Colorado Business Broker · Sell a Business

Sell your Colorado business confidentially — to the right buyer, at the right price.

Sean Hakes brokers established businesses across the Front Range — Denver, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Castle Rock. Off-market only. Personally handled from first conversation to close. No upfront fee.

Start a confidential conversation

No commitment. No fee. Personal response within 24–48 hours.

100% confidential · No public listing · Reviewed by Sean personally

Front Range Denver · Springs · Ft. Collins
$50K–$7M Transaction range
NDA-first Never publicly listed
$0 Upfront listing fee
Colorado business brokerage, done privately

Selling a Colorado business requires a different approach.

Listing your business on a public marketplace tells your employees, customers, competitors, and suppliers that you're planning to leave. That signal damages relationships, deflates operating leverage, and puts you in a weaker negotiating position before a buyer ever calls. The businesses that sell for the most — in Colorado or anywhere — are sold privately, before anyone outside the deal knows they're available.

I broker businesses across the Front Range and beyond: Denver metro service companies, Colorado Springs consumer businesses, Fort Collins professional firms, Douglas County home services operators, and online businesses with Colorado-based ownership. Every engagement is handled personally — I write the CIM, I contact the buyers, I manage the due diligence. There's no hand-off to a junior broker or an automated drip campaign.

The Colorado market has specific dynamics that matter for pricing and positioning: the Denver tech corridor, the growth of Douglas County, the resort economies in mountain communities, the agricultural base on the northern Front Range. That local context shapes how businesses are valued and who's buying.

What sets this apart
  • Colorado-rooted representation. Deep familiarity with the Front Range — Denver, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Castle Rock, and surrounding communities.
  • Off-market, always. Your business is never publicly listed. Buyers are approached selectively and confidentially, under NDA before any financials are shared.
  • Personal representation only. Every deal is managed directly by Sean Hakes. No staff, no outsourcing, no pipeline automation.
  • Both digital and traditional. Brick-and-mortar Colorado businesses, service companies, online businesses, content sites, and ecommerce all represented.
  • Flexible deal structures. Seller notes, earnouts, equity rollovers, and installment sales — structured to maximize after-tax proceeds and match what buyers can actually fund.
Colorado businesses represented

What this practice brokers.

From Denver service companies to Front Range retail to online businesses — represented off-market to qualified buyers.

Service & trades

Contractor, professional & trade.

Landscaping, home services, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, legal practices, accounting firms, marketing agencies, staffing companies, and property management across the Front Range. Strong recurring revenue and defensible customer relationships valued at appropriate multiples.

Retail & hospitality

Colorado consumer businesses.

Restaurants, retail shops, fitness studios, outdoor recreation companies, specialty retail, and resort-adjacent operations — particularly in Denver's established neighborhoods, Colorado Springs, and mountain communities. Priced on EBITDA with Colorado market context applied.

Online & digital

Ecommerce, content & SaaS.

Online businesses with documented revenue — content sites, niche ecommerce, subscription SaaS, and digital agencies — regardless of physical location. Represented to a national buyer pool. The right buyer for a Colorado-owned content site might be anywhere in the country.

Real estate & property

Property management & services.

Property management companies, real estate-adjacent service businesses, and Colorado companies with geographic assets and recurring management revenue. Particularly active in the Denver metro and Douglas County — one of the fastest-growing counties in the country.

The process

How a confidential Colorado business sale works.

Most Colorado business sales close 3–9 months from engagement, depending on deal complexity and buyer availability.

Stage 01 · Valuation

What your business is worth.

Submit financials (P&L, tax returns, or management accounts) and a brief operational description. You receive a confidential valuation range based on market comparables, Colorado-specific EBITDA multiples for your industry, and an honest assessment of who's actively buying businesses like yours. No obligation, no fee.

Stage 02 · Prepare & Market

Package it. Pitch it privately.

A confidential information memorandum (CIM) is prepared — a detailed package buyers receive only after signing an NDA. Outreach targets pre-qualified strategic buyers, private equity groups active in Colorado, and individual acquirers with relevant operating experience. No public listing ever appears.

Stage 03 · Close

LOI, due diligence, signed.

