Skip to main content
Free, private price ranges for owners in Raleigh and the TriangleCall (919) 555-0148

Twelve Months to Get a Company Ready to Sell

Buyers pay for what they can verify today, not what might happen. Raleigh Business Brokers Ltd lays out a plan that makes a year of preparation count.

Rather talk it through? Call (919) 555-0148 on a weekday.

An owner and an office manager sort labeled binders on a shelf in a small office

Months 12 to 10: Clean the Books

Start with the financial statements. Reconcile bank accounts, separate personal expenses, and make sure the profit and loss statement matches your tax returns. Three consistent years do more for a price than any presentation, as the pricing guide shows.

Ask your CPA to prepare a recast statement showing legitimate add-backs. If there is cash revenue that never reached the books, it will not count toward value. It is better to know that now.

Months 9 to 7: Make the Company Run Without You

Buyers ask a simple question: could you take a month off? If customers, vendors and staff all route through you, the answer lowers your price, and no document fixes that.

  • Hand off one customer relationship per month to a manager
  • Write down how quotes, scheduling and billing work
  • Give your best employee real authority and a reason to stay

If you promise equity to a manager, put it in writing with clear terms. Buyers sometimes insist that minority holders sign too.

Months 6 to 4: Look at Customers, Lease and Licenses

Pull a list of your top ten customers by revenue. If a few account for a large share, begin spreading the risk now, because buyers review several years of history.

Read your lease. A month-to-month tenancy or a rent far below market is a flag. A new lease with fair rent and options protects the price. Owners who also own the building should talk to us about whether to sell it separately.

Then list every license, permit and registration. Some, like ABC permits, expire on a sale and must be reissued to the buyer. See the Closing Desk for the North Carolina ones.

Months 3 to 2: Build Your Team

The people who built your company are not always the right people to sell it. Line up a CPA, an attorney who handles business sales and a broker.

Ask your CPA about entity structure and how the sale price will be allocated, since taxes on the gain often cost more than any broker fee.

Month 1: Pull Documents Together

Gather three years of tax returns, monthly statements, contracts, leases, insurance policies, equipment lists and organization papers. When a buyer asks for something and you scramble, it reads as hiding something.

Keep Your Foot on the Gas

Sales often take seven to nine months from engaging a broker to closing. Keep results steady the whole time. A slide makes buyers wary, and a spike right before listing makes them suspicious.

When you want a read on where you stand, request a valuation check. It is free and private.

Call (919) 555-0148