Plan on Seven to Nine Months
From the day you hire a broker to the day money moves, seven to nine months is typical. Six months is fast. Some deals take a year, usually because the books needed work or a buyer's lender moved slowly.
That is why the months before listing matter. Owners who clean up their records and tax filings first tend to close sooner and with fewer surprises in diligence.
Get the Records in Order
A buyer will ask for three years of tax returns and profit and loss statements, a current balance sheet, a list of equipment, your leases and your key contracts. Stumbling over any of these reads as hiding something.
Your CPA should recast the books: add back your own pay and perks, remove one time costs, and strip out income that won't repeat, like the sale of an old truck. The valuation page covers how that recast figure becomes a price.
Quiet Marketing, Not a Sign in the Window
Your broker writes a blind profile that describes the company without naming it: the industry, the part of town, sales and cash flow. Interested buyers sign a confidentiality agreement before they learn more.
Keep your staff out of it until the deal is close to final. Closing dates slip, and news that leaks early can send key people looking for other jobs while a buyer can still walk away.
Who Buys Here
Buyers for a company around $500,000 often live within about 20 miles. Above $5 million, buyers are far more likely to come from out of state, including private equity groups looking at central Oklahoma for its costs and steady demand.
Many buyers fund the deal with an SBA 7(a) loan, which goes up to $5 million. Others pay cash, and many deals include a seller note for part of the price.
The Letter of Intent
A serious buyer puts the main terms in a letter of intent: price, how much cash at closing, any seller note or earnout, what assets are included, how long you will stay to train them and a noncompete.
Read it with your attorney before you sign. Oklahoma law limits a seller's noncompete to a named county, the counties next to it or a named city, so the territory should be written carefully.
Diligence and Closing
Diligence is the buyer checking everything you said. Expect requests for bank statements, payroll records, customer lists and equipment records, and expect your broker to keep the questions moving.
Near the end, the state steps come up. Your sales tax accounts need to be settled before the buyer can get a permit, and your unemployment account may follow the business. The Oklahoma closing steps walk through each filing.
The way we hand off your request is on what happens next. To see where you stand, use the valuation form or call (405) 555-0158.