Small Business Owners’ Dilemma

Small business owners who want to retire are struggling to sell their businesses because banks won’t lend money to those willing to buy. Sellers may have to find wealthy buyers, finance a large portion of the deal themselves, or hold on to the business longer than they want. How these small-business owners choose to deal with this problem will greatly affect their ultimate level of wealth.

For more information, including details about small-business owners’ three options of selling, holding, and buying, see Paul Sullivan, Finding an Alternative to Selling and Retiring, N.Y. Times, Aug. 6, 2010.

Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this to my attention.