Private equity firms are the most likely buyers for your business—and some do a fine job preserving what makes a company great. But many are financial engineers. They offer a generous multiple, then lever up the business, cut costs, and flip it within a few years. Longtime employees get let go. Culture erodes. You walk away with a check, but it can feel like selling out.

Most stories we cover involve eye-popping multiples or headline-making exits. They’re fun—but not always realistic.

Jeff DeGarmo’s story is different. No private equity windfall. No tech hockey stick. Just a well-run, 20-person service business built over 16 years and sold for a solid 5.5x EBITDA.

Greg Alexander sold SBI, his 30-person consulting firm, for $162 million. Since then, he’s had a front-row seat to 50 other service firm exits through his peer group, Collective 54. In this episode of Built to Sell Radio, Greg breaks down what separates firms that sell from those that stall.

This is a Mastering the Deal episode of Built to Sell Radio—designed to help you punch above your weight in a negotiation to sell your business.

What makes someone want to buy an “unsexy” business?

Jon Pole has acquired 19 traditional radio stations. On paper, it’s an industry many assume is in decline. But for an experienced buyer like Pole, these deals are less about media trends and more about community, cash flow, and culture.

Sean McAuliffe didn’t invent anything. He was a distributor.

If you lost your car keys and went to a locksmith to cut a new set, chances are your locksmith got the replacement key from Sean’s business. He bought cheap keys from Asia and sold them to locksmiths. Nothing fancy. Like so many businesses, Sean was a middleman. He'd never really thought about selling—didn't think anyone would want to buy it—but when a private equity group offered him millions, Sean realized he was sitting on a potential goldmine.

What do acquirers really want?

Sequoya Borgman has acquired 19 companies and exited two. He’s raised capital on a deal-by-deal basis, working outside the traditional private equity model. In this episode of Built to Sell Radio, Borgman explains how “independent sponsors” operate—and why more wealthy individuals are now pooling money to buy lower middle-market businesses.

You discover how to:

When Garren Hilow helped start Abveris, he didn’t have much—just a background in sales, a co-founder with a Harvard PhD, and a stock option representing 16% of the company.

Eight years later, he bought out his co-founder, bootstrapped the company with bank debt (collateralized by his house), and sold it in a stock deal that peaked at $190 million.