Hi, so

- Do you have a written contract to be paid for your work to sell the business ?

- Do you have an agrement to get a job out of it ?

How did you value the business ?
- That's what the guy wanted ?
- A multiplier of revenue or profit ?
- Assets value - debt ?

Your description of the business represents many small businesses in the US. The owner "is" the business, and without them, there is no business. This makes valuation fairly tricky.

At some point you need to decide if you want your own business or not. On that day, stop wrenching on machines for a few hours, and go setup a C corp. In most states, an attorney is not needed, but it can be helpful.

Find a tax guy / person that you like that has experience with small business taxes. They will have more impact on your work life than anyone else, so take them to lunch and pay. If you have a wife / serious GF or SO, take take them along too so you both get the whole story.

I know it sounds wierd, but you could own that business if you had a C corp setup today already. Stock is just a different version of debt / asset transfer, and it shuts out the banks, so they don't promote it. A serious business owner that wants to sell his business will understand the value of a stock based business transfer. Either they will, or their tax guy will, in which case it still works.

Harry