How Long It Really Takes to Sell a Business
Probably one of the most common misconceptions business owners have about selling their business is how long the process actually takes.
Most people imagine it’s like selling a house: you get the valuation, list it, find a buyer, and close. A few months, tops.
But selling a business is nothing like selling a house. It’s more like a relay race where every stage depends on how well you pass the baton. If you rush one handoff, the whole thing slows down, or collapses.
The truth is, the sale timeline depends a lot on your situation.
If you’re young, still building wealth, and in no rush, an extra year of profits might not hurt. You’ve got time on your side. But if you were ready to retire a year ago and are hanging on by a thread, every extra month can feel like an eternity. In those cases, some owners start thinking about shutting down instead of dragging it out.
Both reactions make sense. Selling a business is not just a financial decision, it’s emotional. And emotions have their own clock.
The Typical Timeline
When clients ask how long a sale takes, we usually tell them 9 to 12 months.
That’s not a guess. It’s what we see in real deals, across industries and business sizes. Some go faster, some slower, but if you want a successful sale, there are stages you simply can’t rush.
Here’s what a best-case timeline looks like once you sign an engagement agreement with your broker:
Preparation (CIM + materials): 4–6 weeks
On Market: 2–4 weeks if it’s a hot listing, but usually a few months
Due Diligence: at least 2 months
Post-Close Transition: minimum 1–2 months
Even if everything lines up perfectly, you’re still looking at 6+ months of effort. And in reality, most sales take longer.
There are too many moving parts: buyer financing, landlord approvals, accountants, lawyers, lenders, emotions, egos. It’s a process where momentum matters, but control is limited.
What Slows Deals Down
Every deal has its own speed bumps. Some are predictable. Some aren’t.
The most common ones we see are:
Unorganized financials. If it takes you two weeks to pull together last year’s P&L, it’ll take the buyer four weeks to feel confident in it.
Buyer financing. Even qualified buyers can get stuck in lender paperwork or valuation debates.
Landlord delays. Commercial landlords move at their own pace, and lease transfers often become the bottleneck.
Emotions. Sellers get cold feet, buyers overthink, lawyers get protective. All normal, all time-consuming.
You can’t eliminate these factors, but you can prepare for them. The more organized and transparent you are, the faster a buyer will trust you, and trust is the currency of deal velocity.
The Emotional Timeline
There’s also a personal side to all this that most owners underestimate.
In the early stages, you’re focused on numbers and valuation. Then somewhere in the middle, it hits: this might actually happen. You might not be the owner anymore.
That realization slows people down. Sometimes consciously, sometimes not. A seller who was eager in January can become hesitant in June.
It’s one of the reasons I tell clients to start planning their exit long before they actually want to sell. You need time to process the shift from owning to letting go. That inner timeline can’t be forced either.
Why Starting Early Changes Everything
The earlier you start, the more options you have.
If you start planning a year or two in advance, you can clean up your books, document processes, train a manager, or reduce customer concentration. Each one of those moves can increase your valuation and shorten the time on market later.
If you wait until you’re burned out or in a rush to retire, the pressure starts to show. Buyers sense it. Negotiations feel tighter. And if the first few offers don’t pan out, frustration sets in.
We’ve seen owners lose interest halfway through because the process felt endless. And in some cases, they walked away entirely. Not because the business wasn’t sellable, but because they were simply done.
Selling a business is part strategy, part endurance. The more runway you give yourself, the smoother both become.
What a “Good” Timeline Feels Like
When a deal runs well, it doesn’t necessarily move fast. It just moves steady.
You see consistent communication, quick follow-ups, clear expectations. Both sides feel like progress is being made, even if it’s slow.
That’s what you want, a deal that keeps its rhythm.
The brokers, accountants, and lawyers all have their roles to play, but the owner sets the tone. When you show up prepared and responsive, the whole process speeds up naturally. Buyers stay engaged, professionals stay aligned, and the trust meter stays full.
The Reality Check
No matter how well you plan, there will be moments where it feels like nothing is happening. Weeks go by waiting for paperwork or for someone to make a decision.
That’s normal.
The sale process is rarely linear. It’s a mix of sprints and stalls, hope and frustration, spreadsheets and emotions. If you know that going in, you’ll handle it better. And that’s half the battle.
Final Thought
Every owner asks, “How long will it take to sell my business?”
The real answer: as long as it takes to do it right.
A rushed sale might get you out faster, but it rarely gets you the best outcome. The strongest deals happen when preparation, timing, and mindset all line up, and that doesn’t happen overnight.
If you start thinking about your exit early, even before you’re ready to sell, you’ll be miles ahead of most. You’ll have the flexibility to wait for the right buyer instead of the first one.
And when the right deal comes along, you’ll be ready to say yes, for the right reasons, at the right time.
