This article contains a related file (PDF/DOC). Click the button to download.
DOWNLOAD THE FILE
The summer months often bring a natural slowdown for many small business owners. Clients are on vacation, meetings get rescheduled, and the tempo of daily operations shifts down a gear. While this can feel like a break from the usual hustle, it’s also one of the most under appreciated windows for strategic preparation, especially if you’re thinking about selling your business at some point in the near future.
A sale process, even under the best circumstances, is time-consuming, emotionally charged, and detail-oriented. Waiting until fall to get organized means you may find yourself racing against the clock to meet year-end deadlines, or worse, missing out on your ideal timing. The summer, on the other hand, is often your best chance to step back, get ahead of key tasks, and enter Q4 from a position of strength.
I’ve been advising small businesses through the sale process for decades. Here are a few ways I’ve recommended folks use the summer slowdown to prepare for a successful sale, whether in Q4 or further down the road:
1. Organize Financials and Normalize EBITDA
Buyers will dig deep into your financials, and any ambiguity or inconsistency can raise red flags. Summer is a perfect time to work with your accountant to cleanup your books, reconcile any discrepancies, and ensure your financial statements are accurate and up to date.
Just as important: start thinking through EBITDA adjustments - those one-time or non-recurring items that impact profitability but won’t carry forward to a buyer. This might include outsized legal fees, personal expenses, or discontinued products. The goal is to clearly present a normalized picture of your company’s earnings potential.
Even if you're not launching a sale process until later in the year, having this groundwork can dramatically speed up due diligence when the time comes.
2. Evaluate Key Dependencies and Risks
Every business has them… there are those few customers, vendors, or team members who if they left, their absence would be felt immediately. But when it is time to sell, buyer scrutiny around concentration risks and operational dependencies can be intense.
Use the slower months to assess where your business is vulnerable. Are too many of your sales tied to a single client? Do key supplier relationships lack formal contracts? Are there tribal knowledge issues that could trip up a new owner?
This is the moment to start diversifying, documenting, and de-risking, even if it’s just in small steps. You’ll not only strengthen your operations but improve your valuation in the eyes of a buyer.
3. Sharpen Your Strategic Story
While financial performance is critical, so is the narrative you bring to the table. Buyers want to understand not just what the business is, but what it could be with the right capital, resources, or leadership.
Summer is a good time to reflect on your company's strategic positioning: What makes it unique? What trends or tailwinds are you benefiting from? Where are the growth levers that a buyer could pull?
Refining this story now (before you're in front of a potential acquirer) will help you communicate a compelling vision and align all the supporting materials around it.
4. Talk to Advisors, Quietly and Early
If you’re even considering a sale in the next few months, summer is a good time to quietly begin conversations with all of your advisors, tax professionals, and possibly an attorney who specializes in transactions.
These early discussions can clarify your readiness, areas that need attention, and identify expectations around valuation and process. It’s also a chance to explore fit. An advisor who understands your goals and your industry can make a material difference when the time comes to run a process.
You don’t need to make formal commitments yet… but starting these conversations now means you won’t be scrambling to assemble a team during crunch time.
5. Think About Your Post-Sale Life
This may sound silly… but one of the biggest variables in any transaction is you. What do you want your role to be after the sale? Are you looking to exit entirely, or stick around in a leadership or advisory capacity? What are your financial goals, and how might different deal structures (cash, rollover equity, earnouts) affect them?
These are personal questions, and summer offers rare breathing room to think them through without the pressure of an active process. Clarifying your own objectives now helps guide not just how you sell, but to whom you ultimately sell.
Summer won’t last forever, and come September, many business owners will be scrambling to meet their transaction goals before year-end. But those who use the quieter weeks to prepare, strategically and deliberately, will be well positioned to move decisively when the time is right.
The most successful sales rarely happen by accident. They are the result of planning and early action. And in that sense, there’s no better time to start than now.
About the Author: Ned Weaver is the founder of Wood Creek Advisors, a boutique consulting firm specializing in M&A. The firm is dedicated to helping companies and high-net-worth individuals make strategic investments in private businesses. Wood Creek Advisors develops customized, industry-specific acquisition strategies and refines each client’s investment thesis to deliver efficient, strategic, and successful outcomes.
