By now, operators who are ready to sell know that DIY is not the way to go - you need a professional broker. After 40 years in M&A, I’ve learned that business brokers come in a variety of styles. In our industry, there are many brokers, including some new entrants. Before you choose one, ask yourself: Who do I want sitting on my side of table - on my team? Meet the players…then decide
The Professor
You probably know this broker. He knows every M&A acronym ever invented. He can talk about EBITDA adjustments, accretion, synergies, quality of earnings and capital structures until your eyes glaze over. You may occasionally find yourself discreetly Googling a term while he’s talking.
There’s nothing wrong with being highly educated about finance. You certainly want your intermediary to understand the numbers. But there is another type of education that matters. You built the company. You know why the customers have been with you for 22 years. You know which employees made the difference. You know why a competitor could never take away your biggest account. You remember signing personally for trucks when the company barely had enough cash to make payroll.
Your business broker should respect that knowledge. When you are selling your life’s work, you need an advisor, not a professor giving you a lecture.
The Operator-Turned-Broker
This one certainly understands your world. He has run routes. Managed people. Dealt with customers. Bought equipment. Lost accounts. Won accounts. Maybe he even built and sold a convenience services company himself. That's valuable experience.
But here's the question:
Does being an experienced operator automatically make someone an experienced M&A advisor?
Selling a significant business can involve sophisticated valuation work, deal structure, working capital negotiations, due diligence, financing issues, legal documents, tax considerations and negotiations with experienced corporate and private-equity buyers.
Knowing how to operate a successful vending, OCS or micro market company is one skill. Knowing how to create and manage a competitive M&A process is another. Ideally, you want someone who understands both worlds.
The Matchmaker
I have to admit; this broker can make things sound wonderfully simple. “You're thinking about selling? Great news. I already know the perfect buyer!”
Fantastic. But I have a question. Who are buyers number two, three, four and five?
This is one area where my philosophy at VBB Advisors is very clear. The obvious buyer is not necessarily the best buyer. A matchmaker's objective can easily become putting two people together and getting a transaction completed. My objective is different. I represent the seller. I want qualified buyers competing for your business.
At VBB Advisors, our clients average more than three offers per transaction. Competition creates leverage. It can improve price, terms and flexibility and it gives the seller choices. If someone brings you one buyer and tells you it's a great offer, how do you really know? There is a pretty reliable way to find out.
Get another offer.
The Lunch-Pail Broker
I respect this guy. He has been in the trenches. Maybe he drove a route, worked in the warehouse or repaired machines. He understands what operators go through because he lived it.
For certain smaller transactions, that practical experience can be useful, but as businesses become larger and transactions become more sophisticated, the questions change.
• Can this broker analyze complex financials?
• Can they professionally position the company?
• Can they manage multiple sophisticated buyers simultaneously?
• Will they recognize when a seemingly attractive offer contains terms that could cost you significantly later?
• Can they negotiate with a private-equity professional whose full-time job is buying companies?
There is a point where industry experience alone simply isn't enough.
Why Mike Kelner and VBB Advisors is the right choice
Maybe I'm biased. Forget the maybe. Of course I'm biased.
But after helping sell more than 150 businesses, I have some definite opinions about what a seller should expect from an intermediary. You should have someone who understands your industry but also understands sophisticated M&A.
You should have someone who respects what you've built while still being willing to tell you where improvements need to be made before going to market.
• You need a professional valuation process.
• You need preparation.
• You need confidentiality.
• You need access to qualified buyers.
• You need multiple offers.
• You need an experienced negotiator.
• And above all, you need someone who represents you - the seller.
At VBB Advisors, we exclusively represent sellers. My fiduciary responsibility is to the operator who hires me - not the buyer and NEVER both sides of the transaction.
That distinction matters. Ask Someone Who Already Knew M&A
One of my favorite examples involves Kyle Loughran, former CEO of Legend Food Service.
Before becoming a convenience services operator, Kyle worked in private-equity M&A and had participated in more than 30 transactions. In other words, this was someone who knew his way around a deal.
When it came time to sell his own company, he hired VBB Advisors.
Why?
Kyle understood something every operator should understand: M&A requires time, focus, expertise and negotiating leverage. Our process generated multiple offers. Kyle said the financial benefit to him was in the high six figures.
Think about that.
An experienced M&A professional decided that when his own money was on the line, he wanted an experienced sell-side intermediary sitting next to him.
You Only Get One Shot
• The Professor may be brilliant.
• The former operator may understand your business.
• The Matchmaker may know everyone in the industry.
• The Lunch-Pail Broker may have spent years in the trenches.
All of those qualities have value. but you're not choosing someone to have lunch with. You're choosing the person who will help you navigate what is likely to be the largest financial transaction of your life.
My advice is simple. Ask questions when you are choosing a broker.
• How many businesses have you sold?
• How will you value mine?
• How will you prepare it for market?
• How many qualified buyers will see it?
• How many offers do your clients typically receive?
• Who exactly do you represent?
• What happens when negotiations get difficult?
At VBB Advisors, our process has helped sell more than 150 businesses, with an average of more than three offers per deal. Those aren't M&A buzzwords. Those are results.
You spent your career building your business. When the time comes to sell it, choose your broker accordingly.
Take that critical first step. That is often the toughest one to take.
Order my free 2026 Exit Strategy Planner. At the very least, it will provoke some thought, and this is a good time to think about your future.
Whatever your reasons are to sell your company - the timing, a sense of frustration, the desire to enjoy life or an interest in rewarding yourself for years of hard work – VBB Advisors can help you realize your goals.
I am Mike Kelner, the leading sell side intermediary in the convenience services industry. Let’s sit down and have a conversation. Use this appointment scheduler to set up a meeting with me.
