Selling a business is rarely a simple transaction—especially when operations span multiple states, involve commercial real estate, or require balancing the priorities of owners, employees, and buyers. Whether you’re preparing to exit a $1 million company or a $30 million enterprise, success often depends on thoughtful planning, experienced advisors, and a strategy that protects the value you’ve spent years building.
In this episode of the Build It to Billions Podcast, Brett Swarts sits down with Gregory Kovsky, President and CEO of IBA Business Brokers, to explore what it really takes to navigate complex business sales in today’s market. Gregory shares insights from decades of advising business owners through mergers, acquisitions, and multi-state transactions, highlighting the key factors that drive business value, attract qualified buyers, and help owners avoid costly mistakes before closing. Together, Brett and Gregory also discuss the importance of coordinating exit planning with tax strategies, wealth preservation, and long-term financial freedom—giving entrepreneurs a practical roadmap for turning a successful sale into a lasting legacy.
Episode Highlights Here:
Brett
Before we jump into this episode, I would invite you to join our community to help you become a better steward, scale to billions, and ultimately give more or all of it away. All I want you to do is to click the subscribe button right now. I love your support, it’s incredible to see your comments, and we’re just getting started. I can’t wait to go on this journey with you. Thank you so much for subscribing. It means the world to me. Welcome to the Buildings and Billions podcast, where we guide successful entrepreneurs and investors on their journey from millions to billions. We believe the key to scaling and compounding your wealth and life starts every single day with the mindset and practice of stewardship over ownership and applying billionaire biblical principles. Our ultimate goal is to be scale and compound your wealth and life, so we can give more all the way to help MVPs. My name is Brett Swarts. Each and every episode, we are joined by the world’s top entrepreneurs, millionaires or billionaires, and they share their secrets and insights with us, so we can all level up, make a bigger impact. I’m excited about our next guest, he’s the President and CEO of International Business Associates, Pacific Northwest’s oldest and largest business brokerage firm, established in 1975 with over 30 years of experience in mergers and acquisitions, and he has personally facilitated over 300transactions involving privately held companies and family business across multiple states. His expertise spans manufacturing, distribution, technology, marine, automotive, education, retail, to and so much more, with transactions ranging from about a 1 million to 30 million in value. Please welcome to the show with me, Mr. Gregory Kovsky. Gregory, how we doing?
Gregory
I’m doing great, Brett. It’s wonderful to be here.
Brett
Excellent. For listeners, get to know you for the first time. Would you give us just a little bit more about your story and your current focus?
Gregory
Certainly, I’m happy to do it. So, I’m a Pacific Northwest boy, grew up in Portland, Oregon. IBA sold my father’s veterinary hospital, that was my family’s first exposure to the company, I left the rain, went to the University of Texas down in Austin, graduated from McCombs, explored my first career, took me to Kansas City, missed the mountains and ocean, and came back to the Northwest in 94 didn’t know what I wanted to do next, and my father said, ‘You’re a salesman by personality, you’ve got an accounting and finance background academically. I think you’d be good at selling businesses. Introduced me to the founder of the firm, Bill Osofsky. I joined in 94 emerged as one of the top salesperson people with the firm in 2000 We did an internal sale where I acquired the company, and 26 years later I’m still playing this game.
Brett
Fantastic, I love it. Great career. Let’s, let’s dive right into the topic, which is the number one,you know, secret to selling a business in today’s environment. What is the, what is the topthing? If you’re sitting down with a business owner who’s got a 510, 20, $30 million exit, and they’re saying, “Wow, Gary, how are you going to do this? How are we going to get the highest price, and the best terms, and the most certain, certainty of closing.
Gregory
I would start with the age-old saying, those that fail to plan to fail. So, you need to surround yourself with quality professional advisors. Selling a business is very sophisticated. There’s legal elements, there’s accounting elements, there’s tax elements, there’s finance elements, there’s business elements, and psychological elements, and then frequently real estate elements, and so you need to have all the domains of knowledge and experience necessary to execute intelligently, and then the fail point for many sales is not knowing the market and where to go to market, because I always say there’s no dumb money, and the people who would buy a business, whether it’s for 3 million or 30 million, they’re going to have their team, they are going to know the marketplace, and if you don’t have someone on your team who can justify the value you’re seeking, you’re going to lose at the poker table.
Brett
So good so far. I love it. I’m going to just kind of recap. You got to make sure you have all of the domains of knowledge, or have a team that has this to help you with this when you’re planning legal, accounting, tax, business, psychological, real estate elements, and. And you’re doing the planning, being intentional, right? I like to say you spent 10,000 so if you like this little, short clip of the interview I just did, click over here to watch the full interview, and please don’t forget to subscribe. Thanks so much, everybody.
Watch the episode here:
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About Gregory Kovsky
Gregory Kovsky is the President and CEO of IBA Business Brokers, one of the Pacific Northwest’s leading business brokerage and mergers and acquisitions advisory firms. With more than three decades of experience advising privately held business owners, Gregory has successfully guided hundreds of business sales ranging from closely held family companies to multi-million-dollar enterprises across industries including manufacturing, distribution, retail, technology, and professional services. His expertise spans business valuation, exit planning, buyer qualification, negotiation, and structuring complex transactions that maximize value while ensuring a smooth transition for all parties involved.
A respected thought leader in the M&A industry, Gregory is passionate about helping entrepreneurs prepare their businesses for successful exits long before they go to market. Through his educational content, speaking engagements, and advisory work, he equips business owners with practical strategies to increase enterprise value, navigate the complexities of selling across multiple states, and preserve the wealth they’ve worked hard to create. His collaborative approach with attorneys, CPAs, financial advisors, and tax professionals has made him a trusted resource for business owners seeking a well-planned and financially successful transition.
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