and move through diligence fastest because they already understand the business.
Qualified individual buyers, usually experienced operators or former executives using SBA financing, pay roughly 2.5× to 3.5× and want a stable, profitable operation with transition support. Which pool your company appeals to changes how it should be positioned.
Yes. Many owners also own the property their business operates from. We are licensed for commercial real estate in some states, so the business sale and the property transaction can often be handled together rather than through two separate advisors. Sale-leaseback structures are also available.
No. BroadCreek represents sellers only. We do not take buy-side engagements and we do not practice dual agency. Every negotiation has one side working for the owner, which removes any question about whose interest is being protected when terms are set.
Start a conversation
A conversation about your goals, your timeline, and what your business could be worth in today's market.