Three things buyers look for when acquiring a business

Executive overview

Less than 30% of businesses listed for sale actually sell. Most entrepreneurs are not building something a buyer wants.

Three requirements determine saleability: a proprietary asset, a core team not dependent on the founder, and predictable revenue.

Most businesses fail to sell because founders never build for an exit.

Proprietary assets

• Buyers want assets the business owns outright — brand, systems, products, IP, software, databases, media
• These must be unique to the business and hard to replicate
• Ownership of the asset must be clear and defensible

Core team size and stability

• The team must be loyal to the business, not the founder
• Teams under 30–40 people are considered founder-dependent
• In a 10-person team, 3–4 departures after a sale is 30–40% of the headcount — unacceptable to buyers
• At 30–40 people, the same 3–4 departures represent only 10–15% — tolerable
• Buyers need confidence the team stays after handover

Predictable revenue streams

• CFOs model future performance before approving an acquisition
• They need a simple spreadsheet that projects revenue to month 36, 48, 60
• Subscription or recurring revenue is the easiest model to project — and the most valued
• One-off sales and product-based revenue are hard to model with certainty
• Recurring contracts signal stability and reduce acquisition risk