The Next Nine Months
Selling a company is not a listing and a wait. It is a sequence of decisions with a calendar attached. Here is every stage, what happens in it, and what you will be asked to do.
Get a Written Opinion of ValueSet your expectations
Six to twelve months, and most of it is not about price
The International Business Brokers Association reports six to ten months from listing to close for Main Street businesses and eleven to twelve for the lower middle market. Deals between $2M and $5M have stretched this year as lenders look harder. The timeline below assumes a prepared business and a price a bank will finance. Both are things we control together before you go to market.
What happens, and what you do
Every stage has two columns: our work and yours. Where a decision is yours to make, it is marked.
- Week 1Week 1
First conversation and written opinion of value
What happens
A confidential call about your goals, your timeline, and your people. Within 5 business days you have a written opinion of value showing the earnings we used, the comparables, and the adjustments.
What you provide
Three years of financial statements and tax returns, plus year-to-date numbers.
Your decisionYou decide whether the number is worth pursuing. There is no fee and no obligation either way. - Month 1Month 1
Engagement and preparation
What happens
We recast the financials the way a buyer and a lender will read them, fix what diligence would flag, and write the confidential information memorandum. The fee, the term, and the exit clause are in the engagement letter before you sign it.
What you provide
Time with your bookkeeper or CPA, and answers to the questions buyers always ask.
- Months 2–3Months 2–3
Confidential go-to-market
What happens
A blind profile goes to our qualified buyer network and to strategic acquirers we identify for your industry. Every buyer signs an NDA and shows proof of funds before you approve them to see your name.
What you provide
Keep running the business. Approve or decline each buyer we bring you.
- Month 4Month 4
Management meetings and offers
What happens
Approved buyers meet you, after hours and on your schedule. Offers come in as letters of intent. We compare them on price, structure, financing certainty, and what each buyer plans for your team.
What you provide
A few evenings for meetings, and a decision on which offer to accept.
Your decisionYou choose the buyer. We negotiate the letter of intent, including retention and transition terms when you want them. - Months 5–7Months 5–7
Due diligence
What happens
The buyer's lender, accountant, and attorney verify everything in the memorandum. We run the data room, manage the request list, and keep the timeline honest. This is where most deals die with other brokers, and where we spend the most time.
What you provide
Answers to diligence requests, and a business that stays on plan while it is under contract.
- Months 8–9Months 8–9
Purchase agreement and closing
What happens
Attorneys draft the definitive agreement. We coordinate lender conditions, landlord consents, and the transition plan for employees and customers. Funds move at closing, and so does our fee.
What you provide
Signatures, and a plan for how and when your team hears the news from you.
- After closingAfter closing
Transition, and the year after
What happens
A defined handoff period, typically 30 to 90 days, on terms set in the agreement. We stay reachable. The plan for your year after closing was part of the first conversation, so it is not an afterthought now.
What you provide
The handoff you agreed to, and nothing you did not.
Who sees what, and when
Confidentiality is a sequence of gates, not a promise. A buyer moves up one step at a time, and you approve every buyer by name before they learn yours.
Blind profile
The buyer sees
Industry, region, revenue and earnings range, and the reason for sale. No company name, no city, no customer names.
To get here
Available to qualified buyers in our network and to strategic acquirers we select.
NDA and proof of funds
The buyer sees
Nothing more yet.
To get here
The buyer signs a non-disclosure agreement and shows they can fund a deal of this size. You approve each buyer by name before we go further.
Confidential information memorandum
The buyer sees
The full picture: company name, financials, operations, team structure, and growth opportunities.
To get here
Only buyers you have approved. Every document is watermarked and logged.
Management meeting and site visit
The buyer sees
You, the facility, and the questions that decide whether they make an offer.
To get here
After hours or off site, no signage, scheduled around your staff. Employees hear the news from you, when you choose.
- Your company is never listed on a public marketplace under its own name.
- No buyer learns your name until they have signed an NDA, shown proof of funds, and been approved by you.
- Site visits happen after hours or off site, with no signage and no introductions to staff.
- Your employees, customers, and competitors hear about the sale from you, on your timeline.
Four things that decide whether it is six months or eighteen
None of these are about the market. All of them are visible in the first week, and the written opinion of value tells you which ones apply to your business.
How we prepare a business to sellClean books
Three years of financials that reconcile to tax returns. Every month of diligence spent explaining a number is a month added to the calendar.
An owner who is not the business
If every customer relationship and every estimate runs through you, a buyer sees risk and a lender sees a reason to slow down. We help you document and delegate before listing.
A price a lender will finance
Most deals under $5M are financed through SBA lending. A price the bank will not support does not sell slowly. It does not sell.
A decision about your team, made early
Knowing who stays, who is told when, and what you want written into the offer removes the questions that stall a letter of intent.
Nothing on this calendar has a fee attached until the last day of it
The opinion of value, the preparation, the memorandum, the buyer outreach, and the diligence work are all covered by one success fee paid at closing. The percentage, the engagement term, and how you end the engagement are published and repeated in the letter you sign.
START WITH THE NUMBER
The timeline begins with a written opinion of value, delivered within 5 business days. It is free, it is confidential, and it does not come with a listing agreement.