Phase one of four
Preparing to sell a business
Before anything goes to market, four things have to be true: the financials are clean, the growth story holds up, the business runs without you, and the diligence questions are answered before a buyer asks them. Phase one is where that work gets done.
Signing to the wire: seven to twelve months. Every time given here is an estimate drawn from past engagements, not a commitment. Each sale runs on its own calendar, set by how ready and how complex the company is, by the buyers and their lenders, and by the lawyers on both sides. We set a calendar with you at kickoff and revisit it as the process moves. The sale, phase by phase
What it covers
What preparation actually means
Preparation is not a tidy-up. It is four pieces of work with outputs a buyer will test, finished in order, months before anyone sees the business.
- Financials a buyer can rely on: books built for a buyer, not for tax, with every adjustment documented
- A growth story with evidence behind it: the numbers that show where the next dollar comes from
- Owner dependence reduced: customers, decisions, and relationships that no longer run through you
- The diligence file built before diligence starts: the questions answered before a buyer asks them
Scoring
Scored today, and at target
Preparation is not a feeling about readiness. Every one of the 36 elements carries a score today and a target, and the gap between the two is the plan.
- One number for where the element stands now
- One number for where it needs to be before a buyer looks
- The tasks that close the gap, in order
Dependence
What depending on you costs at close
A business that cannot run without its owner is the most expensive thing to leave unfixed. Dependence takes quarters to unwind, which is why it starts in phase one and not at the term sheet.
- Buyers price what transfers, not what you carry in your head
- Moving relationships and decisions to the team is slow, visible work
- Some owner-dependent businesses do not sell at all
at sale. If they sell at all.
A founder who did it
What the preparation year looked like from the owner’s chair, and what it was worth at close.
David Ortiz CEO and president, Inline Rail · California
Questions
Questions owners ask before they commit
It depends on where the business starts. Clean financials and a built diligence file take months; reducing owner dependence takes longer. That is a reason to start the conversation now, not to wait until you feel ready: time before a sale gives you more options, and a first conversation tells you which ones you have.
The cost depends on the scope of the work, so we do not quote one number here. The first conversation is where we tell you what a buyer would question and what it would take to fix.
No. Preparation runs beside the business. The point is to make the growth you already have easier to prove, not to pause it.
Your deal team and the people you name. Nothing is shared with a buyer in phase one.
The work still counts. Clean financials and lower dependence help in any sale, on any date. For the sale itself, the process page walks through the four phases.
Find out where you stand today
Bring us the business as it is, now. We will tell you what a buyer would question, what it would take to fix, and what the routes to the number you have in mind look like.