My partner and I are planning to sell our small accounting firm (6 employees) next year. Been told we need a "data room" for the process but not sure if that's necessary for a business our size. Is this something we really need or just another expense? Seems like we could just use Dropbox or Google Drive
We just sold our 8-person marketing agency and initially thought the same way. Started with Google Drive but quickly ran into problems - buyers asking for access, tracking who saw what, and keeping everything organized. Switched to virtual data room solutions about halfway through and wish we'd done it from the start. Nothing complicated - just a secure place for all documents with better controls than regular cloud storage. The biggest advantage was seeing which documents potential buyers spent time reviewing - gave us insights into their interests before meetings. Cost was around $150/month for 3 months, which felt reasonable given the overall sale price. For small businesses, you don't need all the fancy features, just the basic security and organization tools
When selling a small business, the best data room is one that combines affordability, ease of use, and strong security features to protect sensitive financial and legal documents. patient support hub services Virtual data rooms (VDRs) are often ideal for small business transactions because they offer user-friendly interfaces, customizable permissions, and audit trails without the complexity or high cost of enterprise-level platforms.