Selling is a managed process, not a leap
Selling a business follows nine steps: planning, business value appraisal, documentation, identifying buyers, marketing, qualifying buyers, the sale and purchase agreement, due diligence, then settlement and handover. A well prepared business often sells within three to six months of going to market, and most of the work sits with your broker, not you.
The biggest fear owners carry is that selling will become a second full time job on top of running the business, or that they will fumble something and lose the deal. Neither happens when it is run properly, because the process is a defined sequence and most of the heavy lifting sits with your broker, not you. Your job is to keep running a good business and make the decisions at the right moments. Here is that sequence, start to finish.
The nine steps, start to finish
Selling a business follows a defined path. The network has been refining this process since 1996, and it breaks into nine steps that build on each other, from the first bit of planning through to the day you hand over the keys.
Preparing to sell by maximising efficiency, earnings potential and presentation. The earlier this starts, the more it pays.
Establishing what your business is realistically worth in today's market, and what would lift that number.
Building the Information Memorandum, the document that tells a buyer everything they need without you in the room.
Drawing on a database of qualified buyers to build a target list, then approaching them discreetly.
A planned campaign that reaches serious buyers without identifying your business to the market.
Vetting every enquiry for genuine intent and financial capacity before anything identifying is released.
Negotiating price, terms and conditions into a conditional agreement, with your advisers alongside.
The buyer verifies what has been presented. Good preparation is what gets you through this stage intact.
Conditions satisfied, solicitors finalise, stocktake completed, business transfers, and you support a smooth transition.
Each step builds on the one before it. Full detail on every step below.
What actually happens at each step
Planning
Preparing your business for sale should ideally start long before you intend to sell. The goal is simple: maximise profit, tidy the structure, and present the business the way a buyer wants to see it. Trimming unnecessary costs, separating personal expenses from company ones, and getting records in order all move the number.
Business Value Appraisal
A confidential market appraisal establishes what your business is realistically worth right now, based on its adjusted earnings, its assets and what comparable businesses have actually sold for. It also tells you which levers would lift that figure. Free, private, and no obligation. Read more on what your business is worth.
Documentation
The Information Memorandum is the document that does the selling when you are not in the room. It sets out the business in full: the financials, the operations, the staffing, the opportunity and the risks. It has to be accurate and honest, because consumer protection law requires disclosure of anything relevant to a buyer's decision, and because a buyer's accountant will test every line of it in due diligence.
Identifying Buyers
A large share of businesses sell to buyers who are already registered and waiting, before the listing ever goes public. Your broker builds a target list from the buyer database and, with your approval, approaches them discreetly to seek expressions of interest in strictest confidence. Behind this sits a brokerage network with more than 300,000 active buyers worldwide.
Marketing
A planned campaign reaches serious buyers through the channels they actually use, while your business stays unidentified. The most serious buyers typically show interest early, which is why the opening phase matters most, and why running several interested parties at once is what creates the competition that lifts the price.
Qualifying Buyers
Trying to vet buyers yourself is time consuming and risky. Every enquiry is researched for genuine intent, financial capacity and background before anything identifying is released, and every buyer signs a confidentiality agreement first. The tyre kickers and the competitors fishing for information never get through the gate. More on this in why use a broker.
Sale and Purchase Agreement
Your broker works with the buyer and their advisers to put together a conditional Sale and Purchase Agreement covering price, terms and conditions. Where there is more than one interested party, that competition is used to improve both. A deposit is normally paid on signing and held in a trust account until settlement. Signing does not mean the business is sold; the agreement will nearly always carry conditions.
Due Diligence
The buyer now verifies everything: financial accounts, contracts, plant and equipment lists, customer and supplier lists, leases and returns. They will also see information held back earlier for commercial sensitivity. This is the stage where under prepared sales fall apart, and where honest, accurate documentation pays for itself. Complex businesses can take considerably longer than the typical window.
Settlement and Handover
Once conditions are satisfied the agreement is declared unconditional and the sale is official. Solicitors finalise the legal documents, a physical stocktake is carried out just before settlement with both parties present, and the business transfers on the agreed date. You then support the new owner for an agreed handover period so staff, customers and suppliers transition smoothly.
What separates a good sale from a poor one
Across thousands of business sales, the same handful of principles keep showing up in the ones that go well. None of them are complicated, and every one of them is inside your control.
Price it right, not high
Price too high and savvy buyers will not consider it. Price too low and you are throwing away hard earned money. Knowing what the market is actually paying for businesses like yours is what keeps you in the sensible band.
Presentation is everything
You will get a better price if the business looks professional, organised, clean and tidy in every respect: signage, interior, fittings, office, storage. Plant and equipment should be in good operational order.
Sell by the numbers
Buyers and their accountants want current figures: financial accounts, cashbooks, banking and tax returns. Lease agreements should be available and ideally have a reasonable term left to run.
Systematic systems
Show a buyer how easily they could take over by writing your operations down: suppliers, major customers, processes, hours, service providers and what records to keep.
Honesty is the best policy
Establishing trust means not hiding or disguising anything. Any irregularities or problems will almost certainly be discovered by a buyer and their advisers during due diligence, and finding them late is what kills deals.
Give it time
Being in a hurry to sell puts you in a weaker negotiating position. Owners who allow a proper runway sell better than those forced to move fast.
Be optimistic, but realistic
Giving buyers forward scope and forecasts that are reasonable and achievable, with the detail to back them, demonstrates value. Fantasy projections do the opposite.
Don't go it alone
Selling is a complex transaction subject to legal and financial conditions, and your sensitive information needs protecting throughout. Doing it yourself can lead to uncertainty, delays and poor results.
What's expected of you along the way
Owners are often surprised how little of the process lands on them. Your part is straightforward: keep running the business well so it stays strong through the sale, provide the information honestly and promptly when asked, make the key decisions at the offer and due diligence stages, and support the handover you agree to. The buyer search, the confidential marketing, the qualifying, the negotiation coordination and the deal management all sit with your broker. That division is the whole point of engaging one.
Common questions about the process
How long does it take to sell a business?
Owners who engage a broker typically sell within three to six months, though large or complex businesses can take longer. Once an offer is received it generally takes around six to eight weeks to complete the sale process. Preparation beforehand is in your control and is the biggest lever on both speed and price.
Do I have to stop running my business while it sells?
No, the opposite. You keep running it well, because a business that stays strong through the process holds its value and its momentum. That is one reason the marketing is confidential, so you can trade normally without staff, customers or competitors knowing.
When do I have to tell my staff?
Not until you choose to, usually late in the process once a sale is well progressed with a committed buyer. A confidential process is designed precisely so the timing of that conversation stays in your hands, not the market's.
What happens to my stock, plant and equipment?
Saleable stock is usually counted and paid for at settlement on top of the business price. Plant and equipment are dealt with in the structure of the deal, either included in the price or handled separately. Your appraisal and sale strategy set this out up front.
Do I have to stay on after the sale?
Usually for a defined handover period, which often works in your favour because it gives the buyer confidence to pay full price. The length and terms are negotiated as part of the deal and are yours to shape.