Ask an MSP owner if they’d consider selling, and the first answer — even from owners who’ve already hired a broker — is almost always the same: “I’m not really for sale.” George Sierchio calls it step one of self-defense. It’s rarely true, and it’s never the actual answer to the more interesting question underneath it: why does an owner actually decide to sell?
This episode of Cogent Conversations digs into that question from the buy side, where George spends most of his time asking it. The obvious answers — “my company’s in a great place, I’m hitting my own ceiling” or “I don’t want to run day-to-day anymore” — are real, but George’s read after 20 years in the space is that the biggest driver almost never gets said out loud.
It’s not retirement. George has yet to see the avalanche of boomer retirements everyone keeps predicting, for a simple reason: most owners have nothing else they’d rather be doing. The real driver is usually a shift on the horizon they’d rather not navigate again — and knowing that changes how a buyer should actually approach the conversation.
Watch the episode and be sure to subscribe: Watch Cogent Conversations Episode 14
Key takeaways from this episode
- “I’m not for sale” is a reflex, not an answer. George’s read after 20 years in the business: it’s step one of self-defense, even from owners who’ve already engaged a broker. The real motivation almost always surfaces once the conversation moves past the reflexive denial.
- The most common reason isn’t the one owners say out loud. Every three to five years, the industry takes a real left turn — compliance waves in the past, AI right now — and a lot of owners quietly clock their own runway to avoid navigating the next one personally. George calls it one of the biggest drivers in the business, and one of the least discussed.
- It’s almost never actually retirement. George pushes back directly on the “boomer wave” narrative: running the company is most owners’ entire identity and daily purpose, so the real motivation is closer to “I’m ready to cash out” than “I want to stop working.”
- Buyers ask “why” to build the right deal, not out of curiosity. The seller’s real motivation shapes everything from structure to transition length. Multiple partners at different life stages is a common wrinkle — and George notes it’s often backwards: the partner who says they want to leave is sometimes the one the deal actually needs to stay.
- Changing your mind mid-process can quietly break the deal. A seller who says they want to fully exit, then decides partway through that they’d rather stay on payroll, can undo the buyer’s entire model — especially on smaller bolt-on deals, where part of the return comes from cost synergies the buyer already priced in. Know your answer before you start, because the buyer built their offer around it.
- Your transition plan and your real number both need to be set before you start — not discovered mid-deal. How long you’re willing to stay, and how much you actually need to walk away and stop working day-to-day, are two answers worth having before a buyer conversation begins. One practical wrinkle George flags: SBA-financed deals often legally require the seller gone within a year, which can directly conflict with an owner who was picturing two or three.
Knowing your own why — and being honest about it before a buyer ever asks — turns out to be one of the most practical things a seller can do. It shapes deal structure, transition timeline, and whether the number you need is even realistic. The conversation also gets into the specific red flags buyers watch for along the way — customer concentration, organic growth (or the lack of it), and paperwork gaps like missing non-solicits or a workforce built mostly on 1099s — but the throughline is simple: buyers aren’t just pricing your business. They’re pricing whether your reasons for selling actually line up with the deal they’re offering.
If you’re not sure what your own real why actually is — or whether it lines up with the kind of deal you’re picturing — we’re happy to help you work through it before a buyer asks.
