One mistake that business owners often make is settling for the initial pool of potential buyers that have reached out to them in the past or that they know from prior dealings. Not having a competitive market of potential buyers is the costliest mistake you can make in selling your business -- and it catches business owners time and time again.

M&A professionals typically review hundreds or thousands of potential buyers before deciding which of those to contact on your behalf: those that may or may not have been searching for a business like yours but are willing to pay the maximum value for it.

This process requires the skill of how and where to market your business -- not just to customers and competitors -- but to other potential buyers who have a track record of successfully acquiring businesses through an auction process.

You may be able to do any one part of this process on your own but putting all the pieces is a challenging and full-time job. Licensed M&A professionals do this for a living. They know how to broaden the market of potential buyers to create competition that entices the transaction to close at a strong value.