I help owners of privately held and family businesses understand what their company may be worth, prepare for a potential sale, and navigate the transaction from valuation through closing.
John M. Salony is an M&A advisor and business broker who represents owners of privately held and family businesses when they sell. A former Vice President at Bank of America Merrill Lynch with a background in investment banking, corporate finance, valuation, and acquisitions, he brings a buyer's view of a business to the owner's side of the table.
How I help
My core work is helping owners sell their businesses. Valuation, preparation, and real estate expertise all support that work rather than competing with it.
Primary service
Full representation through the sale of your company: valuation, preparing the business and its financials for buyers, confidential marketing, buyer screening, deal structuring and LOI negotiation, due diligence, and closing. Buyers range from individual owner-operators to strategic acquirers and private equity groups.
See how the sale process works →Understand what buyers are likely to pay and what would change that number, then use the time before a sale to strengthen the things buyers value most.
About a broker’s opinion of value →When the sale includes the property your business operates from, my commercial real estate license lets me handle both in one coordinated transaction.
Business and property sales →A buyer’s perspective. An owner’s advocate.
Because buyers decide what your business is worth, and knowing how they evaluate risk lets you address it before it costs you.
My background spans investment banking, corporate finance, valuation, and acquisition analysis. I understand how buyers evaluate businesses, where they see risk, and what can affect their willingness to pay. I apply that perspective to help business owners prepare for a sale, present their companies effectively, and navigate negotiations with greater confidence.
Before you go to market
Buyers pay more for businesses that are easy to verify, low in risk, and able to run without the seller. Four factors matter most:
Buyers and lenders price what they can verify. Clean books, consistent reporting, and add-backs you can support hold value through due diligence instead of eroding it.
Do you need audited financials? →Recurring, diversified revenue reads as lower risk. When a few customers account for a large share of sales, buyers discount the price or shift it into earn-outs.
How concentration affects a sale →If relationships, pricing, and key decisions all run through you, a buyer is acquiring a job, not a company. Delegated management and documented processes widen the buyer pool.
Buyers look for trained staff, transferable contracts and licenses, and systems that work without the seller. The easier the handoff looks, the more confidently they bid.
Client results
John made the entire process feel manageable. He understood our industry, found the right buyer, and negotiated terms that exceeded what I thought was possible.
John told me my business wasn't ready and helped me spend 12 months improving it. When we went to market, we sold in 4 months at 30% above the original estimate.
Insights
Practical articles on preparing for a sale and avoiding the issues that cost owners value.
All articles →Knowledge base →
I also created YourExitValue, a free valuation and exit-planning resource for business owners.
Questions owners ask
An M&A advisor and business broker represents an owner through the sale of a company: estimating value, preparing the business and its financial story for buyers, marketing it confidentially, screening and negotiating with buyers, and managing due diligence through closing. I do that work for owners of privately held and family businesses. How the sale process works →
Most of my clients own businesses with roughly $500K to $10M+ in annual revenue. If yours is smaller or larger, one short conversation will tell us whether I'm the right fit or who would be.
Start with a confidential conversation. I can prepare a written broker's opinion of value, a market-based estimate of what buyers are likely to pay. It is different from a certified appraisal, which is used for tax, estate, or legal purposes. What a broker's opinion of value is →
Yes. Conversations are confidential from the first call, buyers sign a non-disclosure agreement before receiving identifying information, and the process is designed to keep employees, customers, and competitors from learning about a potential sale prematurely.
It depends mostly on preparation. Clean financials, realistic pricing, and a business that doesn't depend entirely on its owner shorten the process; missing records, customer concentration, and financing hurdles lengthen it. We'll talk through a realistic timeline for your business in the first conversation.
Yes. Some of the most valuable work happens a year or more before a sale, while there is still time to improve the things buyers pay for: documented financials, diversified revenue, and a team that can run the business without you.
Yes. I hold a commercial real estate license, so when a sale includes the building or land the business operates from, the business and the property can be handled in one coordinated transaction. Business and real estate transactions →
Confidential and no obligation
It starts with a confidential, no-obligation conversation, and you decide every step after that. If you’re thinking about selling, whether this year or in a few years, that conversation is the best place to start.
About 30 minutes. You tell me about the business, your goals, and your timing. No obligation and nothing to prepare.
If it makes sense to go further, I sign a non-disclosure agreement before you share financials or identifying details.
I give you a market-based view of what buyers are likely to pay and what would raise or lower that number.
Go to market, spend time preparing first, or wait. You decide, with a clear picture of the trade-offs.
Confidential · No obligation · NDA before you share financials