How did you arrange this buy-out? Was it an ESOP or Co-op or some other arrangement? A business broker had advised us not to do this because of increased risk, expenses, and paperwork, etc.
We hand picked the employees we wanted to carry on with the business, then simply approached them in a meeting and told them the idea we were kicking around. Gave them some time to chew on the idea, then met again to see who wanted in. Once we knew they were interested we started in on the details of valuing the business, working out all of the terms, etc. We did most of the contract ourselves, then had a lawyer fine tune it. When I surrendered my stock to the company and left, they had (5) years to pay me off and actually did it in (2). I suppose they could have sunk the company and left me high and dry, but we knew that wasn't going to happen as we hand picked these people that we knew very well.
One thing we made pretty clear is that this was a non negotiable offer and a once in a lifetime chance for them to own a very good business that will pay for itself, with a pretty nominal out of pocket entry fee. We did not entertain any price negotiations, debate about we don't need this equipment or that, etc. We also did a long term lease on the building with an option to purchase. We kept our jobs as long as we wanted to and transitioned to part time before final exit, made interest on the money we loaned them to run the business at first, got a check every month for building rent, got paid well for our company stock, and then sold the building at a good price.
I'm sure they all probably had a personal lawyer look over the contracts, but we never had any contact with any lawyers other than our own. We also kept the financials out in the open all the way through the deal, nothing hidden, and had a very simple method of setting stock value at buy out times. One big mistake I think a lot of business owners make when wanting to sell is they think their business is worth much more than it really is. Your business is really only worth; the cash it has in the bank, hard assets like equipment or buildings, and the work on the books. Things like "good name" and "potential for future earnings" are all pie in the sky.