Stuart Earl

Stuart Earl Investor | M&A Advisor | Leader of Australia's #1 Business Buy/Sell Platform

02/06/2026

I had a deal collapse last year that should never have fallen over.

The business was solid. The offer was strong — validated by people and mentors I trust. We built in deferred elements to manage risk, a short timeframe, and collaborative incentives for both sides.

First call during the pitch — the seller was calm. No objections. Said he'd think about it.

Three days later he came back furious. Someone had got in his ear and turned a deal structure into a personal attack.

He couldn't separate structure from sentiment. The deferred component — a risk mitigation tool — felt like an insult.

Here's the reality of deal-making. Two people with different positions trying to find middle ground. That's it. There's no perfect offer. There's no structure that feels entirely comfortable for both sides on day one.

If an offer lands in a way that stings, give it time. 24 to 48 hours. Let the emotion settle. Then come back to the table with a question, not a verdict.

The buyer moved on and closed a strong deal not long after.

The seller is still holding.

If you're looking at a deal right now and want a second opinion on the structure — Comment DEAL and we'll take a look.

28/05/2026

If your advisor is only telling you what you want to hear, you have the wrong advisor.

Earlier this year I was working on a buy-side mandate. We found a strong business, the buyer was serious, and we put a solid offer on the table — price and terms both structured well.

The seller walked away.

His advisor had given him a valuation with no basis in the market. Wrong method for the type of business, and a multiple well outside what buyers are actually paying right now.

He walked away from a deal he should have taken. Because someone gave him a number that didn't stack up.

A good advisor stress tests your thinking. They push back. They give you the buyer's perspective — what a real operator with real money will see when they look at your business.

The market does not care what your advisor thinks it's worth. It cares what a buyer will pay.

Before you go to market, ask your advisor how they landed on their number. What method did they use? What comparables did they look at?

The sellers who get the best outcomes are the ones with accurate expectations who were open to negotiating.

If you're thinking about selling and want a straight read on where your business sits today — Comment EXIT and we'll reach out.

26/05/2026

Everybody tells a buyer to have their capital ready.

Nobody tells them a seller is forming a view on them from the very first interaction.

Last month I was representing a seller. I'd been speaking to a buyer a number of times — confident, curious, always asking the right questions. I had no hesitation setting up the introduction.

We got on the call and he was a different person. Quiet. Passive. Not asking questions, not building any rapport. The call ended and the seller called me straight away. He was concerned. Not about the numbers — about the buyer's ability to actually take over the business and run it.

What this highlights is how important it is as a buyer to be conscious of the image you're projecting.

That first call is the most critical. It sets the tone for everything that follows.

Google yourself — because the seller will. Does what comes up reflect someone who has the capacity to buy and run a business? Show up curious. Be present. Build confidence and rapport from the very first conversation.

Buyers who close are the ones sellers feel most comfortable handing their business to.

What's your experience been? Have you ever lost a deal you didn't expect to lose?

21/05/2026

Most people tell buyers to have their finance ready.

Nobody tells them that a seller is sizing them up from the first handshake.

Last month I was representing a seller. I'd spoken to a buyer multiple times — always confident, asking the right questions, genuinely curious. Everything pointed to a serious operator.

So I set up the call with the seller.

We got on and the buyer completely changed. Quiet. Passive. No confidence in how they spoke. No attempt to build any rapport at all.

The seller called me that afternoon. He wasn't concerned about the numbers. He was concerned about the person on the other side of the table.

That deal stalled before it started.

Buyers — the due diligence goes both ways. How you show up matters as much as what you can afford.

Have you seen this play out from either side?

12/05/2026

Why we don't put our sales mandates on websites where business brokers list thousands of businesses.

We were signing up a client this week for a sales mandate, and he asked a valid question: "Why don't you put your sales mandates on websites where business brokers list their businesses—you know, commercial real estate sites or whatever?"

It's an interesting question because internally at Ready2Exit, we 100% understand why we don't do that. But it's obviously not clear for business owners.

Main reason:
We don't want to compare the quality listings we have—that have gone through our exit readiness process, gone through a structured objective appraisal process, so we're asking fair market value based on value triggers, EBITDA, discount triggers, risks the buyer's going to look for, and what the seller needs—with every single other listing out there that's overvalued, under-qualified, and probably a full-time job and a half if not two.

If we put our listings in that bucket, we're just another listing.

Second reason:
We have a massive database of prequalified buyers who we've worked with before. We've worked on multiple mandates together. They know how we work. We know what they're looking for. We know they're capital ready. And when they see the right deal in their industry with the numbers they're looking for, we can close that really fast.

There are a number of other reasons I won't get into today. But if you're thinking about selling and your advisor is going to list your business on a listing website, I'd ask why.

What outcome are they intending to achieve with that listing site? Are they just going to take orders and wait for phone calls or emails to come through?

If that's their strategy, it's probably not a strategy.

What's been your experience with listing sites?

07/05/2026

The compounding effect of asking for help.

I was recently working on a deal—a particular structured deal I hadn't necessarily worked on before. I found myself getting bogged down trying to find the answer.

After a little bit of time, I realised all I needed to do was reach out to this particular person in my network.

He's been in the industry for 20+ years. Does deals all over the world. US-based. Highly intelligent. Highly experienced.

