Business Sale Preparation | Dealwise Advisory
Services / Business Sale Preparation
Business Sale Preparation

Most businesses don't
fail to sell. They fail
to prepare.

You've built something valuable. The difference between a good exit and a great one — or no exit at all — usually comes down to how well you prepared before you went to market.

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This service includes
  • Exit readiness audit & scorecard
  • EBITDA improvement planning
  • Business valuation
  • Buyer-ready financial documentation
  • Information memorandum
  • Strategic positioning for sale

Thinking about selling? Start with a free call →

The Reality of Business Sales

Most owners leave significant value on the table

The majority of business owners start thinking about exit far too late. By the time they're ready to sell, there's no time to fix the things that would have added real value — or made the business sellable at all.

The businesses that achieve the strongest exits have usually spent 12–24 months preparing. Not preparing paperwork — preparing the business itself. Removing owner dependency. Cleaning up the finances. Normalising EBITDA. Documenting processes. Making themselves irrelevant to the day-to-day.

"The best time to start preparing for sale is three years before you want to sell. The second best time is now."

Dealwise works with business owners to build a clear, honest picture of where their business is today — what it's worth, what's reducing that value, and what needs to change before they go to market. We then build and execute a plan to close those gaps.

~40%
of businesses listed for sale never complete
Most fail not because there aren't buyers, but because the business wasn't ready — the finances were unclear, the owner was the business, or due diligence revealed problems no one had spotted.
2–3.5×
typical range in multiples for similar businesses
Two businesses in the same sector with similar revenues can achieve very different multiples at exit. Preparation, presentation, and risk profile drive the difference far more than the headline numbers.
12–24
months is the ideal preparation window
The most impactful changes to EBITDA, owner dependency, and documentation take time to implement and evidence. Starting early gives buyers a track record to buy — not just a promise.
Exit Readiness Assessment

The eight areas that determine exit value

This is the framework we use to assess every business before we start a sale preparation engagement. How does yours stack up?

Exit Readiness Scorecard

Traffic light overview — green means buyer-ready, amber needs attention, red is a value risk

Area
Common
Status
With
Dealwise
Financial records & reporting
3 years audited/reviewed accounts, clean management accounts
EBITDA quality & normalisation
Maintainable earnings, add-backs clearly documented
Owner dependency
Business can operate and earn without the owner's daily involvement
Revenue concentration
No single customer representing more than 20–25% of revenue
Management team strength
Capable team able to run the business post-sale
Legal & contractual tidiness
Contracts in place, IP owned by the business, no contingent liabilities
Systems & processes
Key processes documented, not just in people's heads
Growth story & strategic positioning
Clear narrative on why the business is attractive and what a buyer can do with it

Buyer-ready   Needs attention   Value risk — address before going to market

What We Deliver

Everything you need to go to market with confidence

Six interconnected workstreams that work together to maximise your exit value.

🔍

Exit Readiness Audit

A comprehensive assessment of your business against the eight key areas that buyers scrutinise — with a clear, honest scorecard and a prioritised action plan.

  • Structured review across all eight exit readiness areas
  • RAG-rated scorecard output
  • Prioritised action plan with timelines
  • Indicative valuation range at current state
📈

EBITDA Improvement

Working with you to identify legitimate ways to improve and normalise earnings — increasing the multiple you can achieve and reducing buyer's questions.

  • Add-back identification and documentation
  • Cost structure review and optimisation
  • Revenue quality and sustainability analysis
  • Working capital improvement
⚖️

Business Valuation

A clear, defensible view on what your business is worth to different types of buyer — and what would need to change to achieve a higher valuation.

  • Earnings-based valuation (EBITDA multiple)
  • Asset-based and comparable benchmarks
  • Buyer-type analysis (trade vs financial vs MBO)
  • Value bridge: current vs potential value
📁

Buyer-Ready Financials

Preparing your financial information in the format buyers and their advisers expect — clean, consistent, and properly normalised.

  • Three-year financial summary normalisation
  • Management account tidying and formatting
  • Working capital statement preparation
  • Debtor, creditor, and cash position summary
📄

Information Memorandum

A professional document presenting your business to prospective buyers — structured to answer their key questions and present your business in its best legitimate light.

