Most small IT business owners who approach private equity firms or large MSP aggregators find themselves in a process designed for sellers with larger businesses, longer runways, and the appetite for complex negotiations. We are built for the owner who wants a straightforward, honest process – someone who has spent years building client relationships and wants those clients to be genuinely taken care of after the sale. Our offers are structured to get you as close to your target payout as possible, our process is simple, and our owner personally meets every client during the transition. That is not something a large acquirer does.

We work with smaller shops and sole operators with annual revenue under one million dollars. The key requirement is that your business has contracts for recurring monthly services — managed IT, managed security, or similar. We do not acquire break-fix or time-and-materials businesses without recurring contracts because there is no predictable revenue to structure a fair payment around. If your business has clients on monthly agreements, regardless of what those services are called, we want to hear from you.

We look at your current revenues and profit margins to determine average contract profitability. We combine that with your client count to calculate the average profit per client. From there we build a five-year payment schedule that accounts for a 70 percent annual client retention rate – a conservative and honest assumption that protects both sides. In our experience, this approach gets sellers close to the total payout they were hoping for while being financially sustainable on our end. There are no inflated upfront promises that fall apart in year two. The free valuation on this page starts that process.

For most acquisitions we use an earnout structure paid monthly over five years. Rather than a lump sum at closing, you receive regular monthly payments tied to the clients who remain with us. If your clients stay – and our client retention is strong because we prioritize the transition carefully – the total payout over the five years reaches close to your target number. This structure aligns our incentives with yours: we are motivated to take excellent care of your clients because their retention directly determines what we pay you.

The most common reason small IT businesses do not sell is that traditional buyers are not set up for deals of this size and structure. Private equity wants scale. Individual buyers often cannot finance the purchase. Brokers charge fees that make small deals uneconomical for everyone. We are specifically built for smaller shops and sole operators. Our earnout model does not require a buyer who can write a large check at closing – it distributes the purchase price over time in a way that works for a business our size acquiring a business your size. If you have been told your business is not sellable, that assessment was probably made by someone looking for a different kind of deal.

We consider both. Sellers facing a health crisis, a family emergency, a partner dispute, or a forced shutdown often need to move quickly and have fewer options than a seller planning a comfortable retirement exit. We have worked with owners and their families to take over a book of business in less than a month when the situation required it. If you are in a crisis situation and need to move fast, reach out directly — do not assume you are disqualified.

We prefer to acquire businesses in markets we already serve – our existing footprint across Oregon, New Mexico, and Northern California – because we can provide continuity of on-site service to those clients without building new logistics from scratch. If the selling business has a local technician already serving clients in the area, that makes an acquisition in any geography significantly more attractive. We are open to conversations about businesses outside our current footprint when the right conditions are in place.

The client transition is the most important part of the entire process, and we treat it that way. Before any contact with your clients, we reach agreement with you and execute the appropriate confidentiality protections – clients are not approached until a deal is in place, because premature disclosure causes clients to get spooked and migrate to another provider. Once the agreement is signed, our owner personally travels to your market and holds in-person meetings with each of your clients alongside you. The goal of those meetings is to introduce us, reinforce the relationship you have built, and give clients confidence that the quality of service is not going to change. We then onboard your clients through the same process we use for new managed IT clients. To avoid sticker shock, we honor your clients’ existing contract pricing for the remainder of their current contract term. They are migrated to our pricing structure within one year of their contract end date.

If your business has staff, we handle that transition with the same care we apply to client relationships. We hold in-person meetings with your employees alongside you and then conduct an interview process to determine whether each person is a good fit for Farmhouse Networking. The interview process mirrors our standard hiring process. Our goal is continuity – for your clients and for the people who have been serving them. We do not assume everyone will stay and we do not make promises we cannot keep, but we approach every employee relationship with genuine interest in finding a fit.

Confidentiality is fundamental to protecting the value of what you are selling. If your clients learn your business is for sale before a deal is in place, some will migrate to another provider before the transition happens – reducing the value of your business and your payout. We execute an NDA before any detailed financial information is shared. Neither party communicates with your clients until an agreement is fully executed and in-person meetings are scheduled. That sequencing is deliberate and non-negotiable on our end because it protects both of us.

You do not need a broker – our process is designed to be straightforward enough to work without one. Having an attorney review the final contract before you sign is always advisable and we encourage it. Beyond that, the process from introductory call to signed agreement is handled directly between you and us without intermediaries adding complexity or fees to a transaction that does not require them.

That depends on what you are looking for. If you want a clean exit, we can structure the transition so your involvement ends once your clients are onboarded and comfortable. If you want to stay involved in some capacity – as a contractor, a referral source, or a resource during the earnout period – we are open to that conversation. What matters is finding an arrangement that works for both sides and serves your clients well during the transition.

For a straightforward acquisition with clean paperwork, the process moves quickly. The introductory call and free valuation come first. Due diligence takes approximately 30 days. Contracts are drawn up and signed once due diligence is complete. Client meetings are scheduled during the following month. Once the contract is signed, monthly payments to the seller begin the following month. For sellers in crisis situations where speed is essential, we have completed the full process – from first contact to taking over the book of business – in under one month. If you need to move fast, tell us that upfront and we will structure accordingly.

Fill out the free valuation form on this page. It asks for basic information about your business and starts the process. Everything you share is held in strict confidence. There is no obligation and no cost. Once we receive your submission, we will be in touch to schedule an introductory call and discuss whether we are a good fit for each other.