18 months later when the owner finally decides he really does want to sell and drops the price. The motivation of the Seller is another huge factor in how quickly a business sells. A business owner that is ready to retire has made a plan. They understand that by the time they sell the business (8.2 months for argument's sake) and work in the business for another year, they are 20 months away from their daily appointment with the golf course and it cannot come soon enough! This type of Seller will price the business right, put the work in to get through due diligence in a timely fashion and make the compromises and adjustments necessary to get the deal done. In contrast, with an unmotivated Seller who is just testing the market, there are just too many obstacles and the chances of getting to the end of the process are very low in the first place. With that in mind, if a Buyer that makes an offer were to get to closing, here are roughly the timescales we normally see 1. Viewings and meeting Sellers - 1-2 months 2. Offers and negotiation to get to Heads of Terms (HOT) - 2 weeks 3. Due Diligence - 2 months (this varies greatly so just a ballpark average) 4. Contracts and eliminating contingencies, including funding - 2 months (this also varies greatly so just a ballpark average) So if everything went according to plan and the sale was completed, the process on the above timescales would take 6 months. We have completed transactions that were 4 months from listing to closing day and the owner was on his sailboat full-time by month 6. It really does depend on a Buyer, Seller and the nature of the business. There are many things that can slow the process down. Here are a few of the major ones we find:
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