Why Most Businesses Don't Sell When They Want
Why most business owners aren’t able to sell their business when it’s ideal for them, and how to ensure you don’t end up in the same situation.
It's a Hard Truth, But an Important One.
Most businesses that go to market don’t sell. Not because they’re not good businesses—but because they’re not ready in the ways that matter to the company that buys them.
Recent research from the US suggests only 20% to 30% of small and mid-sized businesses that go to market actually complete a successful sale, and anecdotally the same applies here.
This is despite years—often decades—of effort, success, and profitability.
So what’s going wrong?
The Readiness Gap
A lot of owners assume that when they decide to sell, a buyer will be ready and waiting. But selling a business isn’t like listing a house but more like a multi-year transition of leadership, systems, risk, and relationships.
Buyers aren’t just buying your revenue—they’re buying what the business is capable of doing in the future – that is valuable to them, not what has been important to you in the past.
And that’s where many businesses fall short.
Worse, if a business is not ready, not properly ready, then it can be sold for far less than it might otherwise be worth.
Reasons Businesses Don't Achieve Their Sale Expectations
These things may not kill the business—but they often kill the prospect of a good exit.
1
No powerful, compelling proposition that makes this business the best or only choice amongst other businesses doing similar things in the same market
2
The business still operating on the systems that were developed when the business was tiny or starting up and missing the opportunity to demonstrate efficiency and cost advantages
3
Lack of innovation where the business no longer is at the forefront of their market – we often see this when a business is over 10 years old and just loses that ‘zing’ that they use to have in the first 10 years
4
And more recently, not using and capitalising on the opportunities that AI is presenting every business with (If you are missing this one, drop everything and start…!)
5
Focussing on the wrong customers where long term value can be traded off against short term sugar hits or cash flow requirements/discounting
6
And, of course, all the usual suspects: no growth, messy accounting and so on.
The Takeaway...
Even if you’re not looking to exit for 2, 5 or even 10 years, it’s worth asking:
If someone wanted to buy my business today—would I be ready?
If the answer is no, that’s not a failure. It’s an opportunity to plan forward.
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