09/06/2026
One mistake I see sellers make constantly is valuing their business through their own eyes instead of a buyer's.
I was speaking to a business owner last week. He'd built the business over years and had a national franchise expansion plan ready to launch. Then COVID hit. The launch never happened. And now he's trying to sell the concept — high asking price, no trading history under the franchise model, and multiple third-party agreements needed to actually deliver the service.
In his mind, it's a straightforward opportunity. In the eyes of a buyer, it's a different picture entirely.
Buyers don't buy your vision. They assess risk. They want to understand how the business runs, what the revenue looks like, and how it operates without you. If those things aren't clear, the price has to reflect the risk a buyer is taking on.
The most useful exercise you can do before going to market is to look at your own business as though you've never seen it before. What questions would you ask? What risks would you see? What would you need to know before you put money down?
The sellers who move fastest and negotiate from the strongest position are the ones who've done this honestly before they went to market.
Have you tried looking at your business through a buyer's eyes? What did you see?
