For most in business, selling up is a rare, perhaps once-in-a-lifetime, experience. As a result, it is not surprising that most owners are unsure whom to turn to first, for advice and practical assistance. Here we look at the ‘usual suspects’ and to what extent you might need them. The professionals most associated with business sales are accountants, solicitors, business sales agents, finance advisers and commercial property valuers. How much you might need all or any of these depends upon the size and nature of your business, as does to which you should speak first. Logically – at the risk of appearing self-serving – it should be a business sales agent, as ours is the only one which specialises purely in this field. That said, because most owners have an on-gong relationship with their accountants, they often turn to them first, and there is a lot of sense in this. Indeed, it’s the reason that accountants are our single largest source of new business referrals.