● PRICING & FEE COMPARISON · TEXAS OWNER-LED BUSINESSES
Texas business brokers are usually paid a success fee at closing, commonly 8–12% of the price with a minimum fee. Exit planners often work on retainers or project fees. SweetSpot charges fixed, published fees and no success fee: free self-assessments, a $250 Field Guide, a $2,500 remote Inspection, and $4,750 per on-site day plus travel.
SweetSpot is not a broker. We don’t list businesses, find buyers or take a success fee. We do the operator-led readiness, profit, owner-independence, and transition work in front of a sale or internal handoff — so your business is worth more and easier to finance before any transaction starts.
Start with a free advisor conversationFirst call is free and commits you to nothing. Or jump to Table A: Who charges what · Table B: SweetSpot published fees.
Real Texas businesses.
Published numbers.
Established owner-led companies ($1M–$50M revenue) · Compare related guides:
Before you hire a brokerExit planning in TexasSelling a business in Texas checklistSBA 7(a) deal mathTABLE A — WHO CHARGES WHAT IN TEXAS
Five different roles get lumped together when an owner starts thinking about selling or stepping back. They do different jobs and get paid in completely different ways.
| Advisor type | What they do | How they’re paid | Typical fee | Source and date checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business broker (Texas) | Lists the business, prepares a marketing package, screens buyers, and shepherds a main-street sale through closing. | Success fee (commission) at closing, often with a contractual minimum fee; some firms also charge an upfront listing or preparation fee. | Commonly 8–12% of the sale price on main-street deals, or a tiered schedule (for example, 10% on the first $1M and stepping down on higher tiers), often with a $10,000–$35,000 minimum fee. | Exitwise, Raincatcher, Acquira, DueDilio, Axial (checked ) |
| M&A advisor (lower-middle-market) | Runs a structured sale process for larger companies (roughly $5M–$50M+ deal value), builds a targeted buyer list, runs diligence, and negotiates deal structure. | Monthly or milestone work-fee retainer (sometimes credited against the closing fee) plus a tiered success fee at closing. | Commonly 3–8% of transaction value or a modified Lehman-style tiered schedule, plus a monthly or milestone retainer. | Axial, DueDilio, MidStreet (checked ) |
| Exit planner / CEPA | Coordinates multi-year personal, financial, and business exit readiness before a sale or succession. | Monthly retainer, fixed project fee, or phased engagement fee; generally not a commission on the sale price. | Project fees or monthly retainers that vary by scope, firm, and how many years out the owner starts. | Exit Planning Institute, Hello Exit, Exit Directory (checked ) |
| Formal valuation / appraisal (Houston & Texas) | Produces a formal or certified valuation report (such as ABV, ASA, or CVA) for SBA lending, tax, estate, litigation, or partner buyouts. | Fixed project fee quoted by report type (calculation of value vs. full conclusion of value) and corporate complexity. | Roughly $3,000–$15,000+ depending on company complexity, number of entities, and whether a full credentialed appraisal is required. | Rocky Mountain Business Advisors (Houston valuation benchmarks), Business Valuation Resources (BVR) industry ranges (checked ) |
| SweetSpot Business Advisors | Operator-led readiness, profit, owner-independence, and transition work inside the company before a sale or internal handoff. SweetSpot is not a broker. | Fixed, published fee per engagement. Zero success fee and zero commission. | Free self-assessments and guides; $250 Field Guide; $2,500 remote Inspection; $4,750 per on-site day plus travel (Diagnostic is 1–3 days at $4,750/day). | SweetSpot published pricing (checked ) |
Note: Third-party fee ranges reflect published industry benchmarks as of . Individual broker, M&A, exit-planning, and appraisal contracts vary by deal size and scope.
TABLE B — SWEETSPOT PUBLISHED OFFERS
Every paid engagement starts small and produces a concrete deliverable you keep whether you hire us again or not. You can start free, start with a $250 written Field Guide, or book an on-site working day.
| Offer | Price | Remote or on site | What you leave with | Best when |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free 5-minute self-assessments (8 lanes) | Free | Online (no email required to see your score) | An immediate score across six buyer-readiness or operating checks and the single most important gap to look at first. | You want a fast, private read on sale readiness, owner dependency, profit leaks, revenue plateau, employee buyout, or family succession. |
| Free guides & briefings (Buyer’s Eyes Briefing, Contractor Quoting Guide, 14-Day Absence Audit) | Free | Online (emailed PDF) | Practical checklists, loaded-labor quoting math, a 14-day owner absence test, or a walkthrough of the eight things buyers inspect. | You want to study the math and run a self-check on your own schedule before talking to an advisor. |
| SweetSpot Field Guide | $250 | Remote (written from your self-assessment answers) | A written diagnostic and prioritized action plan built specifically around your self-assessment responses. | You want a tailored written plan in hand before deciding on any live consulting work. |
| Business System Inspection | $2,500 | Remote | A remote operator-led inspection of one recurring problem area checked against your real records, with ranked fixes and a clear next-step path. | You want an experienced operator’s read on your financials and operating bottlenecks without scheduling an on-site visit. |
| Profit Leak Review | $4,750 + travel | One day on site | A loaded labor and equipment rate card, margin-by-work-type analysis, an unbilled-extra-work list, and a 30-day action plan — backed by the $20,000 Promise. | Your crews stay busy all month and the bank balance barely moves, or quotes rely on rules of thumb instead of loaded costs. |
| Owner Value Overhaul | $4,750 + travel | One day on site | A buyer’s-eye score across 8 value drivers, your top 3 value killers, a 12-month fix sequence, and a 14-day owner absence test. | Every exception still routes through your phone, or you want to raise what the business is worth before a sale. |
| Transition Blueprint Day | $4,750 + travel | One day on site | A side-by-side comparison of your four ways out, a named successor readiness check, an 8-line buyout affordability test, and a 90-day sequence. | You are deciding between an outside sale, an employee or management buyout, family succession, or stepping back while keeping ownership. |
| Three Engine Diagnostic | $4,750/day + travel (typically 1–3 days) | On site | A comprehensive on-site review of your operations, sales process, and finances with a sequenced execution plan. | Multiple parts of the business need attention at once and you want a full on-site diagnostic before committing to a longer project. |
See all working sessions on the SweetSpot Services hub →
WHEN TO PAY A COMMISSION — AND WHEN NOT TO
A good broker or M&A advisor earns their fee when the business is ready to be examined by strangers. Hiring one before the company is ready is where owners lose leverage.
