By Contributor,Lien De Pau
Copyright forbes
A buyer wants to talk about acquiring your business. This is the moment you’ve worked for. Then reality sets in.
You get the email. Or the phone call. A buyer wants to talk about acquiring your business. For a few seconds, you feel unstoppable. This is the moment you’ve worked for. The validation that what you’ve built has real value.
Then reality sets in. Is my business even ready to sell? What if I’m leaving money on the table? What do I do first?
Panic and possibility arrive at the same time. And if the buyer wants to move quickly, three, six, maybe nine months, you don’t have the luxury of a multi-year exit strategy. You need to know what actually matters: what moves the valuation needle now, and what’s just noise.
This is where smart, strategic preparation in a short window can transform an offer from “decent” to “life-changing.” Let’s walk through what to do, in what order, and how to protect yoursel, without burning every hour between now and closing.
The Myth of “Too Late to Prepare”
A lot of small business owners freeze when they get an unexpected offer. They tell themselves it’s too late to make meaningful changes, that the business is what it is and buyers will see it that way. That’s a myth.
Even small, targeted improvements can have an outsized effect on a buyer’s perception and their willingness to pay more.
If you’re short on time, you’re not trying to rebuild your business from the ground up. You’re reducing the buyer’s perceived risk. The less risky your business looks, the more confident the buyer will be, and confidence directly impacts the price and terms you can negotiate.
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Where to focus first:
Document your core business processes, even in the simplest way possible.
Use tools like ChatGPT to write them out from your voice notes, Loom to record quick screen walkthroughs or the build-in process template in Notion.
Make your financials clean and accessible. Buyers will want to see them fast, don’t give them a reason to hesitate.
Put basic term sheets in place with your top clients, if you don’t have this yet.
These aren’t full-blown operational overhauls. They’re trust builders. In short timelines, trust is currency.
The One Move That Moves the Needle
If you only have the capacity to do one thing before a sale, make it this: document what’s in your head.
Buyers aren’t just buying your revenue, they’re buying a system they can operate. If everything from supplier relationships to daily decision-making lives only with you, they see risk. Risk means a lower offer or less favorable terms.
Documenting doesn’t mean creating a 200-page operations manual. It means giving the buyer a clear roadmap for:
Daily operations
Key relationships and contacts
Critical recurring tasks and deadlines
Think of it as making your business “plug and play.” When a buyer can envision stepping in without you, they see a safer bet and they’ll pay more for safety.
The “Is It Fair?” Check
One of the most common fears for owners who receive an offer, is not knowing if the offer is fair, especially if you don’t have a $10,000 advisor on speed dial.
Here’s how to get clarity without overspending:
Start with a quick, free valuation to get your baseline. Tools like this business valuation tool can give you a starting point in minutes.
Compare multiples. Look at typical revenue or EBITDA multiples in your industry. If your offer is well below average, that’s a red flag.
Evaluate the structure. A deal isn’t just about the total price, it’s about how and when you get paid. How much is upfront? Is there an earn-out? Are there performance clauses?
Talk to an independent expert. This could be a fractional CFO, a CPA, or an exit advisor who doesn’t get a commission on the sale. Avoid brokers whose income depends on pushing the deal through.
A second opinion early in the process can save you from underselling or from accepting a deal with hidden pitfalls.
Contracts: Proof You’ll Keep Making Money
If you don’t have formal contracts with clients, especially your top five to ten, this is the moment to change that. Even a simple one-page Terms & Conditions sheet can give buyers confidence that revenue will continue after they take over. Without it, you’re asking them to gamble. And buyers don’t like gambling when they’re wiring six or seven figures.
Your contracts should clearly outline:
Pricing terms
Renewal or continuation expectations
Scope of services or deliverables
Client contracts show a buyer that your revenue has stability. Continuity is one of the most persuasive negotiation levers you have.
Your First Five Moves in the Next Month
When time is short, focus is everything. Here’s a condensed action plan you can start immediately:
Map your exit timeline. Even if it’s just three months, put key milestones on paper.
Run an exit-readiness assessment. Get an objective snapshot of your business health today. what drives value? What are the downsides a buyer will use to negotiate the acquisition price down?
Document three critical processes you personally handle. This might be client onboarding, a key marketing campaign, or a vendor relationship.
Update your financials. Make sure you have the last 12–24 months clean and ready to share.
Bring in targeted help. A fractional CFO or an advisor can compress the timeline and focus on what matters most to buyers.
Why Panic is the Real Deal-Killer
When a surprise offer lands, the biggest risk isn’t missing some obscure due diligence document, it’s making reactive decisions from a place of fear.
Buyers can sense panic. It can lead to rushed negotiations, overlooked red flags, and agreeing to terms you later regret.
The shift you need to make: progress over perfection. You will not fix every “imperfection” in your business before closing. That’s fine. You’re aiming to increase the buyer’s confidence enough to protect and possibly improve the deal.
Focus Over Friction
Selling your business, whether it’s been your life’s work or a project you grew quickly, is as much about mindset as mechanics. With a short timeline, the temptation is to either:
Try to overhaul everything at once, creating chaos, or
Do nothing and hope the deal holds
Neither works.
What works is picking high-impact actions, executing fast, and keeping your eye on the buyer’s perspective. Every move you make should answer one question: Does this reduce the buyer’s risk?
If the answer is yes, it’s worth your time.
Your Next Step
You don’t need years to get your business exit-ready. But you do need a plan.
Start with documentation, contracts, and clean financials. Get an independent view of your valuation and your deal’s fairness. And remember: buyers pay more for businesses they believe will run smoothly without the owner.
When time is short, clarity is your greatest advantage. The right moves, in the right order, can mean the difference between taking an offer that feels “good enough” and closing a deal that sets you up for the next chapter of your life, on your terms.
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