Is now the right time to sell my business?

The short answer

The right time is when your numbers support the story, you are ready for the handoff, and the market offers terms you can live with. Look at those signals together. You do not need to predict the top of the market to make a considered decision. You do need a clear picture of your business and what you want next.

Read these signals together

1. Your numbers

   Can you explain your earnings and support them with records? Look at the direction of sales, margins and cash needs. Separate repeat business from a large order that may not come back. If a recent year looks unusual, write down why. A clear explanation matters more than choosing the most flattering period to show a buyer.

2. Your readiness

   Ask what happens when you step away. Who handles customers, staff and decisions? Key-person dependence is a valuation factor in IRS Revenue Ruling 59-60.¹ Also ask what you want personally: a full exit, a transition role, or more time to prepare. A business can look ready on paper while its owner still has important decisions to make.

3. The market

   Ask your advisor about the buyers who might fit your company and the terms they are willing to discuss. Keep the discussion specific to businesses like yours. A broad market headline cannot tell you whether a buyer will accept your risks or offer a transition you want. Treat market conditions as context for a decision, not a forecast.

Be clear about what a good exit means to you

Write down what you want the sale to make possible. That might be retirement, time with family, a different role, or relief from daily responsibility. Then write down what you are willing to do during a handoff. Your answers give the deal team something concrete to work toward when offers arrive.

Have your financial and tax advisors help you think through the proceeds you would need and the uncertainty you can accept. Money paid at closing is different from money that depends on future events. You do not have to agree to a structure simply because the headline price sounds attractive.

If other owners or family members are involved, talk through their expectations early. Ask who needs to approve a sale and where your goals differ. A private conversation now gives you room to work through those differences before a buyer is waiting for an answer.

Decide whether to prepare or proceed

You can choose a review date without setting a sale deadline. Revisit your numbers, your readiness and the buyer picture together, then decide what has changed.

Leave room for a decision you can stand behind

A sale process is not certain to finish. Pepperdine reports that about one in three investment-bank engagements, a median of 32%, do not close.² Treat that as a reason to understand the process and your alternatives, not as a prediction about your company.

Keep running the business while you consider the options. Ask who will manage buyer requests so the sale discussion does not absorb your whole attention. For the steps and the demands on your time, see How do I sell my business?.

If an unexpected approach has made the decision feel urgent, pause before replying. You can seek advice and understand the approach before agreeing to anything. See Someone made an offer for my business. What now?.

Sources

1. IRS Revenue Ruling 59-60
2. Pepperdine Graziadio Business School, Private Capital Markets Report 2026