The reality is that you could probably do a lot of things you are not formally qualified to do — represent yourself in a legal case, rewire your home, perform surgery. In the end, the savings rarely outweigh the risks, which is why we hire experts. So, in theory, you could take on M&A. But at what risk — and ultimately at what cost? For most founders, the answer is: far more than any advisor fee.
The Critical Distinction: Exit vs. Valuable Exit
The objective isn’t simply to sell the company. It’s to find the best blend of value and fit — two similar-sounding objectives that require completely different skill sets. There is a large difference between an exit and a valuable exit, and many founders conflate the two, unaware that both value and fit are assumptions rather than givens.
For most founders and owners, an exit is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to capitalize on years of risk and hard work — the most pivotal months of their professional lives. This is not the time to learn on the job. In M&A, each mistake can cost hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars, which can quickly add up to 10–20% of the value of the sale. This is value the owners created — given away because they didn’t fully understand the implications of their decisions.
The Valuation Risk
If an M&A distraction results in just $100K less EBITDA, at a 7× multiple that represents $700K in foregone value — plus the $100K EBITDA itself. We have seen owners’ deal value halved because they chose to run the process rather than maintain pipeline and profitability.
The Information Asymmetry
Concluding a transaction is a full-time job even when you know what you are doing. A sell-side advisor ensures the information flow is symmetrical, knows the market and potential buyers, and deploys the tactics that help the seller achieve their goals.
The M&A Process Is Not Improvised
The M&A process is a very prescriptive series of steps, designed to elicit information from the other party in order to facilitate a continuum of informed decisions all the way to closing. Experienced M&A practitioners know what is needed to make their buy- or sell-side decisions — and what is “market” in terms of valuation, structure, and everything else that goes into a transaction.
Selling a company isn’t a one-person job. It is a collective effort of M&A advisors, lawyers, and accountants focused on maximizing the value of the transaction while ensuring the post-acquisition environment is conducive to achieving the intended objectives. By electing to lead the effort yourself, you are purposefully entering a high-stakes negotiation with asymmetric information — where the balance of power clearly lies with the buyer, who is the primary source of M&A information for an unrepresented seller.
A Sell-Side advisor that knows your industry will get an order of magnitude more value than if you did it yourself. Select highly qualified advisors that will engage you in the process while affording you the ability to concentrate on what you do well — managing and growing a profitable business.
The Allure of Doing It Yourself
M&A holds a certain allure. Everyone wants to do a deal. And it is easy to convince yourself that you can figure it out — the same intelligence and tenacity that built the business can surely navigate the sale. Resist this impulse. The risk that it becomes a costly learning experience is quite high. The business is the most valuable transaction of your life. It deserves counsel that has been through it many times before, on both sides of the table.
The smartest move a founder makes in an M&A process is often the earliest one: recognizing that their role is to build and maintain the business that underpins the valuation — and that running the sale process simultaneously, without expert support, almost always costs more than it saves.