Is My Business Ready to Sell?
Buyers assess the same ten things in almost every transaction. Below is each one, the question a buyer is really asking, and the difference between an answer that costs you money and one that supports your price.
The ten things buyers check
Nothing here is a surprise to a buyer. They will work through all ten during due diligence whether or not you have looked at them first. The advantage of going through them yourself is that you get to fix the weak ones before anybody is negotiating against them.
Financial records
Do you have 3 years of clean, accountant-prepared financial statements?
Buyers and their financiers work from the numbers, not from what you tell them. Informal or cash-based records do not simply reduce the price, they end deals, because a bank will not lend against figures an accountant has never signed. This is the one item that can stop a sale outright regardless of how well the business trades.
- Costs you money
- No, mainly informal or cash-based records
- Supports your price
- Yes, 3+ years of fully prepared, signed-off financials
Revenue trend
How has your business revenue trended over the last 3 years?
Direction over three years matters more to a buyer than the level. Growth supports your asking price; a decline does not prevent a sale but it moves the conversation onto why, and buyers price whatever answer you give. A flat business with a clear explanation is easier to sell than a growing one nobody can account for.
- Costs you money
- Declining significantly
- Supports your price
- Strong, consistent growth, clear upward trajectory
Owner dependency
Can your business operate normally without you for 4+ weeks?
Across every sector we cover, this is the single largest determinant of the multiple. If the quoting, the key relationships and the decisions all run through you, a buyer is purchasing a job rather than a business, and they price it accordingly. It is also the slowest thing to fix, which is why it needs the longest lead time.
- Costs you money
- No, I'm involved in nearly everything day to day
- Supports your price
- Yes, completely independently with no input from me
Documented processes
Do you have documented procedures (SOPs) for key operational tasks?
Documentation is how you prove the work can be done to the same standard by someone else. It also shortens the handover, which buyers value because it reduces the period they are dependent on you after settlement. Basic written notes are worth far more than nothing at all.
- Costs you money
- Nothing is documented. It's all in my head
- Supports your price
- A full operations manual or digital SOP system exists
Customer concentration
What percentage of your revenue comes from your top 3 customers?
One client at more than 40% of revenue is treated as a serious risk, because losing them after settlement changes the economics of the whole purchase. Under 20% is where you want to be. Where concentration is unavoidable, long-term contracts with that client are the next best thing.
- Costs you money
- Over 60%, highly concentrated
- Supports your price
- Under 20%, well diversified across many clients
Lease security
What is the current situation with your business premises lease?
For retail, hospitality and anything else tied to a location, this decides whether the business sells at all. A lease with under twelve months remaining and no option is the most common reason a profitable business fails to find a buyer, because the buyer cannot recover their investment inside the term they are certain of.
- Costs you money
- Month-to-month or expiring in under 12 months with no options
- Supports your price
- Long-term secure lease in place, or no lease required
Staff stability
How stable and capable is your current team?
Buyers will ask your team directly during due diligence, and in most sectors they make key people staying a condition of the deal. Where the technical capability or the client relationships sit with one or two individuals, their intentions matter as much as your financials.
- Costs you money
- High turnover, key roles are vacant or unreliable
- Supports your price
- Strong, experienced team that can run the business independently
Profitability
How consistently profitable has your business been in recent years?
A business can carry strong revenue and almost no margin, and buyers price on earnings rather than turnover. Consistency counts too: steady profits across three years are worth more than the same total delivered by one exceptional year and two poor ones.
- Costs you money
- Currently loss-making
- Supports your price
- Strong, consistent EBITDA with healthy and improving margins
Legal & compliance
Is your business free of legal disputes, ATO debts, or compliance issues?
Unresolved disputes, outstanding tax debts and licensing problems all surface during due diligence, and they surface at the worst possible moment, when the buyer is already committed and looking for leverage. Anything you know about is better dealt with before you go to market.
- Costs you money
- Major unresolved issues exist
- Supports your price
- Completely clean, no issues of any kind
Reason for selling
What best describes your reason for wanting to sell?
Buyers ask this early and they read the answer closely. Selling from a position of strength attracts better offers than selling under pressure, and it is the one item on this list you cannot improve by working on the business. It is a reason to start planning your exit before you need one.
- Costs you money
- The business is struggling and I need to exit
- Supports your price
- The business is performing well. It's simply the right time to exit
Where owners most often lose value
Of the ten, two account for most of the gap between what owners expect and what they achieve. The first is financial records, because weak books do not reduce a price so much as remove the buyers who need finance to complete. The second is owner dependency, because it is the one thing a buyer cannot fix by working harder than you did.
Both take months rather than weeks to improve, which is the argument for looking at this list well before you intend to sell. The items that can be fixed quickly, presentation and tidying up paperwork, are also the ones that move the price least.
Common questions
- How long does it take to fix a low score?
- Six to twelve months of focused work is typical, and most of that time goes on the two slowest items: getting three years of clean financials prepared, and genuinely reducing how much the business depends on you.
- Should I wait until everything is perfect?
- No. There are diminishing returns, and market conditions and your own circumstances matter too. The goal is to fix the two or three weakest areas rather than to score full marks on all ten.
- Which of these matters most?
- Financial records and owner dependency, in that order. Weak financials can stop a sale entirely. Heavy owner dependency rarely stops one but it reduces the multiple more than anything else on the list.
- Can I sell a business that scores poorly?
- Usually yes, at a price. It changes who buys it, from someone acquiring a stable asset to someone acquiring a turnaround, and those buyers price for the work they are taking on.
Last updated September 2026