The process, explained
No mystery. No surprises.
Selling a business is one of the most significant decisions you will ever make. Here is exactly what happens when you work with us — from the first conversation to the day it completes.
7 stages
from first call to completion
NDA-first
confidentiality protected throughout
One point of contact
we stay with you start to finish
The seven stages
What happens, and when.
Every sale is different in its detail. The structure is always the same.
Week 1
Discovery call
Thirty minutes, free, completely confidential. We talk through your situation — your financials, your timeline, your concerns about staff and customers, what a good outcome looks like to you. There's no obligation and no pitch. You leave with a clear picture of what the process actually involves.
What you get: honest answers, realistic expectations, and a sense of whether we are the right fit for each other.
Weeks 1–3
Valuation
We review your accounts, your market position, and comparable transactions. Then we agree a valuation we both stand behind — not inflated to win your instruction, not conservative to protect our guarantee. A number that will attract serious buyers and hold up under scrutiny.
What you get: a written valuation with the methodology explained clearly. You'll understand exactly how we arrived at the number.
Weeks 2–6
Preparing the business
Before a single buyer hears your name, we prepare. That means a thorough, honest information memorandum that presents the business at its best — strengths and challenges both. We also help you organise the documents buyers will ask for, so due diligence doesn't become a last-minute scramble.
What you get: a professional prospectus, a structured data room, and a business that is ready for scrutiny.
Weeks 4–12
Confidential buyer search
We market your business under a code name. Targeted, proactive outreach to buyers we believe are genuinely interested and capable — not a blast to a stale database. Every interested party signs an NDA before they see anything beyond the headline summary.
What you get: controlled, discreet exposure. Your team, customers and suppliers won't know until you're ready for them to.
Ongoing
Qualifying buyers
Not everyone who expresses interest is worth your time. Before any buyer sits across the table from you, we check proof of funds, assess strategic fit, and sense-check their intent. Time-wasters, tyre-kickers and value-destroyers don't make it through.
What you get: a shortlist of buyers who are serious, funded, and aligned with what you're trying to achieve.
Months 3–6
Offers and heads of terms
When serious offers come in, we help you evaluate them — on price, yes, but also on deal structure, payment terms, earnout conditions, what happens to your team, and the credibility of the buyer. We guide you through negotiating Heads of Terms so you go into legals in the strongest possible position.
What you get: clear, honest advice on every offer. We work for you, not the buyer.
Months 4–8
Due diligence and completion
Due diligence is where deals fall apart — or hold firm. Buyers will ask for everything. We help you respond efficiently, manage the data room, and keep the deal moving. Your solicitors handle the legal side; we stay alongside you for the commercial conversations right the way through to keys changing hands.
What you get: a transaction that completes, on terms you agreed, with a buyer you chose.
What we need from you
This is a partnership — not a handover.
We do the heavy lifting. But selling your business well requires a few things from you too.
Honesty from you
The more openly you share your concerns, your numbers, and your situation, the better we can represent you. Surprises discovered by a buyer mid-process cost money.
A bit of your time
Selling a business is not passive. You'll need to be available for conversations with buyers and to pull together documents. We make that as light a load as possible — but we do need you.
Patience at the right moments
Good buyers take time to find. A deal that completes properly is worth more than one that moves fast and falls apart in due diligence. We'll always tell you where things stand.
Typical timeline
Most sales complete within four to eight months.
The biggest variable is preparation. A business that arrives at the buyer search stage well-organised, with clean accounts and a professional prospectus, moves significantly faster than one that is not. That is why we invest time upfront — and why the Sale Readiness Programme exists for owners who want to prepare properly before going to market.
Process questions
Things owners usually ask.
Most business sales take between four and twelve months from valuation to completion — though this varies by sector, size, and the readiness of the business. The preparation stage is where time is often saved later: a well-prepared business moves faster once buyers are engaged.
Only when you decide. We market confidentially, under a code name, and all buyers sign an NDA before seeing any detail. Most sellers choose to tell staff after Heads of Terms are signed — at which point the deal is serious and the buyer's intentions are clear.
You are never obligated to accept an offer. Our job is to generate multiple serious offers so you have a genuine choice — not to pressure you into the first bid that comes in. We'll advise honestly on whether an offer is fair, but the decision is always yours.
Not always — it depends on the business and the complexity of the deal. A straightforward asset transfer can sometimes be handled with relatively light legal input. For more complex transactions, specialist advice matters. We work with a panel of M&A solicitors who understand business sales and move at pace, but we are equally happy to work alongside any legal team you already have a relationship with.
It happens — due diligence occasionally surfaces issues that cannot be resolved, or a buyer's funding falls through. When it does, we regroup, learn what we can from the process, and go back to our shortlist. Our guarantee means we keep going until we deliver.
Ready to find out what your business is worth — and what selling it would actually look like?
A 30-minute discovery call is the right place to start. Confidential, no obligation, no pressure.