  • Business overview and history
  • Products, services, and competitive position
  • Financial summary and key metrics
  • Growth opportunity and investment rationale
🎯

Strategic Positioning

Helping you understand which types of buyer are most likely to pay a premium for your business — and how to position the opportunity for them specifically.

  • Buyer universe mapping
  • Strategic value identification
  • Positioning narrative development
  • Deal structure strategy
The Preparation Journey

What a typical engagement looks like

Phase 1
Weeks 1–3

Exit Readiness Audit & Baseline

We start by understanding your business thoroughly — the financials, the operations, the team, the contracts, and the history. We produce the exit readiness scorecard and set the baseline valuation. You get a clear picture of where you stand and a prioritised action plan.

Phase 2
Months 2–6

Value Enhancement Work

The implementation phase — where we work with you to address the priority items from the audit. This might mean improving financial reporting, documenting key processes, reducing owner dependency, addressing customer concentration, or working on EBITDA normalisation. The timeline here depends on what needs to change and how much lead time you have before your target sale date.

Phase 3
Months 6–9

Documentation & Presentation

We prepare the buyer-facing materials — the information memorandum, the financial summary, the data room structure. You get professionally prepared materials that present your business credibly and answer a buyer's key questions before they ask them.

Phase 4
Ongoing

Market-Ready & Sale Support

You go to market — either with a broker or directly — from a position of strength. We remain available to support the process: reviewing buyer enquiries, supporting management presentations, advising on offers received, and reviewing heads of terms.

Right Fit

Is this the right service for you?

✓  This is for you if…

You're a good fit if

  • You're thinking about selling your business in the next 1–3 years
  • You want to understand what your business is actually worth today
  • You want to maximise the value you achieve before going to market
  • You're not sure whether your business is buyer-ready
  • You've had an unsolicited approach and want to understand your options
  • You've tried to sell before and it didn't complete
  • You want an honest assessment, not just reassurance
✕  This isn't for you if…

This won't work if

  • You want to go to market immediately without any preparation (though we can still do an accelerated review)
  • You want a business broker to find you a buyer — we're advisory, not a brokerage
  • You're looking for regulated legal or tax structuring advice as the primary need
  • You're not open to hearing honest feedback about what needs to improve
  • The business has fewer than 12 months of clear trading history
Common Questions

Frequently asked questions

Ideally 12–24 months, though even 6 months of focused preparation makes a significant difference. The earlier you start, the more options you have — you can improve EBITDA over multiple reporting periods, reduce owner dependency gradually, and build a management team with a track record that buyers can assess. If your window is shorter, we'll focus on the highest-impact items first.
Our focus is preparation and advisory — making your business as sellable and valuable as possible before it goes to market, and advising you through the process. We don't act as a business broker. Most clients either appoint a broker once they're prepared, or receive direct approaches. We can advise on broker selection and review any brokerage agreement before you sign.
A business broker's job is to find a buyer and facilitate a transaction — they're typically paid on completion. Our job is to maximise the value of what you're selling and make sure you understand every aspect of the deal you end up with. The two are complementary — many of our clients use both. We often work alongside a broker to provide the financial depth and deal structuring expertise they don't offer.
Owner dependency is one of the most common issues we see — and it's very fixable with the right lead time. A business where the owner is deeply embedded in day-to-day operations will achieve a lower multiple and faces a higher risk of buyers walking away after due diligence. We'll assess the extent of the dependency, what it would take to reduce it, and give you a realistic view of how long that would take to evidence to a buyer's satisfaction.
We price on a fixed-fee basis, scoped clearly before we start. The fee depends on the size of the business, the complexity of the financials, and the scope of work involved. Some engagements are a one-off audit and valuation; others are longer-term preparation programmes. We'll give you a clear proposal after an initial conversation — before any commitment.
Client Result

"Steve's exit readiness audit was a wake-up call — but also gave me a clear roadmap to fix things and add real value before going to market. I wish I'd done it two years earlier."

SL
Sarah L.
Business Owner — preparing for exit after 14 years

Find out what your business
is worth — and how to maximise it

Book a free discovery call to understand where your business stands today and what a prepared exit could look like.

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No commitment. No pressure. Just clarity.

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