Owners of business-valuation firm share experiences in book.

• Author: Wylie, Brooke
• Position: SMALL BUSINESS

David Tolson and Christopher Younger have spent the past six years helping business owners lay plans for selling their businesses.

That experience is reflected in their new book, "Harvest: The Definitive Guide to Selling Your Company." Tolson and Younger, co-founders and managing directors for CapitalValue Advisors of Denver, represent businesses valued at $5 million to $100 million.

"That range is a great place for us to play, given our experience and background," Tolson said. "We can start working with them to build value two to eight years before they are ready to go to market. I don't think others would look at the selling process that far in advance."

Younger started out as a lawyer and practiced for a few years before joining Expanets, a provider of networked communications and data services for small to mid-sized businesses, where he took part in 27 acquisitions over a few years, and later ended up running the company. The company sold to Avaya in 2003, and Younger joined up with Tolson.

Tolson started CapitalValue LLC, a business valuation firm, nine years ago. He soon found himself being approached by previous clients who had received offers from buyers and wanted help negotiating a deal.

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"With our ability to understand the risks, we thought we could provide a great way to help business owners get a lot of value," Younger said.

The pair wrote an initial draft...