Beshore’s book does something rare: a professional buyer explains the sale process to sellers with the curtain pulled back, including what different buyer types actually want, what intermediaries are paid to do, why deals die, and how the emotional weight of selling distorts decisions. It is short, plain, and specific about the lower middle market, where most of this Institute’s audience lives.
The Institute’s reading: the chapters on buyer taxonomy, who strategics, funds, family offices and individuals really are, and what each pays for, are the most useful buyer-type orientation in print for a first-time seller. Beshore is a buyer, and his gentle skepticism of auction processes should be read knowing that; a competitive process run by a good adviser still moves price for many companies. Pair with the Preparing to Sell stage of this site.