Selling a local service business usually takes months, not weeks. The owners who get the best result start by making the business easy to understand for a stranger. Here are the steps in order.
1. Get the paperwork ready
- Clean, matching profit-and-loss statements and tax returns for the last three years. Buyers and their lenders will compare them.
- A short list of the costs that are really yours, not the business's (your own pay, a personal car), so a buyer can see the true earnings.
- Customer contracts, a list of equipment and vehicles, your lease, licences and insurance.
2. Make it run without you
- Write down how the work is quoted, scheduled and done. A business a new owner can run from day one is worth more to most buyers.
- Move key customer relationships and supplier accounts so they don't depend on you personally.
3. Set an asking price
- Small service businesses are usually priced as a multiple of their yearly earnings. The multiple depends on how steady the revenue is, how much depends on you, and the trade.
- Our free valuation (with a free account) gives a first range from your own figures; an accountant or business broker can give a formal one.
- If you're not sure yet, you can list with "open to offers" and let buyers come to you.
4. Find buyers
- List your business on BlueCrew Market — no commission on the sale. Buyers enquire directly and you decide who to talk to.
- Keep it confidential where it matters: you can leave out the business name and ask serious buyers to sign an NDA before you share details.
- Answer enquiries quickly. A buyer who waits days often moves on.
5. Negotiate and hand over
- Agree what is included, the price and how it is paid (all at closing, or part paid over time — seller financing can widen your pool of buyers).
- Agree a handover period and what you will do in it, and a non-compete.
- Use a lawyer for the purchase agreement, and tell your staff and key customers in a planned way.
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- How a Small Business Is Valued: Earnings, Multiples and Asking Prices
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General information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Last updated October 13, 2026.