If you plan to sell a business, read this first.

You’ve built a great business. It pays you well. You’re proud of what you’ve built. You’ve got a respected name in your industry or community. You’ve created good jobs.

Eventually, the idea of selling starts to creep in. Maybe a broker calls. Maybe a competitor expresses interest. You’re not ready—yet. But the thought sticks.

So you explore. You ask around. You start to imagine what a sale could make possible. You decide to try it.

And it’s not what you expected…

The interested competitors ghost after asking for financials. Your management team isn’t interested—or isn’t ready. Your kids say no. The broker brings “serious buyers.” After meeting a few, one finally makes an offer. But the deal quietly dies with the bank.

And that’s when the shock hits:

It won’t sell. This is often what it looks like when you try to sell a business.

Meanwhile, the months drag on. A year passes. You’re stuck in limbo—still running the business, still carrying the pressure—but with a secret: You’re trying to exit, and it’s not working.

Most owners assume selling a business will be like selling a house. It might take a few months. You clean it up, find an agent, and wait for a buyer. But here’s the truth:

Selling a business is usually harder, slower, and lonelier than you expect. Owners underestimate the preparation needed to sell a business. (It doesn’t have to be that way…)

You learn what you wish you knew earlier:

• Most businesses that do sell take 9–18 months to close. That timeline lengthens when you try to sell a business without clean books. (And then buyers often want you to stay another year or two.)
• According to the Exit Planning Institute, 70% to 80% of businesses that go to market won’t sell at all. They’ll sit on a listing page, unbought and unnoticed, while you wait and hope.

You can’t tell your team, you risk spooking them. You can’t tell customers or vendors, you risk eroding confidence. Friends may not get it or might talk. And it’s not always clear who to ask for help. Accountants focus on taxes. Attorneys focus on liability. Brokers want a listing. But who helps you figure out why your business won’t move¹?

Again: this is a great business. You earn good money. Your business is a landmark. What’s wrong?

Great doesn’t mean sellable. The goal is to build something a stranger can buy when they decide to sell a business.

Most sellers define a great business like this:

• It supports your lifestyle.
• It earns community respect.
• It gives you a sense of pride.

But buyers define “great” differently. To them, it means:

• Low risk
• Predictable revenue
• Easy transfer of leadership, sales, and operations

Think: turn-key. If it looks and feels like a machine someone else can run, they’re more likely to be interested. If it’s tied to your personality or key staff—or has messy books—buyers will often go elsewhere.

Here’s how it plays out:

Buyers are being reasonable. They want to buy something that will work—something that will help them accomplish their business or life goals. They aren’t interested in adding to their stress, confusion, or chaos. Their lenders definitely don’t want risk.

If your business is still dependent on you or a key employee, or your books are a mess, buyers don’t see opportunity. They don’t see greatness.

They believe you. They believe it works for you. But they don’t believe it will work for them. Show that a capable team could sell a business and operate it without you.

It’s that simple. It’s why most businesses don’t sell—even great ones.

Two Reasons Most Businesses Don’t Sell

1. The business isn’t ready.
2. The owner isn’t ready.

We’ve just covered the first. So let’s go deeper on the second.

Even when the business is structured well, many deals fall apart because the owner hasn’t done the emotional work to step away.

They haven’t answered key questions like:

• What will living a full life after the business look like, and how will I fund it?
• Where will my entrepreneurial energy go? Can golf or the grandkids really absorb all of it?
• How much of my identity is still wrapped up in my business? Do I know who I am and what gives me value and purpose outside of it?
• Have I built a trusted team that could run my business for at least 90 days with me just checking in?
• If I think I have, how do I feel about not being needed?

In my experience, roughly 85% of sellers start to drag their feet or undermine the sale just as it begins to feel real. That ties back to how they answer those questions.

So before you go to market, make sure you’ve developed a clear and exciting vision for what’s next. Entrepreneurs need something compelling to go to or build—something that beckons them away from their business.

What Buyers Really Want

Buyers aren’t greedy or heartless. Most are just trying to avoid buying a mess. Here’s what they’re really looking for:

• Evidence the business runs without you
• Clean, trustworthy financials
• Transferable systems
• A retainable team
• A roadmap they can follow

Proof of these factors makes it safer to sell a business.

That’s why McDonald’s sells and Mom’s Café doesn’t.

I use this analogy a lot: imagine two restaurants. One is a local favorite—packed every night, beloved in the community. The other is a franchise: clean, systematized, bland.

Nine times out of ten, the franchise sells. The local favorite shuts down.

Why? Because the franchise was designed to be run by someone who can’t find their way around a kitchen. Clear systems make it easier to sell a business.

If you want to sell your business, build it like that.

It doesn’t have to be bland. But it does have to run without you. It has to show a buyer that their investment will be safe, smooth, and strategic. And you have to be ready to let it go. Documented processes help you sell a business at a premium.

That’s how good companies become sellable.

You’ve built a great business. Let’s make sure you can sell it. With preparation, you can sell a business on favorable terms. For the price and terms you want.

If you’d like to know what your business is worth and what it would take to exit on your terms, call me for a confidential conversation.

Take good care,

Christian

¹ I’m not knocking these advisors. In fact, good CPAs, attorneys and brokers are key to a successful exit. But most (even brokers) aren’t familiar with exit dynamics or don’t take the time to explain them to clients. Look for advisors who also have the Certified Exit Planning Advisor™ (CEPA). They will be able to help.