How to Sell Your Business
This guide walks you through the entire process of selling a business, from preparation to closing — so you can exit on your terms, at a price that reflects what you've truly built.
Selling a business is one of the most significant financial decisions of your life. Done right, it's a life-changing payday. Done wrong, it's years of regret.
Words by
Matan Michael
Most business owners build their companies for years — sometimes decades — before they ever seriously think about selling. Then, when the moment arrives (burnout, a great offer, life circumstances, or simply "it's time"), they realise they have no idea where to start.
Prepare Your Business and Know Its True Value
Before you speak to a single buyer, get clear on two things: whether you’re genuinely ready to sell, and what your business is actually worth. Selling from strength — strong revenue, growing customers, healthy margins — always beats selling under pressure, and personal readiness matters just as much as the numbers. Valuation is where most sellers go wrong in both directions; buyers anchor on EBITDA and multiples, reward recurring revenue and diversified customers, and penalize owner dependency. Ideally you prepare 12 to 24 months out: clean financials, current contracts, registered IP, and a management team that can run operations without your daily input. Spend that runway working on the business, not in it.
Choose How to Sell and Run a Competitive Process
The route you choose determines who you reach and how much leverage you hold. Strategic buyers often pay the most because they see synergies, private equity offers financial buyers and partial exits, and a management buyout favors continuity at a typically lower price. For most businesses, a specialist M&A advisor or broker runs a competitive process — approaching multiple qualified buyers under NDA, preparing a strong information memorandum, and shortlisting the best offers. Their fee is almost always recovered through a better outcome, because competing buyers create leverage a single negotiation never will. Expect the process to take six to twelve months and due diligence to be exhaustive, which is exactly why early preparation pays off.
Negotiate the Right Deal and Plan What Comes Next
The headline number is not the deal — how the price is structured determines what you actually receive and when. Scrutinize earnouts, deferred consideration, warranties, and non-compete clauses, and favor certainty over the largest figure on the term sheet; an all-cash deal at a modest discount usually beats an earnout-heavy offer. Handle tax planning before you sign, not after, since proper structuring can change your net proceeds by a substantial margin. Finally, plan what comes next, because many sellers are caught off guard by the emotional vacuum after an exit. The best exits are the ones where you know exactly what you’re walking towards, not just what you’re walking away from.
