If you want to sell your business, seller-financing has become an even more common requirement. First of all, seller-financing is common and there are many resources on the Internet that explain the risks and rewards associated with such a practice.

The credit crunch appears to be making seller-financing even more common, although I have yet to see statistics to back that up. It is no secret that the commercial loan market has slowed dramatically, and the number of SBA loans have dropped as well. This has not provided any financial help for small business.  Private equity firms are acting much more conservatively, mainly because they employ a strategy of  maximal leverage when they buy small companies with high growth potential. The debt financing is not as available as it used to be, and they are not willing to tie up more of their investors' funds in these high risk enterprises. These and other factors mean a motivated seller needs to be more ready than ever to finance at least a portion of the price of the transaction.  This is a reality of the current market in which we operate.