Well, so can running it to be honest, but when it comes to selling a small business located in a tiny town, you face some unique problems that your city cousins don’t.Finding a buyer amongst a much smaller potential buyer pool is one obvious disadvantage, but there is also the whole looking for buyers without appearing to look for buyers thing:

Brad Bottoset, founder of business brokerage The Liberty Group of Nevada, says owners in a small town face distinctive obstacles when it comes to selling. Mr. Bottoset, who grew up in Windsor and now lives in Reno, explains: “In a small city, there is often only one or two businesses in a certain industry. If I was representing a Ford dealership in Toronto, I’d describe it as a ‘car dealership’ in the marketing materials.

“If I was selling a Ford dealership in Sarnia, I’d describe it as ‘a retailer.’ You need to be vague in describing a small-town business in the marketing materials to avoid the entire town finding out your business is for sale.”

It’s a short article courtesy of The Globe and Mail, but one covering an area that you might not have pondered before, and definitely worth a read.