Every business sale involves two conversations. The first is about earnings: what the business makes and what a buyer can expect to earn. That conversation gets most of the attention. But it’s the second conversation that determines whether a deal completes, and at what price: how much risk is the buyer taking on?
Across hundreds of transactions a year, we see the same pattern. Two businesses with comparable profit can produce vastly different outcomes. One attracting strong offers early, the other drifting through due diligence as buyers write risk into the deal through slower decisions, tougher terms, or a lower price. The difference is rarely the earnings. It’s how transferable and low-risk the business feels to buy.
Buyers are buying continuity, not just earnings
Buyers decide based on what they can rely on after handover. They are not just buying last year’s result. They are buying the likelihood the business will keep producing it with someone else at the helm.
Profit gets attention. Risk determines price.
The businesses that attract the strongest offers typically share three characteristics: repeatable, defensible earnings with clean add-backs; operational stability that doesn’t depend on the owner holding things together; and durable relationships with customers, suppliers, and staff that will survive the transition. When all three are visible and supported by evidence, buyers move faster and push less.
Where deals unravel: the detail buyers scrutinise
Transferability is built from small signals that tell a buyer the business will keep working without the current owner.
It starts with the numbers. Buyers want clean financials and earnings they can rely on. Add-backs must be clear and defensible, not a creative exercise. A good broker tests this early, before an accountant or bank picks it apart during due diligence.
Then comes how the business operates day to day. Documented systems, defined roles, and stable customer and supplier arrangements reduce friction for a new owner. Where contracts or key relationships are informal or unclear, buyers slow down, seek protections, or adjust their price.
We recently took a well-performing services business to market. The financials were strong, buyer interest was immediate, but the owner’s key client relationships were undocumented and two critical supplier arrangements were handshake agreements. Early interest from three qualified buyers narrowed to one, and that buyer sought significant price protections. Had those arrangements been formalised before going to market, the competitive tension would have held and the outcome would have been materially different. It’s a pattern we see regularly: the gaps that seem minor to an owner loom large for someone writing a cheque.
Low risk creates confidence and protects value
Buyers move quickly when the story, the numbers, and the day-to-day reality line up, and the information is easy to verify.
This is where the sale process matters as much as the business itself. Managing what is released, when, and in what context means buyers can form a view without confusion. Small gaps are dealt with early, before they become late-stage issues that erode confidence or reopen price discussions.
Sellers often think buyers are negotiating on price. More often, they are negotiating on risk. When transferability is visible and supported by evidence, the negotiation shifts from “what could go wrong” to “how do we get this done.”
Preparing the business for handover
At LINK, we look at every business the way a buyer will. We identify where confidence will hold and where it may weaken, across the numbers, operations, and the handover itself. That includes pressure-testing earnings, flagging owner-dependence, and spotting informal arrangements that will attract scrutiny.
From there, we work with the owner to reduce avoidable friction before going to market: clarifying how the business works and how it will transfer. During the sale process, that clarity is maintained through deliberate information release and early issue management.
What buyers are really buying
Buyers are buying confidence. Confidence that earnings are sustainable. Confidence that the business will function without disruption. Confidence that what they see is what they will get.
Profit opens the door. Transferability and low risk are what turn interest into action. The owners who achieve the strongest outcomes tend to start where buyers start: with the handover.