Literally got the answer in 30 seconds.

Rather than me trying to work it out over weeks.

It just highlighted the value of:

Being able to put your hand up and ask for help when you need it

Knowing who to reach out to and having the right people in your corner who can give you the answer or guidance when you need it

This particular problem could have taken me a long time to solve. It might have seen a deal fall over without me solving it. That 30-second conversation literally changed the momentum of the deal, and we're moving forward on it.

I highly recommend, if you don't already, getting people in your corner that you can access when you need them to answer questions they've already experienced—to save you a significant amount of time going through the same problem others have already solved.

Who's in your corner when you need help on a deal?

05/05/2026

Just got back from a meeting with a business owner looking to sell.

He's owned this business for 20 years. Started it in his mum's garage. Outstanding business.

I wanted to highlight the things I saw that will make this business really easy to sell and attract a massive amount of buyers.

First: He's built this business so he only has to do the couple of things he enjoys doing—and he doesn't have to be in the office to do that.

Second: He's put structure in his team. Multiple departments, each led by highly qualified, professional, experienced people he's developed over the years. Great pipeline of talent going through his process—really valuable to a buyer.

Third: He can access the systems from anywhere in the world. He goes on multi-month holidays with his family each year, and the business continues to run and thrive without him. He's set up systems so he can access them anywhere—not just high-level revenue and profit, but literally down to the product, down to turnaround time. Every key metric in his business is at his fingertips.

This will make it significantly popular with our buyer network. I'm more than confident this business is going to be popular.

He's also priced it at a really reasonable value. He's doing about $1 million in profit a year and he's more than realistic in what he's asking for.

When I see a business owner like this—prepared to move, everything ready, thinking in the realm of reality in terms of price—we can always find highly qualified buyers.

💬 What are you doing to prepare your business for sale?

02/05/2026

Most people who say they want to buy a business this year won't.

Not because they don't find a decent deal. Because they weren't actually ready when one showed up.

I speak to business buyers every week. They tell me they want to close on a business within the next 3-6 months. Very common goal.

It only takes me a few questions to understand where they're really at. And most of the time—probably 95%—they aren't ready just yet.

The reason? The first step they haven't done is define their buy box criteria.

→ How much profit does the business need to make for them to achieve what they're trying to achieve?
→ Are they planning on taking a wage from the business?
→ Are they planning on working in it?
→ What experience do they need to successfully take over?
→ What networks or industry contacts will give them an unfair advantage?

Without knowing that, a business buyer can easily spend months looking at deals that make absolutely no sense.

I know. I've done it myself.

I spent months looking at every single deal in every single industry because I wanted to keep my options open. What I learned: that slowed me down significantly.

So now I take every single buyer we work with through our buy box and capital stack process. We need to get really clear and defined on what we're looking for and make sure the business achieves what the buyer is looking for after settlement.

Being prepared will see you move really fast when a deal shows up that makes sense. In no time, you'll find the right business and be working in it—or have it in your portfolio growing as a valuable asset.

💬 How are you preparing to acquire? What's slowing you down?

30/04/2026

If your business has been on the market for more than 90 days without a serious offer, this will be uncomfortable to watch.

We just closed a term sheet in five days. Here's the difference:

I see this all the time, particularly with businesses listed through brokers. The ask price is astronomical compared to market norms, and it's purely focused on blue sky thinking.

"What's the potential upside? What are the low-hanging fruit a new buyer can take advantage of?"

But they're not thinking about the risk triggers buyers look at.

The problem this creates for sellers: buyers don't even inquire because they can see the valuation is astronomical compared to other businesses in that industry. They walk away before even having a conversation.

There are clear and accepted methods for valuing businesses. It starts with EBITDA and a multiple based on the industry. Then things get added on top or subtracted depending on risk and value.

If the ask price is astronomically different to where the market would start, buyers won't even inquire.

If you're selling your business, you need to think about it from a buyer's standpoint. Putting some massive exorbitant price on it will not get you a deal done. It will see you sit on the market for 18 to 24 months without inquiries.

💬 I'd love to hear from you if you've experienced this yourself.

28/04/2026

One thing I've noticed recently: how the organisation of a business seller has the power to speed up or completely bog down a deal.

We've been looking at a deal for a couple of weeks now. Initial conversations were very positive. We got the term sheet super fast—as we always do when there's a good deal on the table.

Since kicking into due diligence? The speed has come to an exhausting halt.

Why? The business still runs in a very old way. No structure. No easily accessible data. The seller has to go back every time we ask for something, and they're struggling to work through our comprehensive due diligence list because they haven't modernised their business.

This owner took over the business two years ago. Hasn't changed it much. Focused on what his strengths are—optimisation from a delivery standpoint. But now we're working through the challenges of not having really clear and accessible data to verify information.

If you're thinking about selling your business, think about what things a buyer will want to look at and how you can structure your data so it's ready to provide when they ask.

Slowing down momentum during due diligence creates doubt in both sides' minds. I've seen many deals fall over just because of this. As soon as one party feels like the other isn't ready or there's doubt about the information being provided, it can fall over relatively quickly.

💬 I'd love to hear about your experience—either buying or selling. What have you seen in this area?

Address

Brisbane, QLD

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Stuart Earl posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Featured

Share

Category