Selling a business you've spent decades — or generations — building is one of the largest decisions you'll ever make. Hitch exists to help you make it with clear eyes: what your business is worth, whether now is the right time, and who deserves to carry it forward.
We're not going to hand you off to a golf pro or plan your retirement party. But we will walk you through every step of this process, and we measure success by more than the number that clears at closing.
The business carries your name and your reputation forward, in the hands of someone who'll honor what you built.
We screen buyers on how they'll treat the people who helped you build this, not just what they'll pay.
Retirement, your grandkids' education, the next venture — the number matters, and we work to get you the right one.
We measure success by whether you'd make the same decision again, not just whether the deal happened.
Owners across every trade, region, build, and background — the people who actually run lower middle market America.
the Southwest
New England
the South
the Pacific Northwest
the Southeast
the Midwest
Every business owner and every buyer sits somewhere on two lines: whether you're on the sell side or the buy side, and whether you're actively searching or open to the right conversation. Hitch is the pin at the center — the deal broker connecting all four.
Not actively selling — but would entertain the right offer. No process, no listing, no pressure. Just a quiet door left open.
See how we work with owners →PE funds and search funds actively sourcing acquisitions — e.g. HVAC or plumbing platforms. We run buy-side mandates to find proprietary deal flow.
See how we work with hunters →Ready to run a structured process in the next 12–18 months. We list, run targeted outreach, and build a competitive auction on your behalf — exclusively.
See how we work with sellers →Already own a business and want to grow — e.g. a commercial cleaning company expanding across Massachusetts. Get notified when the right deal surfaces.
See how we work with buyers →Most owners aren't ready to sell. They're ready to know. What's the business worth today? What would move that number? Is now even the right time — and if not, when? Hitch is built for that conversation first, and a structured sale second, if and when you're ready.
Start with a confidential valuation →No listing, no broker fee until there's a deal. We simply keep you in view of qualified, vetted buyers and hunters actively searching your industry and geography.
When you're ready to run a real process, we list your business confidentially, run targeted outreach, place you on relevant databases, and build a competitive auction to get you the best outcome — not just an offer.
Every buyer we bring you has been vetted for seriousness and financing before they get your time. We're also assessing whether they'll honor your team, your customers, and the reputation you built — a buyer worth the price, and worth a handshake.
Our valuation and readiness tools are built to arm you with the full picture — including what to fix first if the timing isn't right yet.
We start by understanding what you actually want on the other side — retirement, a new venture, more time with family — and work backward from there, not just to a closing date.
Employees, customers, and competitors don't hear about this until you decide they should. Every conversation starts under NDA.
"I wasn't ready to sell. I just wanted to know what it was worth. Nobody made me feel dumb for asking."
"Built the company from a single contract. They found me a buyer who kept every one of my crew."
"They asked what I wanted my next ten years to look like before they ever asked about the P&L."
Hitch runs buy-side mandates for PE funds and search funds hunting specific verticals, and keeps strategic buyers quietly informed as the right sell-side opportunities come up in their footprint.
Talk to us about a buy-side mandate →Tell us the vertical, geography, and size band. We go find owners who aren't on the market yet — before your competitors do.
Already operating in a space and looking to bolt on? Set your criteria once and get notified when a matching owner or seller enters our network.
Every owner we bring in is a potential match for a buyer already in the system — and every buyer sharpens what we look for next.
Start with your profit, walk through common add-backs together, and we'll benchmark against live deal comp data to give you an honest range — and a read on whether now is the right time.
Just your annual net profit or EBITDA estimate — no P&L upload needed to start.
Owner salary, one-time expenses, personal costs run through the business — we help you find what most owners miss.
We pull comparable multiples from deal statistics for your industry and size band to show a realistic low–high range.
Now you have what you need to decide if it's time to sell, wait, or get the business ready. No pressure either way.
You're not listing your house. You're just letting the right neighbors know you'd consider an offer. Create a profile, set what you're open to, and we'll only reach out when there's a real match worth a conversation.
Create a confidential profile in minutes — no financials, no photos, no public listing. Just enough for us to know what a good match looks like.
Set your criteria once — industry, geography, size — and get notified the moment a matching owner enters the network. No cold outreach, no scraping listings.
Two minutes, no financials required to start.
Criteria compared quietly in the background — nothing goes public.
A match doesn't mean a deal — just a reason to take a look.
Only if you say yes. We broker the intro and the conversation from there.
No details about your business move without a signed confidentiality agreement in place first.
Buyers see an anonymized profile until they're vetted and cleared — never your name or address up front.
Employees, customers, and competitors hear about a sale only when and how you decide.
Tech-enabled marketplaces optimize for speed and self-service. Traditional brokers optimize for local relationships and a for-sale sign. Hitch runs a real structured, competitive process — with the empathy, discretion, and buyer-fit judgment neither side leads with.
Local broker network. Wide reach, thin bench — you're one listing among many, run like real estate.
A structured, competitive process — run by a partner who knows your priorities and vets every buyer for fit, not just funds.
Tech-enabled marketplaces. Fast, data-driven valuations — built for self-service, light on the human judgment calls.
| What matters to you | Local brokers Transworld, Sunbelt |
Tech marketplaces Baton, Off Deal, Wisable |
Hitch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Process | Local listing, informal outreach — closer to a real estate sale than an auction. | Self-serve platform tools, data-driven valuations, buyer marketplace. | Structured, competitive process with targeted outreach and real deal-running. |
| Buyer vetting | Limited — whoever calls the sign. | Light-touch, largely self-directed by the buyer. | We assess seriousness and financing before a buyer gets your time — no tire kickers. |
| Legacy & fit | Rarely a factor — price and speed of close. | Not typically scored or discussed. | We screen for buyers who'll honor your team, customers, and reputation — not just the highest bid. |
| Relationship | Transactional, often a single local agent juggling many listings. | Largely self-service; support is there if you seek it out. | A guide through one of the most consequential decisions of your life — from before you're ready to sell through life after the close. |
| Confidentiality | Inconsistent — varies by agent. | Built into the platform, largely self-managed. | NDA-first, blind teasers, and you control when and how the news gets out. |
A sale touches your accountant, your attorney, your wealth manager — sometimes your divorce lawyer. We've built a referral network of vetted specialists who support our clients through the process, and refer their clients back to us. One ecosystem, whether your exit is 3 months or 10 years out.
Beyond CPAs and attorneys, our team includes operators who built a business in your industry, sold it, and spent years on the other side of the table at a private equity fund or strategic acquirer. They help structure your transaction and tell your story the way a buyer actually wants to hear it.
Built a regional HVAC platform over 18 years, sold to a strategic acquirer, then spent 6 years inside that acquirer's M&A team running integrations.
Sold his shop to a private equity-backed platform, then joined that fund as an operating partner evaluating acquisitions across the collision repair space.
Grew a commercial cleaning company to 60+ accounts, sold to a national strategic, and now advises owners on getting deal-ready.
"We're not in the business of getting you to sell before you're ready. We're in the business of making sure you know exactly when you are."— Hitch Advisors