What buyers look for
The order a buyer reads your business in, the four questions they are really answering, and what makes them walk away in the first hour.
A buyer is not trying to work out what your business is worth. They are trying to work out what it will earn under their ownership, and how much of what you built walks out with you.
Everything they examine is downstream of that.
The four questions behind every question
| They ask | They mean |
|---|---|
| Tell me about your customers | How much revenue leaves if one relationship ends? |
| What does a typical week look like for you? | What breaks when you go? |
| Why are you selling? | Is there something coming that I cannot see? |
| How did last year compare to the plan? | Can you forecast, or do you hope? |
Answering the literal question and not the real one is the most common way owners lose credibility without noticing.
The order they read it in
Hour one — concentration and dependence. Revenue by customer, sorted descending. Then: who owns those relationships. A business where the top customer is 30% and the owner holds every relationship is a different asset from one where it is 8% and an account manager does.
Hour two — the earnings figure, recalculated. They will not accept your normalised number. They will rebuild it from the accounts and their version will be lower. That is the job, not hostility. What matters is whether the gap is explainable.
Day two — the trend. Three years, not one. Direction beats level: a business at €600k of EBITDA and rising is worth more than one at €700k and falling, which surprises owners every time.
Week two — everything else. Contracts, supplier terms, staff agreements, IP ownership, litigation, tax position. This is where deals die quietly.
What actually raises the price
The thing that ends processes
Not a bad number. An inconsistent one.
What different buyers want
| Buyer | Optimises for | Pays more for |
|---|---|---|
| Individual / MBI | Replacing their salary | Stability, a job they can do |
| Strategic / competitor | Synergy and market share | Your customers, your team |
| Private equity | Return in 4–6 years | Growth headroom, a management layer |
| Management buyout | Continuity | Terms and time, rarely price |
The same business can be worth meaningfully different amounts to these four, and the difference is not negotiation — it is what they intend to do with it afterwards. Knowing which one you are talking to should change what you emphasise.
Preparing for it
The buyer's questions are predictable enough that you can answer them before they are asked. Preparing your business for sale works through the twelve months beforehand, and common valuation mistakes covers what they find when nobody prepared.