The best time to sell is when your business doesn't need you — when revenue is stable or growing, margins are healthy, and the operation can run without you in the room every day. Trying to time the market perfectly is less important than being operationally ready. That said, 2026 is a favorable environment: PE dry powder is high, reshoring is driving buyer demand, and interest rates have stabilized. Sellers who are prepared are getting competitive processes right now.

Most manufacturing businesses in the lower middle market take 6 to 12 months from engagement to close. The timeline depends on business complexity, how quickly a buyer can complete due diligence, and how clean your financials and operations are going in. Deals with real estate, multiple entities, or SBA financing can run longer. The businesses that close fastest are the ones that are prepared before they go to market.

Your client list, supplier relationships, and pricing are among the most sensitive assets in your business — and we treat them that way. That information is never shared during the marketing process. It's only released to a single buyer, after an offer has been accepted and the deal has entered due diligence. This is a core part of how CBA protects sellers throughout the sale process. To learn more about how we control the flow of confidential information, see our Information Release Timeline

In most manufacturing deals, a normalized level of working capital is included in the purchase price as part of a "cash-free, debt-free" transaction. What that target number actually is gets negotiated as part of the deal. This is an area where deal structure matters a lot — working capital pegs and true-up provisions can meaningfully affect what you walk away with, and it's one of the details CBA negotiates hard on your behalf.

It's a real issue and buyers will flag it, but it doesn't kill a deal. The key is getting ahead of it with transparency and a credible story about why that relationship is sticky and how it could be diversified over time. Buyers will typically want a longer transition period or an earnout tied to that customer's retention. The worst thing you can do is try to hide it — it comes out in due diligence every time, and it damages trust right when you need it most.

In most cases, no — furniture, fixtures, equipment, and machinery are considered part of the going-concern business and are included in the purchase price. The price is based on earnings, and the assets are what support those earnings. That said, if you have significant equipment that's above and beyond what's needed to run the business, or real estate involved, those are separate conversations that affect deal structure. However, the financials aren’t the only element of business value… we also take into consider our proprietary value driver worksheet found here.

Consistent earnings, a team that doesn't depend on the owner, and a diversified customer base. After that: certifications, equipment condition, and whether the business has any proprietary process or contract that's hard to replicate. Buyers are also paying close attention to margins — they want to see EBITDA at 15% or better of revenue. A business that checks all of these boxes will generate a competitive process. One that doesn't will get offers with hair on them.

It depends on size. Below $2M in EBITDA, you're most likely looking at individual operators, search funders, and small PE firms looking for a platform. Above that, strategic acquirers and mid-market PE funds become more active. In aerospace, defense, and precision manufacturing specifically, strategic buyers are dominant — they're acquiring capabilities, certifications, and customer relationships, not just cash flow. CBA maintains active relationships across all of these buyer categories.

It's worth considering but comes with real tradeoffs. Employees rarely have the capital to close a deal without seller financing, SBA debt, or both — which means you're carrying more risk and often accepting a lower price than the open market would deliver. The relationship also makes negotiation emotionally complicated. That said, if legacy and team continuity matter to you and you're willing to be flexible on terms, it can work. The right move is to run a proper competitive process first and see what the market actually offers before committing to an inside deal. You may be surprised how many qualified buyers are out there — and what that does for your price and terms. Learn how our confidential auction process works.