The questions owners actually ask us.

Honestly, with less false precision than most valuation tools suggest. Profitable lower mid-market businesses change hands on a multiple of sustainable profit, often four to eight times EBITDA, and where you land depends on growth, customer concentration, how well the business runs without you, and how much competition we create between buyers. The same company can be worth materially more to a strategic buyer than to a financial one. We give you a realistic, evidence-based range early, and tell you what would move you towards the top of it.

Usually earlier than owners think. Buyers pay for momentum and a credible future, both easier to demonstrate while the business is still climbing; many owners wait until they are tired or a hard year forces the decision, which is when leverage is weakest. Timing is also personal. Sometimes the right advice is to go now; sometimes it is to fix two or three specific things and sell for meaningfully more. A short conversation will tell you which you are looking at.

Usually one of three. A trade buyer often pays the most. A private equity investor backs the next stage and may want you to keep a stake. And sometimes the natural buyer is your own management team. The best buyer is frequently one you have never considered, and rarely the first to approach. Our job is to map the full universe, approach discreetly, and run enough parties in parallel that you are choosing between offers rather than negotiating with one.

For a well-prepared business, ten to fourteen months from going to market to money in the bank, plus preparation before that: a few months of materials and buyer work, a marketing and offer phase, then eight to twelve weeks of diligence and legals. The part owners underestimate: deals rarely fail on the headline number. They collapse in diligence, on problems that should have been fixed early. That is why we push preparation.

Simply, and aligned to your outcome. Most sell-side mandates pair a modest monthly retainer, which funds the serious upfront work, with a success fee payable only when a deal completes. Because the bulk of our fee depends on the result, we have every incentive to hold out for the right buyer and the last increment of value. Every figure is set out in plain terms before you commit.

Yes. Staff, customers, suppliers and competitors need not know anything is happening until you decide. We approach buyers on a no-names basis, release information in stages, and share anything sensitive only under a signed non-disclosure agreement, once a party is properly qualified. A controlled, senior-run process protects you better than casting the net wide.

Slow down, and sign nothing. Two questions decide most of the value from here. What have you already signed, and what does it commit you to? Confidentiality agreements sometimes carry long exclusivity periods that quietly remove your leverage. And what has this buyer actually paid before? Headline multiples get announced; earn-outs and adjustments do not. Approaches can become excellent outcomes, but the owners who do well respond from preparation: value known, record checked, alternatives understood.

With three questions, and price is only the first. What is the stake worth, given what the articles actually say? Can the company fund the exit: from reserves, in stages, or with a facility raised for the purpose? And how should the purchase be structured so it holds together? Our client is the company; your accountant and solicitor keep the tax and legal work, and the departing shareholder takes independent advice. Handled well, these complete calmly and the relationships survive.

Ideally twelve months; better still, two to three years. The value you achieve is largely decided before a buyer appears: clean numbers, a business that runs without you, a spread of customers, a credible growth story. Start early and these become genuine improvements; leave it late and the same gaps become discounts a buyer negotiates off your price. An honest look at where you stand today costs nothing.

You will want all three, doing different jobs. Your accountant on tax, your solicitor on the legal agreement; neither runs competitive sale processes for a living. Selling well means finding the right buyers, creating competition, holding tension and steering diligence to completion, while you keep running the business. Owners who try to do both usually find performance dips at exactly the wrong moment, and a buyer always notices.

Sometimes, but usually less than owners fear. Buyers commonly want a handover of a few months to a year or two, and may structure part of the price as an earn-out, paid only if agreed targets are hit after completion. A higher headline can be worth less than a lower certain one if too much sits in an earn-out you no longer control. How long you stay, and how much of the price is conditional, are terms we negotiate hard.

No. Some buyers will want you to keep a share and stay involved, so part of the price arrives now and part rides on the next stage of growth. Where one shareholder wants liquidity, a staged buyback or funded exit is often the better route. And sometimes the natural buyer is your own management team. Each has real trade-offs in price, risk and control; weighing them, with a number attached, is one of the first conversations worth having.