Why Most of the 25 Owners I Talked to in 2022 Didn't Sell

By Luke Middendorf, CBB | DRE #‌02196801

In July 2022, my first year as a business broker, I started talking with owners who were thinking about selling. By the end of that year, I'd had meaningful conversations with 25 of them. This year, I went back through my notes and researched each of those businesses to find out what happened.

Six sold. Two of them sold at full market value, and I represented one of those owners. Six closed without a sale. In two more, the owner died before a sale. Eight are still operating, and I couldn't confirm what happened to the other three.

When I looked at why so few of these businesses sold, the same thing happened in most of them. The owner put off the decision until something else made it for them, whether that was a health problem, a partner dispute, or burnout.

Most of the problems I saw in these businesses can be worked on ahead of time. An owner can build a team that runs the business without them, settle things with a partner, and know what the business is worth before a buyer ever looks at it. That usually takes a few years. It's the work I now do with owners who plan to sell in the next several years.

If that sounds like where you are, schedule a consultation. We'll talk about where your business is today and what would make it worth more.

What happened to the 25 businesses

Here is where the 25 businesses stand today:

• Sold: 6

• Closed without a sale: 6

• Owner died before a sale: 2

• Still operating: 8

• Could not confirm: 3

Below I describe each business by industry only, to protect confidentiality.

Retirement was only one of the reasons

A lot of people assume a business goes up for sale because the owner is ready to retire. In my notes, retirement was the reason in 6 of the 19 conversations (I recorded a reason in 19 of them).

The other reasons were a move out of state, a serious illness, the sudden death of an owner, a parent who needed care, partners who weren't getting along, burnout, and needing money for a new venture or a real estate purchase. One owner wanted to hand the business to a family member.

Many owners are getting close to that decision. In the U.S. Census Bureau's 2019 Annual Business Survey, which uses 2018 data, 51% of owners of companies with employees were 55 or older. In California, the SBA Office of Advocacy counts 4.3 million small businesses, 99.8% of all businesses in the state.

This is important because an owner who sells for health or family reasons usually doesn't get to choose the timing.

The six businesses that sold

Sold at full market value

The first was a last-mile delivery contractor. It was a very profitable business, and the owner wanted to move out of state, where his wife was already living. He had good managers in place and a strong reason to sell, and I closed the sale at full market value in a fairly short time.

The second was an auto service franchise. The owner was ready to retire, and the shop went back to the franchisor at full market value.

Sold for less than the business was worth

A different owner had two auto service franchise locations. When we talked, both shops were at about break-even two years after he bought them, and he and his business partner were in a dispute. He sold both locations on his own in 2023, a few months apart. My understanding is he got less than the equipment was worth.

Sold, price unknown

A small-town pizza restaurant sold. The owner wanted to sell so he could buy commercial real estate, and the restaurant is still open under new owners.

The founder of an architecture firm was in his late 60s and wanted to retire. Another design firm acquired it, and the founder stayed on as principal architect. For a professional services firm, that's a good outcome, because the clients keep working with people they know.

I passed on a smoke shop because I don't represent that type of business. Another business broker sold it, I believe in 2023.

The six businesses that closed

Six other businesses closed without a sale:

• A retail gift shop. The owners were retiring. A real estate broker they were friends with offered to sell it for them at a lower commission. He didn't find a buyer, and the store closed.

• A pool service business. The owner retired and shut it down. I wish he would have let me complete a BOV, as it was a good size business.

• A small-town hardware store. The owners were retiring. It ended with a closing and liquidation sale.

• A coffee shop with two locations. The owners wanted to raise money for a new venture, and I think burnout played a role. They were close to selling in 2022, then decided to hold on. Both locations closed in 2025.

• An off-road vehicle shop. The four partners were in a dispute, and the business fell apart before we could list it.

• A barbershop. The owner was burned out. My guess is he closed the shop and now rents a chair somewhere else.

Most of these businesses were still running when I talked with the owners. By the time they closed, the owners got whatever the inventory and equipment brought, and the value of the business itself was lost.

If you're a few years from retirement, a consultation is a good place to start. I'll go over what a buyer would look at in your business and what I would work on first.

When the owner dies first

Sadly, two of the businesses closed for a harder reason. The owner died before a sale.

