After taking the time to answer all of those questions from the potential business buyer, discussing what we wanted to share and not share, nothing at all came from this other company, and I do mean nothing. There wasn't even a follow-up meeting, which really surprised me. Marty said he called several times to follow up with them, and couldn't get through to their owners until today, when he was simply told they "weren't interested." He said he tried to press them for any sort of feedback at all, but they didn't say anything other than "not interested."
All I can say is that I'm glad we limited the information we gave them. Well, that, and I won't have much to say to them if we ever do meet at a local social event. What a waste of time.
While some people can say we might have taken the next step with this company if we shared more information, I think they were just on a fishing expedition on their part to learn what they could about our company. They spent a few hundred dollars on attorney's fees to get whatever they could from us, and I'm very glad we limited our answers. I feel a little vulnerable that a potential competitor now knows that our business is for sale, and that upsets me as much as anything. I just hope it doesn't come back to bite us.