Selling your business is one of the most consequential decisions you’ll ever make. Whether you’re preparing to retire, exit for strategic reasons, or unlock capital for your next venture, how you approach the pre-sale phase will directly impact value, interest, and speed of transaction.
Here are five critical things to get right before taking your business to market:
1. Get Your House in Order Financially
No serious buyer will proceed without a clear view of your financials. That means audited (or at least reviewed) accounts, clean and understandable management reporting, and consistency across documentation.
Tidy up your P&L and balance sheet:
- Create an adjustment schedule to highlight one-off or discretionary spend to reflect true profitability.
- Ensure working capital is stable and predictable.
- Forecast realistically, with rationale.
If there are any skeletons — tax issues, legacy debts, over-reliance on specific clients — deal with them now, not mid-due diligence.
2. Clarify Ownership, IP and Contracts
Buyers don’t like ambiguity. Make sure ownership structures are clear (including any minority or silent investors). If intellectual property is central to your offer, ensure it’s properly registered and legally owned by the business — not the founder or a third party.
Similarly, ensure client and supplier contracts are up-to-date, assignable, and ideally long-term. A buyer is purchasing the future cash flow of your business — anything that introduces doubt will reduce their valuation or interest.
3. Build a Management Team That Can Run Without You
If the business revolves around you, it’s potentially less valuable, but more importantly, a buyer is likely to want to retain you – meaning you go from owner to employee. Buyers may pay a premium for businesses with leadership teams that can operate independently of the founder – but most certainly you will open up more options to exit completely earlier if you have a team. If you’re still the key decision-maker, rainmaker, and problem-solver, now’s the time to delegate, elevate others, and document processes. This is critical though as the wrong hire at this stage can set you back significantly.
Consider appointing a second-tier leadership team and clearly defining roles, bring in succession planning experts to help you uncover what type of leadership team you need and who will fit into the dynamic. A well-functioning team creates continuity, reduces transition risk, and builds buyer confidence.
4. Define the Strategic Narrative
Buyers aren’t just buying numbers — they’re buying a growth story. What strategic opportunities exist? What differentiates your business in the market? Why now? What value can it bring to that particular buyer?
Craft a clear, compelling narrative that links past performance to future potential. Highlight market trends, competitive advantages, untapped opportunities, and how a buyer could leverage them post-acquisition.
This narrative will underpin your Information Memorandum (IM), pitch decks and early buyer conversations — it must be grounded in fact but aspirational in tone.
5. Choose the Right Advisors Early
This is not the time to DIY. Surround yourself with experienced advisors — particularly M&A specialists who can lead the process without you being distracted from the day-to-day. The right team can make or save you millions in valuation, negotiation terms, structuring and buyer access.
Choose people who will challenge your assumptions, protect your interests, and represent your business credibly to the right buyers. Good advisors will also help manage emotion — and this process can be emotional.
Final Thought
Getting ready to sell isn’t just about preparing your business — it’s about preparing yourself. Set your expectations early, understand what buyers value, and start planning well before you’re ready to exit. Done right, it’s not just a transaction — it’s a transformation.