If someone with cash came to you tomorrow would you be ready to sell?

Be honest, most businesses aren't ready for sale.

Not because they are bad businesses. But because they're built around the owner.

That difference matters more than most folk realise.

What the stats say & why this question matters now

In New Zealand, the small and medium business owner base is ageing:

• Around 1 in 4 business owners are aged 60+.
• Over half are aged 50+.
• For many owners, the business is the retirement plan.

Yet a large share of owners still have no clear exit or succession plan.

If they have a plan its probably in their head, not written down, maybe not even discussed with the folk around them.

That gap though quietly destroys value.

It shows up slowly. Decisions get deferred because the owner is ‘still needed’. Capable people aren't developed because there's no clear future role for them.

Investment choices are made for short-term comfort rather than long-term value.

Over time, the business becomes more dependent on the owner, not less.

Imagine this, something unexpected happens, illness, burnout, a forced sale, the options become limited and the price reflects that.

What could have been a valuable, transferable business becomes hard to sell, hard to step away from, and far more stressful than it ever needed to be.

The uncomfortable truth about ‘sale readiness’.

Most owners assume this is a future issue.

Common responses include:

• ‘I’m not selling yet.’
• ‘I still enjoy working.’
• ‘The business still needs me.’ 

Yes they're all reasonable statements.

But here's the buyer’s reality.

Buyers don't pay a premium for businesses that:

• Stop functioning when the owner steps away.
• Rely on informal knowledge living in one person’s head.
• Have no leadership depth beyond the founder.

From a buyer’s point of view, that is not a business. It is a job with risk attached.

What a buyer actually looks for.

If a credible buyer arrived tomorrow with cash, they would look for some very basic things.

For example:

• The business runs day to day without the owner.
• Systems and processes are documented and followed.
• There is a capable leadership layer beneath the owner.
• Financials are clean, current, and easy to understand.
• Revenue is diversified, not dependent on personal relationships.
• Key risks are identified and actively managed.
• Strategy and decisions are written down, not assumed.

These are not ‘nice to haves’. They directly affect:

• Price.
• Deal structure.
• Buyer confidence.

Miss a few and value softens. Miss most and buyers walk.

Here's the other upside as well.

Businesses that are genuinely ready to sell are also:

• Easier to run.
• Less stressful to own.
• More resilient when people leave or markets change.
• Often more profitable.

Sale-ready does not mean for sale.

It means the business can operate as an asset, not a dependency.

That gives you options.

And buyers pay more for options, not urgency.

The real risk of waiting.

The biggest risk is not preparing too early.

The biggest risk is being forced to sell before you are ready.

Illness. Burnout. A family issue. A sudden market shift.

Rushed exits almost always destroy value.

Owners who plan early keep control of:

• Timing.
• Structure.
• Outcomes.

A simple test.

Here is the test that cuts through the noise.

If someone with cash came to you tomorrow, would you be confident that it would be attractive for them to buy it?

If the answer's no, that is not a future problem. It is a today problem.

It was a recent post by Toby Glass that got me thinking about this hence the article (cheers Toby) – check out Toby's article here 

For now, the question stands.

Are you building a business that someone else could own, or one that only works because you are there?