Most business owners assume they will be ready to sell when the time comes. Profitability is strong. The team is capable. Customers are loyal. The number in their head feels reasonable. Generous, even.
But in 2025, readiness is not a feeling. It is a discipline. Buyers are no longer rewarding potential; they are rewarding proof. And increasingly, that distinction is the difference between a premium outcome and a disappointing one.
According to S&P Global, global deal value rose nearly nineteen percent in the first half of this year, yet the number of completed deals fell by six percent. That is not a demand problem—it is a standards problem. Buyers still have record levels of capital to deploy, but they are directing it only toward companies that meet their expectations from the outset. Those expectations have nothing to do with how hard an owner has worked and everything to do with how transferable, transparent, and well-documented the business is.
Our 2025 Owner's Exit Readiness Report spells out what that means in practice. We analyzed three types of sellers: Fast Track, Standard, and Value Build. Fast Track sellers, who closed in under ninety days, shared some common traits. They presented accrual-based financials instead of cash accounting. They had written operating procedures, not just institutional memory. Their customer data was organized and clear, and their management teams could run the company without the owner in the room. Standard sellers often had equally strong EBITDA, but the gaps in documentation and systems slowed them down, stretching diligence out for months and eroding value as the process dragged. In short, two businesses of similar size and profitability ended up with very different results, and readiness was the dividing line.
We have seen the same pattern across more than seventy exits totaling over two hundred thirty million dollars in transaction value. Owners who invested the time to prepare in advance—sometimes a year or more before going to market—enjoyed stronger terms, faster closes, and more control during negotiation. Those who waited until they felt “ready” often discovered too late that buyers saw things differently. In many cases, what looked like “good enough” from the inside failed to clear the bar when outside capital put it under the microscope.
Our Exit Readiness Report lays out the benchmarks buyers apply today, where owners most often fall short, and how to position your business so that it attracts multiple serious offers instead of stalled conversations. If you are one to three years away from considering a sale, now is the time to take stock.
You do not need to sell this year. But in this market, delay without preparation can be the most expensive choice of all.
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