Mike figured if he could get through the negotiation, he was through the worst of it. After months of conversations, a signed letter of intent felt like crossing the finish line. The price was agreed on, the buyer was serious, and for the first time, the deal felt real. What he hadn't thought much about was everything that came next. Due diligence (the stretch between signing the LOI and closing) is the part of the process most sellers are least prepared for. It's not complic

Mike had a number in his head—the figure he'd been carrying around for years, the one he expected to walk away with when the time finally came. It was built on a rough read of his revenue, conversations with other owners at trade events, and honestly, what he felt he'd earned after 22 years of early mornings and emergency calls. When he finally sat down with an advisor and worked through an actual valuation, the number looked different. Not worse in one way; it came out bett

Meta description: Knowing when to sell your HVAC business is one of the hardest decisions an owner faces. Here's how to think through the timing, practically and emotionally, before you're forced to. Mike remembers exactly when the question first showed up. He was driving home from a service call at 7:30 on a Tuesday, listening to a voicemail from a tech who'd botched the pricing on a commercial bid. He'd dealt with that kind of thing a hundred times. But something about tha

One of the first questions Mike asked when we started talking seriously about a sale was one I hear from almost every owner at this stage. How to Keep Running Your Business While Selling It. "What am I supposed to do with the business while all of this is happening?" It's a fair question, and the answer is simpler than most people expect. Keep running it exactly the way you always have. That's genuinely the most important thing Mike can do from the day he decides to sell unti

The call came on a Tuesday afternoon. Mike was in the middle of reviewing a service estimate when his phone rang. Unfamiliar number. He almost let it go to voicemail. The man on the other end introduced himself as a regional acquisitions director for a private equity-backed home services platform. He had been watching Mike's market. He liked what he saw. He wanted to have a conversation about whether Mike had ever considered an exit. Mike's first instinct was to hang up. He h

The first time I asked Mike what he wanted out of a deal, his answer came without hesitation. All cash at close. Every dollar. The day we sign. Twenty-two years of building something from nothing earns you the right to feel that way, and Mike had earned it. He wanted to walk away from the closing table knowing exactly what he had, with no future payments to wait on and no conditions to satisfy. Just a clean number and a clean exit. That instinct is completely understandable,