A friend of mine recently got an offer to buy his business — out of the blue. It was one of those “too good to pass up” moments, the kind you hope for but never quite expect. He didn’t have a plan to sell. In fact, the business was doing well, and he was right in the middle of some exciting growth. But when the offer came in, he said yes. Now he’s learning something most business owners don’t realize until it’s too late: selling your company is a full-time job… right on top of the one you already have.
He’s still running operations, managing his team, taking care of customers, and putting out fires — all while juggling confidential due diligence requests, meetings with attorneys, and an endless stream of questions from the buyer’s side. He’s exhausted. He keeps saying he feels like he’s doing two jobs at once. Because he is. And here’s the thing: the business has to keep performing throughout the sale process. If it starts slipping, so might the deal.
That’s why I tell clients and colleagues the same thing — even if you aren’t actively planning to sell, it’s worth preparing like you are. Because when the opportunity comes, you won’t get extra time to get ready.
The best thing you can do is make your business sellable, even if selling isn’t on your immediate horizon. That means creating standard operating procedures for how the work gets done, documenting key processes so the business doesn’t live only in your head, building a team that can operate without your constant oversight, automating what you can, delegating what you should, and cleaning up your finances so someone can easily understand how you make money.
When those pieces are in place, not only does the business become more valuable — it becomes less dependent on you. And that’s exactly what a buyer wants to see. You don’t need to pressure yourself or rush the process. But if a great offer does land on your desk, you’ll be able to say “yes” with clarity — not panic.
How do I know this works? A previous client received an unexpected offer for his business, but it happened after we had put some structure in place. Was the work done? No, but we had made good progress and he was able to refer to the work we had done during due diligence. In addition, we switched my engagement from its original purpose of standardizing operations to helping with the sale. Collecting data, finding documents, completing information requests - all of this he was able to delegate because we had already laid the groundwork and he was comfortable delegating.
Thinking about selling someday? Or just want to run your business like an asset instead of an endless to-do list? Reach out to Beck Insights. We’d be happy to help you figure out the best way forward.
