Services · Selling Your Business & Valuation
Selling your business?Sell it well.
Sale preparation and business valuation guidance.
No jargon. No obligation. No hard sell.
Selling a business starts well before the sale
Most owners only get one go at selling their business, and it’s often the biggest financial event of their working life. Buyers — and their accountants — will go through the business line by line. Messy numbers, systems that live in the owner’s head and unexplained dips in profit all come off the price.
The best time to start preparing is one to three years before you want to sell. We help you get the business ready, understand what it’s worth, and go into the sale with confidence.
Sale preparation, business valuation guidance and support through the sale — from the first conversation to settlement, working alongside your broker, accountant and solicitor.
What drives business valuation
A business valuation is more than a multiple of profit. Buyers pay for earnings they can trust and a business that keeps running when you walk out the door. The four things that move the price most:
Clean, reliable numbers
Accounts a buyer’s accountant can follow and believe, with no surprises.
Profit that isn’t you
Earnings that don’t depend on the owner working 60 hours a week.
Systems a new owner can run
Documented processes, capable staff and knowledge that isn’t locked in your head.
A spread of customers
Income that doesn’t hang on one or two big accounts.
We’ll give you an independent view of what your business is worth to a buyer today, and what would lift that value. If you need a formal valuation for legal, tax or family law purposes, we’ll point you to an accredited valuer.
How we help
Where you are now
A realistic view of what the business is worth today, and how ready it is for a buyer to look under the bonnet.
Get sale-ready
Tidy the numbers, reduce reliance on you, fix the gaps a buyer would find and strengthen the systems.
Prepare for buyers
The information buyers ask for, in the order they ask for it — and honest answers to the hard questions.
Through to settlement
Support through negotiation and the buyer’s due diligence, working with your broker, accountant and solicitor.
Selling in a few years? Start now.
Most of the changes that lift sale value — stronger profit, better systems, less reliance on you — also make the business better to own in the meantime. The Business Review Programme is a good place to start.
Buying rather than selling? See Business Due Diligence.
A typical sale preparation scenario
The owner of a profitable professional services firm wanted to retire in about three years. Clients were loyal, but most relationships ran through the owner personally, key processes lived in her head, and the accounts mixed business and personal expenses.
We set out a three-year plan: tidy the numbers so profit was clear, move client relationships across to senior staff, document the key processes and reduce reliance on the owner. We then gave her an independent view of how buyers would see the business at each stage.
A business that is easier to sell, and better to own in the meantime. A typical scenario, based on the kind of businesses we work with. Details are illustrative.
Selling a business: common questions
How much is my business worth?
It depends mostly on how much reliable profit the business makes, and how confident a buyer can be that the profit will continue without you. We give you an independent view of what your business is worth to a buyer and what would lift that value. For a formal valuation for legal, tax or family law purposes, we’ll point you to an accredited valuer.
How long does it take to prepare a business for sale?
Ideally one to three years. Some improvements, such as tidying the accounts, can happen quickly. Others, like reducing reliance on the owner or building a record of stronger profit, take time to show up in the numbers a buyer will look at.
What do buyers look for when buying a business?
Clean, reliable financial records; profit that doesn’t depend on the owner; systems and staff that can run the business; a spread of customers; and no surprises in leases, contracts or tax.
Do you replace my business broker?
No. We work alongside your broker, accountant and solicitor. The broker markets the business and finds buyers; we help you get the business ready and support you through negotiation and the buyer’s due diligence.
How much does sale preparation cost?
Our fees are based on the size and turnover of your business and how much help you want. After a free first consultation we give you a fixed price, agreed up front. See Our Fees.
Part of the Business Review Programme
We work with your accountant or finance broker. Whatever the service, we work alongside the advisers you already trust, so our advice and theirs point in the same direction. We share what we find, with your permission, and keep everyone on the same page.
Sale preparation and business valuation guidance is one of the areas we cover in the Business Review Programme, which looks at your Numbers, Systems and Marketing together. If you want the full picture, start there. If you only need help with this one area, we can do that on its own.
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