Deciding what you want from a sale before you start

Most owners start thinking about a sale with one question: what is the business worth? It is a fair place to begin, but it is seldom the question that decides whether a sale feels right afterwards. The owners who look back most calmly on their exit are usually the ones who were clear, early on, about what they actually wanted from it.

Being clear about your priorities does not make you a tougher negotiator for the sake of it. It helps you recognise the right buyer when you meet one, and it stops you being pulled towards terms that look good on paper but do not suit you or the business. Here are the questions we encourage owners to think through before any conversation with a buyer.

What does the money need to do?

It helps to separate the headline price from what you need the proceeds to achieve. For some owners, that means paying off personal borrowing, funding retirement or helping children with a home. For others, the business is one part of a wider picture and timing matters more than the last pound or dollar.

Once you know the figure you need, rather than the figure you would like, it becomes easier to judge offers fairly. You can also see more clearly how much of the price you would be comfortable receiving later, through deferred payments or an earnout, and how much you need at completion.

How involved do you want to be afterwards?

Some owners want to hand over and step away within a few months. Others would like to stay on for a year or two, perhaps in a lighter role, or keep a seat on the board. A few want to keep a share of the business and benefit from its next stage.

None of these is wrong, but each points towards a different kind of buyer and a different structure. Be honest with yourself about your energy and your plans for the next few years. A role you agree to reluctantly in the heat of a deal can be hard to live with once the sale is done.

What matters to you about the team?

For many owners, the people are the hardest part to think about. You may want the business to stay in the same town, keep its senior managers or keep its name. You may want particular long-serving staff to be looked after, or the management team to have a chance to share in future growth.

Write these points down. Some can be built into the sale itself, and others are better tested by asking a buyer directly how they run the businesses they already own and what has happened to the people there.

What legacy do you want to leave?

Legacy can sound grand, but it is often quite practical. It might be the way the business treats customers, its standing in the local community, its relationships with long-standing suppliers or simply that it carries on for another generation. Owners who have built something over decades often care as much about this as about the price.

If legacy matters to you, it should shape the type of buyer you speak to. A buyer planning to merge the business into a larger group and close the site will see it differently from one who intends to keep it running as it is.

When do you want to go?

Timing is personal as well as commercial. Health, family, a partner's plans, or simply a sense that it is time all play a part. At the same time, a sale tends to go better when the business is performing steadily rather than when an owner is tired or under pressure.

It is worth thinking about the window that suits you, and what you would do if the right buyer appeared a little earlier or later than planned. Having some flexibility usually gives you more choice.

Putting it on one page

A simple exercise helps. On one page, write down:

• The amount you need to receive, and how much of it you need at completion.
• How long you want to stay involved, and in what role.
• The three things you most want to protect for your team, customers or community.
• Anything you would not accept, whatever the price.
• The timing that suits you, and how flexible you can be.

Share it with your spouse or partner, any co-owners and your advisers. You may find that people close to you have different expectations, and it is much better to discover that before a buyer is involved than in the middle of negotiations.

Using your priorities with buyers

Once you know what you want, you can use it to ask better questions. How would the buyer handle your handover? What happens to the team? How do they think about the business's name and location? How is the price paid, and when?

Clear answers to those questions, compared against your page of priorities, tell you far more about whether a buyer is right than a headline number on its own.

How we approach this

When we speak with owners, we start by asking what they want from a sale, not just what they think the business is worth. As a long-term buyer, we want to understand what matters to you about your people, your customers and your role, so that any offer we make reflects it.

If you are starting to think about selling and would like a private conversation about your own priorities, a short call is a good first step. There is no obligation either way.