Qualified buyers submit a Letter of Intent. Due diligence runs under NDA — financials, contracts, operations, and key relationships reviewed. Once the purchase agreement is final, closing is structured to match the agreed terms: cash at close, seller note, earnout, or a combination. Colorado closings typically use a local escrow or title company.

Front Range, mountains, and beyond.

This practice is active across Colorado's major business markets. The Denver metro — including Aurora, Lakewood, Englewood, Thornton, Westminster, and Arvada — is Colorado's largest business transaction market, particularly active in technology, professional services, distribution, and home services. Colorado Springs and El Paso County host a strong market for defense-adjacent businesses, healthcare services, and consumer retail.

The northern Front Range — Fort Collins, Greeley, Loveland, and Longmont — has a deep base in agricultural services, manufacturing, and professional services businesses. Castle Rock and Douglas County, among the fastest-growing counties in the country, present an active market for home services businesses, real estate-adjacent companies, and consumer-facing operations serving an affluent, high-growth population.

Mountain and resort communities — Summit County, Eagle County (Vail, Avon), and the Western Slope — are represented selectively, particularly for hospitality, outdoor recreation, and vacation rental management. Online businesses owned by Colorado residents are represented nationally without geographic constraint.

About the broker
SH

Sean Hakes

Colorado Business & Domain Broker

I've been buying, operating, and selling digital and physical businesses for over two decades — starting with domain acquisitions, moving into content and ecommerce, and expanding into business brokerage. My personal portfolio includes 700+ domain names across 30+ commercial categories, a deep familiarity with the Colorado Front Range market, and direct transaction experience from five-figure digital asset sales to seven-figure operating company deals. I represent sellers personally — no junior associates, no automated pipelines, no hand-offs. When you engage me, I'm the one who writes the CIM, contacts the buyers, manages due diligence, and shepherds the deal to close.

Performance-based. No upfront cost.

Business brokerage commission is a percentage of the final transaction value, paid at closing. No upfront listing fees, no retainer for qualifying engagements. Commission is typically structured on a Lehman formula or flat percentage depending on deal size — disclosed in the representation agreement before engagement begins. If the business doesn't sell, you owe nothing. This practice generally focuses on transactions of $100,000 and above, with online businesses in the $50K–$100K range considered on a case-by-case basis.

Questions Colorado business sellers ask.

Will my employees find out the business is for sale?
Not during the marketing period. Every buyer signs an NDA before receiving any identifying information. Standard practice is to inform key employees only after an LOI is signed and due diligence begins — and only on a strict need-to-know basis. Managing this timeline carefully is one of the most consequential parts of a confidential sale.
How is a Colorado business valued?
Most small and mid-market Colorado businesses are valued on a multiple of Seller's Discretionary Earnings (SDE) or EBITDA, adjusted for industry, growth trajectory, customer concentration, asset base, and Colorado-specific market conditions. The valuation discussion is frank — not inflated to win the engagement. Overpriced listings don't sell.
What financial documents do I need to start?
Ideally three years of P&L statements and tax returns, plus a current-year YTD. If you're in early stages, a rough revenue and profit estimate is enough for an initial conversation. Full documentation is assembled before the CIM is prepared — not before we talk.
Can I stay involved with the business after I sell?
Yes, and most buyers expect it. A seller transition period of 30–90 days is standard. Longer consulting arrangements, earnouts tied to performance, or partial equity retention are all structurable depending on what the buyer needs and what the seller wants from the deal.
Do you work with online-only businesses or just physical Colorado companies?
Both. Physical Colorado businesses — service companies, retail, restaurants, trades, property management — and online businesses (ecommerce, content, SaaS) with Colorado-based ownership are represented. The buyer pools are different. The confidential, personally managed process is the same.
What's the typical timeline from engagement to close?
Most Colorado business sales close 3–9 months from engagement. Simpler online businesses with clean financials can close faster. Brick-and-mortar businesses requiring SBA financing or equipment appraisals typically take longer. You'll have a realistic timeline estimate after the initial valuation call.
Confidential seller inquiry

Tell us about your business.

No commitment. No fee. Complete confidentiality. Frank assessment within 24–48 hours.

Prefer email? seanhakes@gmail.com · Reviewed personally and confidentially by Sean.