Selling your insurance brokerage should not be a rash decision and knowing when not to sell is just as important as knowing when it’s the right time.
The same strategic care and deliberate planning that built your business should guide its potential sale. Ideally, the process starts three to five years before the sale goes through.
If you’re in one of these scenarios, now is not the time to sell:
If you’re 62 years old and want to retire by 65, you may be thinking that now is the time to sell. But if you’re less than three years from trading in your office for the golf course, your valuation and pool of potential buyers will be smaller than if you planned on sticking around longer.
Most buyers are looking to keep sellers in place for at least three to five years post-sale to promote a healthy transition, customer retention, and a positive workplace culture. We seek out sellers who still have a lot of passion and energy for the business, not ones who are running for the door.
Greg DiMartino, who sold his 30-year-old successful business to Brown & Brown, intended to stay on for five years after the sale. Fifteen years later, Greg is still an invaluable part of the team, spending most of his time mentoring teammates and relationship-building with customers and trustees to support new growth.
If you don’t have a solid succession plan in place, an acquirer can’t count on the same growth rate continuing once you’re gone. That will negatively affect your valuation and decrease the attractiveness of your business to potential buyers.
Don’t make succession planning the buyer’s problem. Invest the time and energy into leadership and key talent plans before you sell.
If you just lost your largest account, your best producer resigned, or your coastal brokerage is dealing with the aftermath of hurricane season, it may feel like the perfect time to sell. But it’s not.
Every rational buyer understands a business normal ups and downs, but no acquirer wants to catch a falling knife. If something unfortunate has happened recently in your business, most buyers will be concerned about the next looming disaster.
Buyers are seeking out successful entrepreneurs and problem solvers, not those who need help solving major business problems. Simply put, you won’t get a high valuation for a fixer-upper.
No one knows how long the environment will be soft and how much weight it will put on your business. Buyers look closely at revenue quality, growth, and sustainability, and soft markets can impact all three.
If other rate factors are positive, your business may fare just fine. A buyer may have to assume a lower growth rate in their models to account for market conditions, which will lower your valuation.
This year is shaping up to be a more selective M&A market, but many buyers are still seeking out attractive acquisition prospects in 2026. If now isn’t the right time to sell, treat this period as a chance to strengthen results, sharpen your risk profile, and reinforce your culture.
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