Read time: 3 mins
Hey there!
Imagine this.
Two business partners are sitting in a planning session and someone asks them a pretty simple question:
“Where do you each see yourselves in 5 years?”
They look at each other.
A little awkwardly.
One says, “Honestly, I’d like to be out in 2 years.”
He has already started winding things down in his own mind.
He’s tired.
He has been slowly stepping back from sales, avoiding big new initiatives, and quietly hoping the business can just keep ticking along until he gets to the finish line.
In his version of the future, the business sells, the money lands, and he is somewhere near the ocean saying, “I might go for a surf this morning.”
Lovely.
The other partner looks mildly horrified.
Because in her mind, they are nowhere near the finish line.
She wants to spend the next five years building the business into something much more valuable.
She wants to improve margins, hire stronger leaders, clean up the systems, increase recurring revenue, reduce owner reliance, and go to market with a much bigger number.
Same business.
Completely different exit plans.
And neither of them had really said it out loud.
This, and many flavours of this, happens all the time.
Business partners who want different things.
Different timelines.
Different sale prices.
Different levels of energy for the work required.
Different ideas about what “ready to sell” actually means.
The problem is, if those differences stay hidden, they don’t disappear.
They usually show up later as tension, stalled decisions, resentment, mixed messages, or a sale process that becomes harder than it needs to be.
That’s why we’re covering owner alignment in this instalment of our Sale-Ready series.
Because getting sale-ready is not just about your numbers, your systems, your team, or your buyer risk.
It is also about making sure the people who own the business are clear on what they want, what they need, and what they’re willing to do to get there.
Let’s dive in!
How to get aligned before you sell
1. Say the quiet part out loud
The first step is having the conversation.
Talk to your business partner about what you both actually want from the future.
Not in vague terms like:
“Yeah, let’s sell one day.”
That counts for very little here.
Instead, get specific enough that you can understand what each person is really thinking:
- What would a good outcome look like for each of us over the next 3 to 5 years?
- What would we each want life to look like after a sale?
- What kind of role would we each want in the business between now and then?
- How much energy do we each have for growing, changing or improving the business?
- What would we want to protect, such as the team, the clients, the brand, the culture, or the legacy of what we’ve built?
- Where do we already feel aligned?
- Where do we suspect we might want different things?
These questions can feel awkward, but they’re incredibly useful.
A business sale is not just a financial decision.
It is a life decision, a workload decision, a risk decision and often an emotional decision.
The earlier you understand what each of you really wants, the easier it is to build a plan that has a chance of working.
2. Agree on the number and the timeline
Once you’ve had the honest conversation about what each person wants, the next step is getting specific about the number and the timeline.
This is where the future starts to become a plan.
Because “we’ll sell one day” is too vague.
And “we want a good price” is not much better.
You need to understand what each of you is aiming for, what would make the sale worthwhile, and how much time you realistically have to build towards that outcome.
Start with questions like:
- What sale outcome would feel worthwhile for each of us
- What does that number need to fund in our lives after the sale?
- What do we think the business might be worth today?
- What gap might exist between what we want and what the business is worth now?
- What timeline feels realistic for each of us?
- What would need to be true for us to sell in the next one to two years?
- What would need to be true for us to keep building for three to five years?
- How would we respond if a buyer approached us unexpectedly?
These questions matter because the number and the timeline shape almost every decision you make from here.
If you want to sell soon, you may need to focus on cleaning up the business, reducing risk, getting the numbers clear, and making the handover easier.
If you want to build for a bigger result later, you may need to invest in growth, leadership, systems, profitability, recurring revenue, or reducing reliance on the owners.
Different timelines require different strategies.
Different target numbers require different levels of work.
You don’t both need to start with exactly the same answer.
What’s important is that you understand the gap between your answers, and agree what you are going to do about it.
3. Decide what work you’re willing to do
Once you have a clearer number and timeline, the next question is:
What needs to change inside the business to make that outcome more realistic?
It might mean improving profit, lifting margins, building more predictable revenue, strengthening the team, reducing reliance on the owners, cleaning up the financials, documenting systems, improving reporting, or lowering buyer risk.
It might also mean doing things that feel uncomfortable.
Changing roles.
Investing money.
Letting go of low-value work.
Having hard conversations.
Holding each other accountable.
Getting outside support.
This is where owner alignment really matters.
Wanting a bigger number is easy. Building a business that deserves it takes work.
Start with questions like:
- What would need to improve to make our target sale outcome more realistic?
- What would make the biggest difference to value?
- What parts of the business would make a buyer nervous today?
- Where is the business too reliant on the owners?
- What risks, loose ends or messy areas would need to be cleaned up before due diligence?
- What support would help us actually follow through?
These questions matter because this is often where misalignment becomes practical.
One owner might want to invest in people, systems and growth.
The other might want to preserve cash and keep things steady.
One might want to fix the hard things properly.
The other might be hoping a buyer will not notice.
(Psst: they probably will.)
So don’t only agree on the number.
Agree on the work you’re willing to do to make that number more realistic..
4. Decide how sale decisions will be made
Once you start moving towards a sale, there will be a lot of decisions to make.
Some will be strategic.
Some will be financial.
Some will be emotional.
Some will happen at inconvenient times, because apparently buyers don’t always wait until everyone has had a calm week and a decent night’s sleep.
That’s why it helps to agree upfront how decisions will be made.
Before you get too far down the path, talk through questions like:
- Who needs to be involved in sale conversations?
- Who will speak to advisers, brokers or potential buyers?
- What decisions need agreement from all owners?
- How will we decide whether an offer is worth exploring?
- What matters most if we have to choose between price, speed, certainty, staff impact, buyer fit or future involvement?
- How will we handle disagreements if we want different things?
- How will we communicate with the team if the process becomes serious?
These questions matter because a sale process will quickly expose the wobbly parts of the ownership relationship.
A buyer may love the business, but they will not love confusion or disagreement between the owners.
They want to see that decisions can be made clearly, quickly and professionally.
So agree the process before the pressure is on.
A sale already has enough moving parts.
Owner disagreement doesn’t need to be one of them.
⭐ Bottom line
Owner alignment is one of those things that feels easy to put off.
You’re busy.
The business is still running.
No one wants to sell yet.
Plus having the conversation might feel awkward.
But if there’s more than one owner in your business, you need to know whether you’re working towards the same future, and the earlier you have the conversation, the more useful it can be.
It gives you time to align, plan properly, build value, reduce risk and make better decisions together.
And that is what gives you more options when the time comes.
More options to sell well.
More options to protect what you have built.
More options to enjoy the next chapter, whatever that looks like for each of you.
Speak soon,
Lynne & Steve
P.S.
Next week, we’re looking at one of the most useful parts of becoming sale-ready, getting your numbers to tell the same story you do.
It’s a practical one, because strong, clear numbers help build buyer confidence, support your valuation, and make it much easier to show what your business is really worth.
TLDR
If there’s more than one owner in your business, sale-readiness requires alignment.
As early as possible, get clear on:
- what you each want from the future
- what sale number and timeline you’re working towards
- what work you’re willing to do to build value
- how sale decisions will be made
The earlier you have the conversation, the more options you have to build a smoother, stronger and more aligned exit.
And if you want help with this, check out our Business Consulting services page, or get in touch with us here.
P.P.S.
Know someone who’d get value from this? Feel free to forward it on, it might be exactly what they need to hear right now. 😉
