Know the road before you drive it. Each step has real craft — this is the map, so nothing in the process can be used to rush or confuse you.
The seven steps
- Prepare. Fix the value-drivers, clean the books, document systems, assemble the data room — ideally 12–24 months out.
- Value. Get a defensible view of what it’s worth and what you’d net under different structures.
- Take it to market. Confidentially — an advisor packages the business in a CIM and reaches qualified buyers under NDA.
- Letter of intent. Agree headline price and terms. Its economics are usually non-binding, but the exclusivity / no-shop and confidentiality terms typically are — read it carefully.
- Diligence. The buyer verifies everything, often with a quality-of-earnings review. This is where unprepared sellers lose price — or the deal.
- Close. Final structure, tax, legal documents, and the working-capital true-up.
- Transition. Hand over relationships and knowledge so the business — and any earn-out or seller note — stays healthy.
Guard the secret. A leak to employees, customers, or competitors before you’re ready can trigger the exact departures that lower your price — or end the sale. Serious processes run on NDAs and a blind “teaser” that doesn’t name the business until a buyer is vetted.
Start free: the Seller’s Readiness toolkit
The “Are You Ready to Sell?” guide and the one-page Readiness Checklist — the worksheets that tell you whether you, and the business, are ready to sell well. Free, no signup.