When you have two clean years of financials, a team that runs day-to-day jobs without you, and you need a confidential market process to find and screen outside buyers. Running a buyer process while running a company is a full-time job.
The IBBA has stated that 80% of businesses listed with an IBBA broker never sell. When a buyer’s diligence team finds messy add-backs, customer concentration, or an owner who signs every estimate, the buyer either re-trades the price hard or walks away.
Check your gaps See the six things buyers check →
If your buyer is already on your payroll — in an employee buyout, a management buyout, or a family handoff — you do not need someone to find a buyer or charge an 8–12% commission. You need a financeable structure and a team ready to take over.
Compare internal paths ESOP vs. direct employee sale →
IS IT WORTH IT? WHAT MOVES THE PRICE
In small-business sales, buyers price risk. Across published transaction data (BizBuySell Insight Reports, the Pepperdine Private Capital Markets Report, and BVR DealStats / IBBA Market Pulse), an owner-dependent shop where the owner is the estimator, dispatcher, and chief troubleshooter can trade for as little as ~0.5x–2x yearly earnings — because the buyer is really buying a job plus used equipment.
A transferable business in the same trade — with two clean years of books, a supervisor bench that runs jobs without the owner, and recurring or contracted revenue — can command 4–5x+ earnings, and applies that higher multiple to a healthier profit number. See how buyers price that gap on our business valuation guide.
A commercial excavation business near $7M in revenue and about $1M in profit routed every exception through the owner’s phone. After work on decision rights, leadership accountability, phone routing, and a simple weekly scorecard, the owner went from short trips to a full week away in the Ozarks while the business kept running — practical evidence of a company someone else can run.
THE $20,000 PROMISE ON THE PROFIT LEAK REVIEW
On the one-day Profit Leak Review ($4,750 plus travel): If we don’t find at least $20,000 a year you’re leaving on the table, you get your fee back. How we count it: the gap between the rate you should be charging and what you actually billed over the last 12 months, times your billable hours, plus extra work your crews did that never got billed. You’ll see every number, and you keep the rate card and the findings either way.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Texas business brokers typically charge a success fee at closing of 8% to 12% of the sale price on main-street deals, or a tiered commission schedule that steps down on larger deal sizes, often paired with a $10,000 to $35,000 minimum fee (sources: Exitwise, Raincatcher, Acquira, DueDilio, Axial).
Some brokers work on a pure contingency fee at closing, while others charge an upfront listing, valuation, or marketing preparation fee of a few thousand dollars in addition to their closing commission. Lower-middle-market M&A advisors commonly charge a monthly or milestone work-fee retainer plus a tiered closing fee.
Exit planners and CEPA practitioners typically charge a monthly retainer, a phased engagement fee, or a fixed project fee rather than a commission on the sale, with total cost depending on company size and how many years of preparation are involved. SweetSpot publishes fixed prices per engagement: free self-assessments, a $250 Field Guide, a $2,500 remote Inspection, and $4,750 per on-site day plus travel.
No. SweetSpot is not a broker and never takes a success fee, finder’s fee, or percentage of your sale price. Every SweetSpot engagement is billed at a flat, published fee.
A business broker or M&A advisor markets the company you have today, finds outside buyers, and manages the transaction through closing for a commission. SweetSpot works inside your business two to three years before a sale or internal buyout to clean up profit leaks, reduce owner dependency, and prepare the books and management bench so the business is worth more when you sell.
A formal, credentialed business valuation or appraisal in Houston or across Texas commonly runs $3,000 to $15,000 or more depending on report type (calculation of value vs. full conclusion of value), entity complexity, and whether it is for SBA lending, tax, or litigation (sources: Rocky Mountain Business Advisors Houston benchmarks, BVR). If you want an operator’s buyer-eye read on what drives or caps your price before paying for a formal appraisal, SweetSpot’s one-day Owner Value Overhaul is $4,750 plus travel.
Yes. The first conversation with a SweetSpot advisor is free and commits you to nothing. You describe what is going on in your business, we tell you what we think is going on, and you leave with one clear next step and its exact price — including when that step is a free self-assessment or nothing from us at all.
YOUR NEXT STEP
You describe what is going on, we tell you what we think is going on, and you leave with one next step and its price (including when that step is free or nothing from us).
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Take the free self-assessmentLast updated: · Related: Before you hire a broker · How to sell a business in Texas · SBA 7(a) financing math · ESOP vs. direct employee sale