hello, I'm Ben
I'm looking for one business to run for the rest of my career.
If you've never sold a business, none of this is obvious. Here it is in plain English.
No jargon, nothing hidden. This is the whole process written from your side of the table, so you can see what you'd be walking into before you decide whether to pick up the phone.
The six steps, start to finish
- 120 minutes
A phone call
You say what you built, I say whether I am a realistic fit. Nothing written down, no numbers.
You can stop here and owe nothing.
- 2Whenever suits you
You send a few basic numbers
Only if you want to keep going. Roughly what you turn over, what the business earns, how many people you have. One page is plenty, and it saves you months if this was never going to work.
Nothing detailed, nothing sensitive, no contract yet.
- 3About an hour
A video call, properly this time
I tell you what I made of your numbers and you ask me whatever you want. Bring your spouse or your manager onto the call.
You can stop here and owe nothing.
- 4Week 3 to 5
A confidentiality agreement, then the detail
We both sign a short contract saying neither of us repeats what the other says. Only then do the real figures move, and only to me, my attorney and my accountant.
Your books should never go anywhere else. Ask, in writing.
- 5Week 5 to 8
A visit, then a real price in writing
I come and see the place, at whatever hour keeps it quiet. Then you get a written offer: the number, what happens to your team, how long you would stay. Take it to your own accountant and attorney before answering.
Nothing is binding until you sign.
- 690 to 120 days
Paperwork together, then closing day
My accountant checks the books, the bank finishes its work, the attorneys write the contract. On the last day the money is wired to you. Your crew does not know until you tell them.
You are paid on closing day.
Where the money comes from
This is the part most owners have never seen, and it is simpler than it sounds. A bank lends most of the price, guaranteed in part by a government small business programme. The buyer puts in their own savings. Sometimes the seller lends a small slice back, and only if the seller wants to.
The buyer signs a personal guarantee for the bank loan. That is worth knowing: the loan is secured against the buyer personally, not against a fund. It is a very different level of care.
A typical structure on a business this size
- Bank loanLent to me, partly guaranteed by a government small business programme. Arranged before an offer is made.75%
- My own moneyMy savings, paid to you in cash on closing day.15%
- Seller note, optionalYou agree to be paid a small slice over the next two or three years, with interest, instead of all at once. You do not have to accept one.10%
Those figures are an illustration, not a promise. The real split depends on your business, and your own accountant should be the one to run your actual numbers.
What usually happens to a family business
Widely cited figures from family-business succession research. The gap is rarely about profitability. It is about nobody planning the handover while there was still time to plan it.
Who you sell to decides what happens next
A fund has to give its investors their money back on a schedule, so your business gets sold a second time, usually to somebody bigger. I have no schedule.
what changes on day one
Everyone keeps their job, their pay and their benefits.
The name stays on the building unless you tell me to take it off.
The same voices answer the phone.
How long you stay — ninety days, two years, or as long as you like.
Where I work from: here, on site, not a head office somewhere else.
Who hears about it, when, and in what words.
And then what? My first hundred days.
Owners are right to worry that a buyer arrives with a plan written by somebody who has never met their customers. Here is mine, and there isn't much in it.
mostly I'd just be listening.
Days 1–30
Listening
- Ride along with every crew
- Sit down one to one with everybody who works here
- Meet your twenty largest customers, with you
- Change nothing at all
Days 31–60
Learning
- Follow a job from quote to payment
- Work out which kinds of work actually make money
- Meet the suppliers and the bank
- Still change nothing structural
Days 61–100
Doing
- Fix the things the crew already told me are broken
- Tighten up pricing and scheduling
- Write the plan down and show it to everyone
- Your name stays on the building
Check me out before I ever look at your books.
You are the one being asked to open the books, so the checking should start on my side. Ask and I'll send all of this within a day, before you send me anything at all.
- A criminal background check, at my expense
- My bank's pre-approval letter, on their letterhead
- A copy of my driver's licence
- My company registration
- Four people who have worked with me, with their phone numbers
“You go first” seems fair to me.
what I'll promise you
Seven things I'll commit to before you show me a single number.
