What Your Business Is Worth Has Nothing to Do With What You Need

Steve Darley is a Top 100 commercial agent in the RE/MAX system and the managing partner of Businesses Toronto, but before he was brokering deals, he was on the other side of the table — growing a home health care business from two employees to 125 and selling it himself. He and Umar get into what actually happens between an accepted offer and a closed deal, from a lease that sank a sale over the buyer's credit to the market multiple that sets your price no matter what you put into the business. The thread through all of it: what a bank will approve, not what an owner needs. In this episode: • Why growing his own business from 2 employees to 125 taught him something no book could • The lease deal that died over the buyer's credit, not the price • Why buyers don't care how much you need to retire • The market multiple that sets your price, no matter what you put into the business • Seller financing: the tool that saves deals, and the one that sinks them • The one change that adds the most to a sale price • Why the right time to sell is never when you need to Thinking about buying or selling a business in Ontario? Book an intro call with Umar and the Treadstone Law team: https://treadstonelaw.ca/buying-selli... Follow Steve Darley and Businesses Toronto: Businesses Toronto: https://businesses-toronto.com/ Call Steve: 647-898-8134 Chapters: 0:00 The market sets the price, not the owner 0:56 Meet Steve Darley 1:46 Sitting in the seller's chair 2:56 Selling the business during COVID 3:48 Growing from 2 employees to 125 5:13 Why he became a broker instead 8:50 What surprised him about representing sellers 10:05 Why it's called The War Room 10:46 What an advisor sees that owners miss 12:49 How many sellers actually close 13:59 Buyers don't care what you need to retire 15:43 It comes down to what the bank will approve 16:41 Unrealistic pricing, and selling a job, not a business 18:46 The lease deal that died over credit 20:02 What sellers get wrong about valuation 21:04 The seller financing trap 23:51 How to prepare a business to sell 25:44 Clean finances: the biggest lever on price 26:07 The right time to sell is never when you need to 27:41 Rapid fire questions 28:57 His billboard message for every owner 29:34 How to reach Steve About the show: The War Room is a podcast about what actually happens when a business changes hands. Each episode, Ontario business lawyer Umar Zulqarnain sits down with people who have been in the room, buyers, sellers, advisors, and owners who got it wrong and learned from it, to break down how real deals get done: valuing a business, structuring the offer, running due diligence, financing an acquisition, and avoiding the mistakes that kill deals or cost owners at closing. Straight talk on buying and selling a business in Canada, without the fluff. About the host: Umar Zulqarnain is a lawyer and entrepreneur with a background in venture capital and startup investment. He leads his own Ontario law firm, Treadstone Law, and manages a portfolio of businesses. A former law school professor, Umar is known for taking complex legal and financial topics and making them simple to understand and apply. On The War Room, he draws on that experience to show what really works when you are buying or selling a business. Book an intro call: Thinking about buying or selling a business in Ontario? Book an intro call with Umar and the Treadstone Law team: https://treadstonelaw.ca/buying-selli... Connect: Website: https://treadstonelaw.ca YouTube:    / @umarthecoa   Instagram:   / umarthecoa   TikTok:   / umarthecoa   LinkedIn:   / umarzulqarnain   Legal Information, Not Legal Advice. The War Room shares general information about buying and selling businesses. It is not legal advice, and watching does not create a lawyer-client relationship. For advice on your specific deal, speak with a licensed lawyer in your jurisdiction. #BuyingABusiness #SellingABusiness #BusinessForSale #BusinessAcquisition #MergersAndAcquisitions #Entrepreneurship #SmallBusiness #Ontario #Canada #TreadstoneLaw