The honest answer is: longer than you think, and most of that time is spent before you ever speak to a buyer. Owners who ask this question are usually picturing the second half of the process, the part with offers and signatures. The first half, the part that decides what those offers look like, is where most of the time, and most of the value, is actually won or lost.
The short answer
Allow one to two years from the day you decide to sell, to the day the money is in your account:
- Preparation: six to twelve months, more if the business still depends heavily on you.
- Finding and agreeing a buyer: three to six months, from first approach to signed heads of terms.
- Due diligence to completion: two to four months if you are ready for it, longer, sometimes much longer, if you are not.
The business that sells in six months did its preparation quietly, over the previous year, and nobody saw that part happen.
Stage one: preparation, before anyone knows you are selling
This is the stage most owners skip, because there is no buyer yet to create urgency. It is also the stage that decides your multiple, not just your timeline. It covers reducing how much the business depends on you, tidying customer concentration, getting three years of clean, explainable figures together, and building the data room a buyer will eventually ask for. Our guides to exit planning and the due diligence checklist set out what this stage actually involves. Skipping it does not make the business sell faster; it moves the same work into due diligence, where it costs you leverage instead of time.
Stage two: finding a buyer and agreeing terms
From a first approach, whether through a broker, a direct conversation or an inbound interest, to signed heads of terms, three to six months is typical for a straightforward trade sale. A management buyout or a sale to an employee ownership trust can move faster on this stage, because you already know the buyer, though both bring their own timeline on the funding side; see our management buyout and EOT guides.
The moment you sign heads of terms and grant exclusivity, your negotiating position is at its strongest it will be for the rest of the deal. Everything found afterwards tends to move the price down, not up.
Stage three: due diligence to completion
This is where an unprepared seller loses the most time. A buyer's accountants, lawyers and advisers go through the business looking for anything that makes the numbers less reliable or the risk higher than assumed. Every document you have to create from scratch rather than hand over adds weeks, and the clock runs against you, not the buyer, because exclusivity has already started. A seller who has already built the data room described in our due diligence checklist can often complete this stage in two to three months. One who has not can take twice that, with the price often moving down along the way.
What actually changes the timeline
- How dependent the business is on you. A business that cannot run without its owner takes longer to sell, and often sells with more of the price deferred into an earn-out, which stretches out when you are actually paid in full.
- Whether your figures are already clean. Three years of explainable, well-evidenced profit, including your add-backs, moves through due diligence far faster than figures a buyer has to pick apart.
- Who the buyer is. A trade buyer who knows your sector, a management team who already run the business, and an employee ownership trust each move at a different pace. None of them is reliably fast if you are not ready.
Plan backwards from your date
If you have a date in mind, whether it is driven by age, energy or a specific number you need, work backwards from it using the ranges above, and add a margin. The Harvest Score takes about ten minutes and shows which part of preparation would cost you the most time if you leave it until a buyer is already asking. The valuation calculator shows what the same preparation is worth in price, not just time.
Common questions
How long does it take to sell a UK business?
From the day you first approach a buyer to completion, a straightforward trade sale typically takes six to twelve months. Add the preparation most owners skip beforehand, usually six to twelve months of its own, and a realistic total from decision to cash in the bank is one to two years.
Can I sell my business faster than that?
Sometimes, if a buyer approaches you directly, your numbers are already clean, and you accept the first credible offer. It is rarely the better outcome. Most of the time a buyer gains from your side having less time to prepare, not you.
What is the slowest part of selling a business?
Due diligence, if you start it unprepared. Every document a buyer asks for that you have to create from scratch, rather than hand over, adds weeks, and the delay runs in the buyer's favour because exclusivity has usually already started.
General information to help you prepare, not tax, legal or financial advice. Rates and rules change; check the current position and take advice on your own circumstances.
