We just closed the sale of our business this last April (
link here) so the details are still pretty fresh.
This is an easy topic to go "long story" on really quick. But the main things you need to decide on right away are whether you are selling as an "asset sale" or an "entity sale". The easiest way to understand the difference is that one completely liquidates the business as you know it, sells off all the individual assets (machinery, raw material, everything) and you walk away. An "entity sale", also known as a business sale or stock sale, sells the business as a whole functioning system. The business could look exactly like it did the day before the sale, doors stay open, you may even be retained as an employee of the new company.
The biggest difference between the two is the valuation method. One is valued based on what everything can be auctioned off for piece by piece; the other is valued based on it's ability to provide some type of cash flow.
I will tell you right now, most shop owners are not prepared to hear what the market value of their business is as an entity sale. Take your annual EBITDA, multiply it by 5 (for starters), if that number is less than the value of what you think you could auction off your assets for, you're going to have a difficult time if you had hoped to see the business keep it's doors open.
On the topic of potential buyers, if you really don't want customers or local competitors to know your selling, you'll probably have to use a broker. There are plenty of brokers out there, none of them though will understand the nuances of your business the way you do. But, they'll also bring to the table a list of potential buyers you would have a hard time coming up with. Always a trade-off. You could also reconsider whether or not it's a big deal that customers and competitors know you're looking. A business sale can take years. In our case, our competitors knew we were looking and it didn't really change anything.
Long story short, most important thing of all is know your numbers. Know your last 5 years Earnings-Before-Interest-Taxes-Depreciation-Amortization inside and out. If possible, be able to reasonably forecast your EBITDA for the next year. The market makes the rules and in a business sale, EBITDA rules. Good luck, it took us 3 years but I'm glad we did it when we did.