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The best time to sell your business is probably not when you're ready to sell it. It's 18 to 24 months before that.
Most owners decide to sell because something prompted it: burnout, health, a partner dispute, a slowdown, an unsolicited offer. By the time the decision is made, the business is rarely in peak shape, and the seller is rarely in a strong negotiating position. Buyers smell it. Multiples reflect it.
The owners who get top-of-market outcomes start the conversation 18 to 24 months before they want to be out. That window does three things: it gives time to clean up the financials a buyer will examine, it gives time to reduce key-person and customer-concentration risk, and it lets the listing be timed to a strong quarter rather than a soft one.
In Northwest Ohio specifically, demand for well-run manufacturing, distribution, construction, and IT services businesses has held up. The buyers exist. What is in short supply is well-prepared businesses to sell them. That mismatch favors sellers who plan ahead and punishes sellers who do not.
Right-time selling looks like this: you start with an Exit Readiness Assessment. You spend 90 to 180 days addressing the highest-leverage gaps. You enter the market with three strong years of clean financials and a story a buyer can underwrite. You list during a strong period for your industry. You close from a position of strength.
Wrong-time selling looks like the opposite. If you are within 24 months of wanting out, the right next step is not 'find a broker to list it.' The right next step is 'sit down with someone who will tell me the truth about where I stand.'
Every message goes straight to Eric. No fee, no sales pitch.