These aren't sentiments. Every one of them goes into the offer letter, and my attorney has already drafted the language.
This stays between us
A signed confidentiality agreement before any real figures move, in both directions.
Nobody loses their job
No layoffs in the first twenty-four months, written into the purchase contract rather than said on a call.
Your crew hears it from you
Not from me, not from a letter, and not on the day. You choose the moment and the words.
This is the only company I will buy
I am not assembling a group. There is no fund behind me and no second acquisition planned.
Stay as long as you want to
Ninety days or three years. What you are paid does not depend on how long you stay.
The number does not move
The figure in the offer letter is the figure at closing. Cutting the price once the books are open is a known tactic and I will not use it.
A fast no
If it is not a fit you will hear so within a week. A quick clear no is worth more to you than a slow maybe.
questions people ask me
Including the ones people are too polite to say out loud.
Are you private equity?
No. No fund, no partners, no investment committee. It is my own money and a bank loan I have personally guaranteed, which means I am the one who turns up on the Monday after closing.
You have never bought a business before. Why would I sell to you?
Fair. I have not bought one, and I would rather say that up front than have you find out later. What I have done is run this kind of business day to day. And I am not doing it alone — my attorney, my banker and my accountant have done this many times between them, and you can call any of them.
What happens to my people?
They keep their jobs, their pay and their benefits, and that goes in the purchase contract for twenty-four months rather than being a promise on a call.
Who sees my financials?
Three people: me, my attorney and my accountant. Nobody else, under a signed agreement. If we do not go ahead, they are deleted and I will confirm that in writing.
I am not ready to sell for a few years.
That is fine, and honestly it is better. Setting this up well takes a year or two. I am happy to talk twice a year and leave it at that until you are ready.
How do I know you can actually pay?
Call my banker. I will give you the number and the pre-approval letter on their letterhead. A buyer who cannot fund the purchase is the most common reason these conversations collapse in month four, so you are right to ask early.
My bookkeeping is a mess.
It nearly always is, and that is normal. Cash basis, personal costs run through the company, a truck in the wrong place — none of that puts me off. The only thing that causes a problem is finding out about it late, so say it early.
What if I say no?
Then that is the end of it and you owe me nothing. I would rather hear a clear no than be managed politely for six months.
get in touch
Write to me, or just pick up the phone. Both come straight to me.
This form goes to my personal inbox and nobody else reads it. There is no assistant, no automated sequence, and nobody will call you afterwards unless you ask them to.
Send a message
Or just reach me directly
Privacy
What I collect
- What you type into the form on this page: your name, your company, your email, your phone number and your message.
- Anything you send me afterwards by email or post.
What I do not
- No advertising cookies.
- No tracking pixels.
- No third-party analytics.
What I use it for
To reply to you, and to work out whether buying your business is something we should both look at. It is not sold, and it is not shared with anybody except my attorney and my accountant, under the confidentiality agreement.
How long I keep it
Until you ask me to delete it, or until it is clear that nothing is going to happen. Ask and it goes.
Your say
Ask me what I hold, ask me to correct it, or ask me to delete it. Any of the three, at any time, by email or phone.
Terms
What this page is
This page is a personal introduction from one person who would like to buy one business. It is not an offer to sell securities, an investment solicitation, or a formal offer to buy anything.
Not advice
Nothing here is legal, tax, accounting or financial advice. Take your own advice from your own people before deciding anything about your business.
The numbers
Every number on this page is an illustration. Your business is not the illustration, and your own accountant should run your actual figures.
Nothing binds until it is signed
Nothing said here or in any conversation that follows binds either of us until there is a written agreement we have both signed.
References
The people named as references have given their permission to be contacted.
This page was built from a template. The privacy and terms wording is general information written in plain language, not legal advice, and it has not been reviewed by a lawyer. Neither the site owner nor the company that built this page accepts responsibility for it. Take your own advice.
Ben Kelly