Listing service vs. M&A advisor vs. roll-up.
Three very different deals wearing similar language. The difference shows up in your final number and, more quietly, in your terms.
A listing service lists your business and waits. A roll-up is itself the buyer. A sell-side M&A advisor represents you only, creates competition among qualified buyers, and negotiates the terms as hard as the price.
Who is actually on the other end of the phone.
If you own a pest control, termite or lawn business of any size, you get approached. The letters and the calls all use the same vocabulary (value, partnership, legacy, confidential conversation), but they come from three fundamentally different kinds of party.
Telling them apart is not about character. Good people work in all three roles. It is about structure: who pays them, and what has to happen for them to get paid.
Side by side.
When the advisor is also the buyer, the interests do not line up.
A roll-up offering to "value your business for free" is offering you the number they would like to pay. That is not dishonesty; it is the job they are actually doing. But it is not advice, and it should not be mistaken for it.
The same logic applies to any arrangement where the buyer funds the fee. If the party guiding you is paid by the other side of the table, the incentive is to get a deal done, not to get you the best one. Structure beats intention every time.
A seller-only advisor has exactly one way to earn more: a better outcome for you. That is the entire argument.
Four questions that sort it out in thirty seconds.
Frequently asked
No. A listing service typically lists a business and waits for inbound interest, and in many states may work with both sides. An M&A advisor runs a proactive, confidential, competitive process on behalf of the seller only.
You can, but you have no way of knowing whether the number is good without an alternative. Even one competing bidder changes the conversation. Frequently the same acquirer improves their own offer once they know they are not alone.
Typically a success fee calculated as a percentage of the final purchase price, paid by the seller at closing, sometimes with a modest retainer. Ask for the full structure in writing before you sign.
Specialization, who they represent, how they are paid, and who actually does the work. See how to choose a pest control M&A advisor.
Ask us the four questions.
We will answer all of them on the first call, including the ones about fees.