Selling a business is unfamiliar ground for most owners. Here's how the work unfolds, how long it takes, and what's expected of you, so there are no surprises once we begin.
Most owners arrive at one of two doors. Each has its own rhythm. Jump to the one that fits where you are.
You're ready to exit. The work is preparation, market, negotiate, and close, on your timeline.
See the timeline 12 to 24 MonthsYou have time before you sell. The work is closing the gap between what the business is worth today and what it could be worth at exit.
See the timelineAcquiring, not selling? See the buy-side process →
Six stages from kickoff to close. The same advisor through all six.
Get the financials clean and the valuation defensible, so the market sees your best version.
Build the buyer profile and the materials, then run a curated outreach. Never a mass blast.
NDAs, then the CIM to qualified buyers. Meetings and site visits, where serious buyers separate from window-shoppers.
LOI, structure, price, and tax planning. The stage that sets up everything downstream.
Where many deals die. I manage the data room and the cadence, so you keep running the business.
Signing, funds flow, and a clean handover at the pace you planned for.
What can stretch it: financial cleanup, customer-concentration conversations, license transfers, or buyer-side financing delays. None are unusual, and all are managed in the open, not absorbed silently.
Some businesses close in six months. Others take longer. The goal is not speed. The goal is achieving the right outcome, while protecting confidentiality and keeping the business performing.
Build Value isn't a project with a deadline. The first quarter sets the map. The years in between move the needle. The sale, when it comes, runs through the same engagement.
A scorecard, a current valuation, and a prioritized roadmap of the work that lifts value most.
The highest-impact items first: financial discipline, customer concentration, owner dependence.
The structural items that take longer: management depth, systems, contracts, recurring revenue.
The same team runs the sale. No handoff to a broker you've never met. The sell-side timeline above begins.
You keep running the business. I run the process. Here's how the work splits.
Most sell-side engagements run 6 to 18 months from kickoff to close, faster on well-prepared businesses and longer on complex ones. Building value before a sale runs 12 to 24 months on top of that. You get a realistic range for your situation on the first call.
Yes, and you should. The business needs to perform right up to closing. I project-manage the process, the data room, and the buyer questions so the day-to-day demand on you stays manageable. The heaviest lift on your side is diligence, and I prepare you for it well in advance.
Less than most owners expect. You continue running the business while I manage the process, buyer communications, and transaction workflow. Your biggest responsibilities are providing information when needed, participating in key buyer meetings, and making decisions when important milestones arise.
Confidentiality holds from the first conversation. Buyers see nothing until they sign an NDA, your company isn't named in early outreach, and employees, customers, and competitors learn nothing until you decide they should.
That's normal, and a fine place to start. The first call is about understanding your options, not committing to a process. If building value first makes more sense than selling now, I'll tell you.
A short, candid conversation about where you are, what a realistic process looks like, and what your business is plausibly worth. No obligation.