Call Us! 505.820.0163

 

News

Home >  News

Receiving an offer on your business is a major milestone, but experienced buyers, sellers, and advisors know that an accepted offer is only one step in the transaction process. The real challenge is navigating the weeks (or sometimes months) between an agreement and a successful closing. While some deals are derailed by unforeseen events, most transactions succeed or fail based on preparation, communication, and expectations. Here are four factors that consistently contribute to successful business sales. 1. Alignment...

10 July, 2026

Want to sell your business? The first step is to clone yourself. Do that, and the question of owner dependency will never come up. If it sounds like ridiculous advice, it's because it is. For most small business owners, there isn't the cash flow to support a COO-level hire. Even when money isn't the issue, the talent is. Someone with your skills, your business acumen, and your deep knowledge of the business is probably already running...

10 July, 2026

Exit and transition planning is a structured process designed to put control back into the hands of business owners. When you can articulate your vision for life post-transition, strengthen your company's attractiveness to potential buyers, and minimize transaction surprises, you are empowered to make choices in your own best interest. Every successful business will change hands someday. The only question is whether that transition happens by design or by default. At Sam Goldenberg & Associates, we often...

07 July, 2026

If you've worked with a good CPA for years, you trust them and for good reason. They know your business, have kept you out of trouble with the IRS, and have probably saved you real money along the way. But there's one question your CPA rarely asks, and that is: What happens when you want to sell? It’s simply not their job to ask that question. That's where a business broker's perspective deviates from your accountant’s and...

25 June, 2026

When you have the opportunity to buy the real property out of which a business operates, most buyers jump at the chance. And why not? Owning a building gives you control that being a tenant never would. You're building equity in a tangible asset rather than writing a rent check every month. Ideally, what you pay in mortgage isn't dramatically more than what you'd pay in rent. When the purchase includes both a business and its real...

23 June, 2026

Ask a business owner what their company sold for and they'll give you one number. Ask them what they actually walked away with — after debt payoff, taxes, the working capital adjustment, and the seller note that's still being paid down — and you'll get a very different answer, usually accompanied by a story. Here's the uncomfortable truth from the intermediary's side of the table: two offers with the same headline price can differ by hundreds...

19 June, 2026

When a business changes hands, the lease attached to it can be just as important as the business itself. This is especially true for restaurants, retail stores, salons, and other companies that rely heavily on location and customer traffic. A strong location can add value to a business. However, the downside of the equation is that a problematic lease can create unexpected headaches for both buyers and sellers. For anyone considering the purchase of a business,...

30 May, 2026

Santa Fe has a perfectly good greatest hits list: Ten Thousand Waves, The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Canyon Road, Meow Wolf, and Museum Hill to name just a few. All of them are worth your time, but if you’re a repeat visitor who’s already done this circuit, the traveler whose idea of a good time involves a ghost town and a buffalo named Harley, or anyone looking for that serendipitous discovery, this series is for you. We’re...

20 May, 2026

One of the first questions sellers ask us is some version of: “How many buyers do you already have for a business like mine?” The question is totally reasonable. If you’re selling a plumbing company in Albuquerque, you assume we should already know every competitor, every strategic buyer, every private equity group rolling up businesses in your market. Sometimes we do, but just as often we don’t. Of all the things that a business broker brings to...

20 May, 2026

There's no shortage of advice about what to ask when buying a business. Lists circulate freely, and most of them cover the same ground: financials, customer concentration, employee retention, legal exposure. While all this is solid advice, a boilerplate list will only get you so far. It’s not the same as knowing how to phrase the questions, where to push deeper, and when to sit back and allow one question to organically build upon the...

16 May, 2026

Family-owned businesses continue to play an outsized role in the New Mexico economy, where most businesses are small and owner-operated. Yet despite how common these businesses are, succession planning remains one of the least addressed challenges facing owners approaching retirement or transition. Many owners assume that selling to a child or other relative will be simpler than selling to an outside buyer. In reality, family transitions often introduce a different set of operational, financial, and emotional...

12 May, 2026

Simply put, due diligence is how you make sure the business you think you're buying is actually the business you are buying;  not the business the seller describes or that the listing presents online, but the actual operating business: its customers, revenue, cash flow, habits, and risks. It sounds straightforward. In practice, it's where some deals go sideways. Pajarito Window Washing: a Hypothetical Example To illustrate this, let’s look at a small window washing operation that consists of...

08 May, 2026

Many sellers are surprised to discover how much influence a buyer's lender has over the sale process. Even when a buyer is motivated and the business looks strong, financing isn't a formality; it's an ongoing evaluation that can shape price, structure, timing, and even who can realistically buy the business. A "Yes" Is Conditional Until Closing A bank's approval doesn't arrive once and stay put. A loan moves through several sets of hands, and each stage brings...

05 May, 2026

Most New Mexico small business owners often focus on the day-to-day operations, with an eye toward growing the business. They spend little time preparing to exit their business, often because it’s such a far-off possibility as to seem impractical. While it may sound counterintuitive, exit planning needs to be part of your growth strategy from Day One. It’s not only for large businesses. Without a plan, owners often drift toward burnout – and burnout erodes your...

04 May, 2026

Buying a business is often framed as a process. And it is with clear steps: NDA, LOI, financing, due diligence, legal review. But if you’ve been around enough transactions, a pattern starts to emerge. Some buyers move through that process and close. Others stall out, get overwhelmed, or walk away. It’s usually not because of one dramatic issue. More often, it comes down to how the buyer shows up from the beginning. Here are a few traits...

04 May, 2026