8 Step Process of selling a business from start to finish

This article was originally written in March 2023 and has since been updated with new discoveries and research in 2025.

Selling your business can feel like stepping into uncharted territory. You’ve poured years into building something real—something valuable. 

And now that it’s time to move on, the questions come fast: What’s my business worth? How do I find the right buyer? Will this process drag on for years?

That’s where a structured sales process makes all the difference. Whether you run a single-location bakery, a small business, or a multi-unit service business, understanding the actual steps to sell your business can prevent missed opportunities, align your sales team, and ultimately lead to a better deal.

This guide walks you through the full business sale process—from decision-making to closing—with practical insights for every phase. It also demonstrates how Baton Market streamlines the process, combining technology, expert guidance, and vetted buyers to help you close with confidence.

Step 1: Decide If You’re Ready to Sell

Selling a business isn’t just a financial decision—it’s personal. Maybe you’re retiring, burned out, eyeing a new opportunity, or responding to a shift in market dynamics. Regardless of your reason, you need clarity on both your motivation and your ideal outcome.

This is where an initial business valuation helps. It provides a benchmark for your asking price, helps define your exit strategy, and equips you with the facts to move forward—or not.

Keep in mind that your financial health and tax obligations play into this moment. Evaluate how much of your personal lifestyle is tied to the business—everything from health insurance to vehicle payments—and assess whether the proceeds from a sale will realistically support your next chapter.

These are just a few of the things to consider when selling a business—getting clear on your goals now sets the tone for the entire sale.

Step 2: Get a Professional Business Valuation

An accurate valuation isn’t about inflating numbers or guessing. It’s about establishing trust—with yourself and with potential buyers.

Business valuations consider cash flow, financial statements, tangible and intangible assets, similar companies in your industry, and other factors like location and growth potential. They also factor in debt, liabilities, and historical sales data. This is where financial advisors or a valuation expert can help you reach a full understanding of your business’s worth.

Baton offers a free, data-driven valuation tool that’s accurate within 10% of your final sale price. By evaluating comparable businesses and analyzing multiple valuation models—like SDE, EBITDA multiples, and discounted cash flow—Baton delivers not just a number, but clear steps to improve it.

Step 3: Organize Your Financials and Business Sale Documents

If buyers can’t trust your numbers, they won’t make an offer. Clean, organized financial records are essential to attracting genuine interest and streamlining the diligence process.

This involves preparing profit and loss statements, balance sheets, tax returns, payroll data, and any other documentation that demonstrates financial health. It also means identifying sales tax exposure, open invoices, lease agreements, vendor contracts, and any outstanding liabilities.

Baton standardizes this documentation, making it easier to review and reducing the risk of delays or red flags during the due diligence process. Sellers also avoid headaches by proactively organizing sales data, customer metrics, and details about their key employees.

Explore this selling a business checklist to make sure you don’t miss anything.

Step 4: Choose the Right Business Sales Strategy

There’s no shortage of ways to sell a business. You can go the DIY route, hire a traditional business broker, or use a modern platform like Baton that blends technology with hands-on support.

Traditional brokers often charge 10–15% commissions, layer in retainer fees, and rely heavily on manual lead generation. Baton takes a different approach. You get flat-rate pricing, no retainers, and 10x better results with technology and expertise.

Buyers also benefit from a more transparent and streamlined buying experience. And because deals close faster, sellers avoid the drag of a long sales cycle.

Baton is designed to streamline every aspect of selling a business in today’s market.

Step 5: Prepare Your Business for Sale

Think of this as staging your home before an open house. A few smart changes can dramatically improve the outcome.

Start by reducing owner dependency. Document core processes, delegate authority to your sales reps or management team, and clean up operational inefficiencies. This helps prospective buyers see themselves in the owner’s seat—and builds confidence that the business can run without you.

Address any issues that could raise red flags during due diligence, such as overly concentrated customer bases, inconsistent financial information, lapsed business insurance policies, or outdated employee contracts.

Buyers also look closely at the customer experience you’ve built—strong retention rates and service consistency can strengthen your valuation.

Baton helps sellers identify opportunities to improve operations and attract buyers by making the business easier to understand, run, and grow.

Step 6: List Your Business and Reach Prospective Buyers

Listing your business is only the beginning. Reaching the right target audience—your ideal customer, in this case, the perfect buyer—is where most sales fall apart.

Baton lists your business across top platforms and leverages a vetted network of pre-qualified buyers. Their platform ensures confidentiality agreements (like NDAs) are in place, then uses smart matching tools to connect you with serious, high-intent buyers.

You’ll spend less time dealing with tire-kickers and more time speaking with qualified leads who align with your goals. Every listing includes standardized diligence information, enabling buyers to make faster and more confident decisions.

This streamlined approach supports buyers at every stage of the buyer’s journey, making it easier to move from initial interest to serious offers. Wondering how long it takes to sell a business? Baton’s platform reduces average time on market by over 50%.

Step 7: Negotiate the Sales Agreement and Deal Terms

This is where your earlier prep pays off. 

An effective sales process includes clear negotiation points around:

• Asking price and deal structure (asset vs. stock sale)

• Payment terms (e.g., all-cash, seller financing, or earn-outs)

• Transfer of assets, key employees, and liabilities, and how you’ll transfer ownership legally and operationally

• Responsibilities post-sale (training, consulting, etc.)

A well-written agreement will cover all terms and protect both parties. Your legal counsel plays a vital role in this process, reviewing the purchase agreement and ensuring that tax regulations and legal obligations are clearly understood.

Clarifying who has decision-making power on the buyer’s side can also speed up deal approval and minimize back-and-forth.

Expect the negotiation process to cover everything from lead generation methods to how the entire team will transition under new ownership. 

Baton’s advisors help both sides stay on the same page and avoid misalignment during this critical phase. It’s also critical to listen carefully to buyer feedback—it can reveal negotiating room or potential objections early.

Step 8: Complete Due Diligence and Close the Deal

The due diligence process is a deep dive into every corner of your business. Buyers verify your claims by reviewing bank statements, customer data, vendor contracts, business insurance coverage, tax liabilities, and more.

This phase tests your preparation. If there are surprises—such as unfiled taxes, unclear ownership stakes, or unstructured sales processes—it could stall or kill the deal.

Baton maintains diligent timelines by ensuring everything is ready ahead of time, including signed non-disclosure agreements, updated diligence information, and standardized files.

Once due diligence is complete and both sides are satisfied, you’ll finalize and sign the purchase agreement. That’s when funds are wired, assets are transferred, and you officially sell your business.

Setting Up the New Owner for Success

Your role doesn’t always end at closing. Some deals include consulting periods, transition support, or earn-outs that depend on future performance.

It’s in everyone’s best interest that the transition goes smoothly. Provide training, document procedures, and give the new buyer a full understanding of how to run the business.

Helping the new owner maintain business continuity minimizes risk for both sides. It also protects your legacy and reputation, especially if you plan to stay involved in the industry.

A Better Way Forward

The process of selling companies doesn’t have to be opaque, overwhelming, or dragged out. With the right tools and guidance, you can attract buyers, simplify negotiations, and complete the sale with confidence.

Baton makes that possible.

From accurate business valuations to identifying potential leads and walking you through every actual step, Baton helps sellers unlock their business’s true value. You get transparency, speed, and a smarter way to sell.

Get your free valuation today and start moving forward with a partner who gets it.