A Maddening Waste of Time
Selling a business is not a guess. Give or take 5% up or down a business can be properly valued as a going enterprise. Buyers then use math and finance to purchase a business. Pie in the sky and guy/girl at the end of the rainbow valuation methods are not applicable in a sale. If you are a seller, do not look at asking prices on the internet as your basis for value. Sophisticated buyers, those buying a business for over $1 Million in asking price, use reverse math and cash flows to determine the purchase price for both the business and real estate(if included). The intangible and tangible values are easily measured via multiple methods.
It's maddening to see the the overall waste of energy and time a seller or broker will apply to selling an unsaleable pipe dream. Reputable M&A Advisors will not touch such businesses without independent valuations. They know that deals need to be funded by lenders and without such a process, the deal is dead from a traditional lending source. The solution is at a minimum, to find someone who can pass along the right process for a successful transaction. Sources here should be M&A Advisors or former company sellers. Former sellers are a great resource, as they either did it the right way or the wrong way.
Below is an event to better understand finding the value of your intangible goodwill. This is open to to business owners with revenues north of $2 Million.