In December 2022, I talked with the owner of a specialty construction contractor. It was a profitable business with a good reputation. He was dealing with a serious illness.

Over the next three years, I followed up several times. Each time, the answer was to check back in a few months. He passed away in late 2025, before we ever completed a valuation. The business is now closed.

I believe this business would have sold. I think he was afraid to start planning and afraid of what selling would mean for his future. That's a common feeling, and I'm not writing this to criticize him. But waiting meant the decision was never made.

The owner of a local dry cleaner I talked with that same year was in a similar situation. The owner could work only about five hours a day because of health problems. I can't find the business operating today, and I believe the owner has since passed away.

One more call that year came from a family whose father had died suddenly. Nobody had his passwords, so they couldn't access his accounting software or bank accounts, and they worried about making payroll. They wanted to know if the business could be sold quickly before it fell apart. I never received any financial data, and I think the business likely shut down.

Still operating four years later

The other eight businesses are still open, but that doesn't always mean things went the way the owner planned. Some of these owners decided to keep going. Others tried to sell and couldn't.

A professional practice owner wanted to move out of state, and we put the practice on the market in 2023. Several key employees left during the process. When the people doing the work leave, a buyer has much less to buy. The practice didn't sell, and the owner is still running it.

The owner of an auto repair shop wanted to sell in 2022 so she could care for a parent. The shop has gone on and off the market over the last couple of years and is now being marketed by the owner herself.

The one I'm happiest about is a cabinet manufacturer. The owner first called me in 2022, and we've been talking about his plans ever since. I've valued the business more than once as it has grown, most recently in 2026. He now turns down work, and he plans to go to market in 2027. I expect the business to be worth far more than it was in 2022.

The other five are an IT procurement company where the owner is preparing a family member to take over, a flooring store, a salon, a plumbing company, and an appliance repair company. From what I can see, all five are doing well.

How I work with owners before a sale

The cabinet manufacturer shows what can happen when an owner starts early. Working with owners in the years before a sale is a big part of what I do now. Here's how it works with a home services company I'm working with.

It starts with a Broker's Opinion of Value (BOV). The BOV shows what the business is worth today and gives us benchmarks to measure it against. From there, we pick the areas where the business needs the most help and work on them. We meet twice a month.

Right now, we're focused on reducing how much the business depends on the owner. A buyer looks closely at this, because if the business can't run without the owner, there's much less to buy. 5 Ways to Make Your Business Less Dependent on You covers a few places to start.

Here's how the numbers work. If a business is valued at 2.5 times its SDE and the owner raises the prices on their products and services by 10%, and customers stay, every $1,000 in sales becomes $1,100. That's an extra $100 in profit now.

At a 2.5 multiple, that same $100 adds $250 to the value of the business. For a real example of building profit before a sale, see Long Hours, Low Profit: Inside a Three-Location Garage Door Business.

If you'd like to talk about whether this makes sense for your business, schedule a consultation.

What owners expect and what happened

Most owners expect to sell. In a national Gallup survey of 1,264 small-business owners, published in March 2025, 74% of owners of businesses with employees said they plan to sell or transfer the business when they retire. Only 11% expected to close it.

In my 2022 group, six of the 25 businesses sold, and eight closed.

Why many businesses don't sell

Looking back at these 25 businesses, a few things stand out.

• Most owners don't get to choose when they sell. Fewer than half of the owners I recorded a reason for were retiring. Health, family, partners, and money set the timing for the rest.

• Waiting doesn't make the decision easier. The contractor who deferred for three years never made it, and the coffee shop owners who held on in 2022 closed three years later.

• A business needs to run without the owner. The delivery contractor sold quickly because good managers were already in place. The professional practice didn't sell after key employees left.

• Partner disputes are hard on a sale. Two of these businesses had partners who weren't getting along. One sold for less than the equipment was worth, and the other fell apart.

• Starting early works. The cabinet manufacturer I've been working with since 2022 will go to market with a stronger business and a plan.

If you're thinking about selling in the next few years, the first step is a conversation. Schedule a consultation, and we'll talk about where your business is today, what a buyer would look at, and whether a BOV and working on the business before a sale make sense for you. We handle all inquiries in strict confidence.