You sell a business fast by getting your documents ready before anyone asks, bringing in buyers who already have the money lined up, and setting a firm date when offers are due. You don't sell fast by cutting the price. On the sales we've run, the seller had a buyer within about a month and closed about 70 to 90 days after signing a letter of intent.
Fast and cheap aren't the same thing
Search for how to sell a business fast and most of the advice says the same thing. Price it low. Offer to finance part of it yourself. List it everywhere.
That's how you sell a business cheap. It isn't how you sell it fast.
A low price doesn't make a sale move. It just tells every buyer there's room to go lower, and the one who bites is often the one whose money isn't ready. What makes a sale move is a buyer who can actually close, competing with other buyers on a date you set.
How fast a business sale can actually go
Here's what our own seller deals looked like. These are on our deal timelines page with the rest of the deals we've closed.
- Clark CPA, an Illinois accounting firm. We had the buyer within 30 days, a signed letter of intent by day 45, and a close about 70 days after that.
- Interworks CPA, a virtual accounting practice. Under 90 days from our first conversation to close, before the next tax season.
- A multi-location services business earning over $3M a year. A strategic buyer about two months after we were hired, and a close about 90 days after the letter.
A letter of intent, or LOI, is the signed document where buyer and seller agree on price and the main terms before the detailed checking starts. Most of the waiting in a sale happens before it or right after it.
Compare that to the usual picture. On average it takes over 12 months to sell a business, and only about 30 percent of sellers who try actually close.
What actually slows a sale down
On our deals, three things eat the months.
Documents that aren't ready. If a buyer asks for three years of financials and it takes you six weeks to pull them together, that's six weeks gone, and the buyer's interest cools while you wait. We cover exactly what to have ready in how to sell your business.
One buyer at a time. Talk to one buyer and you're on their schedule. If they stall, you start over. Several buyers working off the same documents, with a date offers are due, keeps everyone moving.
A buyer whose money isn't real yet. This is the big one. Two of our deals ran about five months from letter to close. One buyer had to go through several lenders before one would close the loan. The other was on an SBA loan when the government shut down, which added two months on its own. Neither delay came from the business being sold. Both came from the buyer's money.
How to sell your business fast, step by step
- Get your financials ready first. Three years of tax returns, profit and loss statements and balance sheets, plus this year's numbers by month.
- Put the problems on the table yourself. A customer who's too big a share of revenue, a lease about to expire, a down year. Disclose it early and it gets priced once. Let a buyer find it late and it costs you weeks and money. We had a customer who disclosed right away it was union employed. It saved us so much time filtering by people who don't care vs some that do care.
- Bring in buyers who can close. Ask every buyer how they're paying for it. A buyer with a lender already lined up beats a slightly higher offer from one who's still shopping for a loan.
- Set a date when offers are due, and hold it. That's what turns interest into a decision.
- Pick the offer that fits what you want. The highest number isn't always the fastest close or the best deal.
When moving fast costs you money
Speed is worth a lot. It's not worth everything.
Cutting the price to get attention is the most expensive way to go fast. So is taking the first offer from the first person who calls, because you never find out what the business was worth to anyone else. And skipping the prep to get to market sooner usually backfires. Whatever you didn't disclose comes out in the buyer's checking, after you've agreed to stop talking to anyone else.
One thing we've seen is a seller not be honest about customer concentration. Every business has things that maybe don't look "good", and we may not know what those are. Let's disclose them, because some buyers will back away. Good! We don't want to go under contract if they aren't going to close anyway. And then we are getting offers from buyers who are ok with that, and/or won't re-trade down the road when that info becomes available, because it's already available.
The fast sales we've run were fast because the work was done before buyers saw anything. Not because the seller gave something up.
Frequently asked questions
How fast can I sell my business?
On the sales we've run for sellers, we had a buyer within about a month or two and closed about 70 to 90 days after a signed letter of intent. One went from our first conversation to close in under 90 days. Most sellers who go it alone take over 12 months.
Does selling a business fast mean selling it cheap?
No. A low price doesn't make buyers move faster. It invites them to ask for more off. Speed comes from documents that are ready, buyers whose money is ready, and a firm date when offers are due.
What's the quickest way to sell a business?
Prepare your financials before you talk to anyone, tell several qualified buyers at once, and set a deadline for offers. The months most sellers lose come from missing documents, talking to one buyer at a time, or a buyer whose financing falls through.
How long does it take to close after a letter of intent?
On our deals, about two to five months. Where we ran the sale for the seller, it was about 70 to 90 days. The deals that ran longest were slowed by the buyer's financing, not the business being sold.
What slows down the sale of a business?
On our deals, mostly the buyer's financing. Missing documents and problems found late in the buyer's checking are the other two.
Where to start
If you're thinking about selling soon, start with a number you believe. Run it through our valuation calculator, and read how long it takes to sell a business for the stages.
When you're ready to talk about selling your business, start here.
