What makes a business stand out to a buyer? It’s not just about making money—it’s about creating a company that can thrive without you. A sellable business is one where systems run smoothly, the team operates efficiently, and customers stay loyal even as ownership changes hands. In this blog, we’ll break down the four attributes that make a business truly sellable. Whether you’re looking to sell soon or just want more freedom in your business now, these principles will help you build a business that works for you—not the other way around.
Is your business sellable right now? Let’s find out.
1. It’s Profitable
Buyers want to buy businesses that will make them money.
You’re going to have an incredibly hard time convincing a buyer to take on a bleeding business. That’s an ugly truth that many business owners need to face. Your debt, your dwindling customers, and your red financial status will work against you.
If you’re struggling to keep your business afloat, you may feel the urge to just sell and escape. That might be a hasty decision that loses you the chance to make a lot of money off the work you’ve done. Instead of running, you might want to stick it out and work another year or two and bring your earnings up. Two years of consistent positive growth is a great incentive to convince buyers you’ve offered a viable company with room for expansion.
You don’t even need to be operating poorly for this to affect you. If you’ve been writing everything off for years and your books look like you don’t make any profits, that’s still bad for buyers. Your car, your furniture, your kid’s cell phone, even your home toilet paper: all those expenses add up, and if you’re racking them up as business expenses, then you look broke on paper. You might need to take the tax hits for a year or two just to show that you actually are turning a significant profit.
2. It Has a Policy and Procedures Manual
Do you have a document that shows how your business operates at every level? A clear policy and procedures manual is worth $40,000 to $50,000 right out of the gate on any business evaluation. This is probably the biggest selling point to leverage in any business sale, because it shows exactly how the company runs, what to expect, and how to reproduce your results without you.
If you’ve been working all this time with the policy and procedures manual in your head, that’s a huge risk. That document is only alive as long as your memory stays intact and available to the people running your business. If something happens to you, your business is effectively gone. And if you try to sell without writing it down, buyers are really purchasing a confusing mess with no instructions on how to make it work.
When I sold my travel agency, my policy and procedures manual was only twenty-seven pages. It was shocking that it was so small, but that was a major difference for the buyer. He bought mine because I didn’t work in my business and I had the whole system documented. So it ran independently of me. The other two owners he looked at, they had the same gross revenue. They had the same number of staff. The primary difference was in mine, I was not considered, I did not generate that revenue. My staff did. And I had the instruction manual to show how he could, too.
3. It Runs Separately from You
This sounds like a repeat of the last point, but consider for a moment.
If you’re selling a job that you have to work at every day, why would someone pay you for that? They could go get a job anywhere else without paying.
Would you pay your asking price for the privilege of doing the job you’re doing now?
Also consider that people who buy businesses aren’t looking for a job. If they wanted that, they’d start a business themselves! No, they’re looking for a profitable investment that requires minimal input on their part. They want to collect a check every month and tell people they run a business in this industry.
You can’t sell your own brain, or your own time. You can only sell your company. You don’t come with it. Remember that the only things you can sell are what operates entirely independent from yourself. If nothing operates independently, you need to fix that before it’s time to sell. And also so you can start taking vacations, as we discussed previously.
4. It Has Standards, Values, and a Company Promise
A company is an investment. A company’s reputation tells buyers what to expect from future earnings.
If you’ve got standards, values, and a company promise, you can show buyers exactly what your reputation looks like in the marketplace. If people expect your product to be the very best in the industry because you’ve upheld that level of quality for twenty years, you can command a far higher price than someone with little to no reputation.
Your company’s reputation is huge. It determines where the new buyer will start in the industry before they make positive changes. A strong reputation requires little work to boost profits.
Focusing on these four attributes is more than just smart business; it’s about setting yourself free from the day-to-day grind and creating something that truly lasts. Whether you’re planning to sell or simply want the peace of mind that comes from running a well-oiled machine, these steps can transform the way you work and live. For a deeper dive into creating a business that runs smoothly, grows steadily, and supports the life you want, pick up a copy of Small Business, Big Opportunity: Systematize Your Small Business, Create Personal Freedom, and Live the Entrepreneurial Dream by Beverlee Rasmussen. It’s packed with insights to help you build a business that gives you more than just a paycheck—it gives you freedom.
