How Long Does It Take to Sell a Business?
Key takeaways
- •Plan for 6–12 months end to end; complex or larger deals can run longer.
- •Preparation and marketing are where timelines vary most.
- •Unprepared financials are the number-one cause of delay and dead deals.
- •Due diligence typically takes 30–75 days once a letter of intent is signed.
The honest answer: 6 to 12 months
For most owner-operated Canadian businesses, expect six to twelve months from the start of a valuation to a closed deal. Smaller, clean, well-documented businesses can move faster; larger, more complex, or owner-dependent businesses take longer.
That range assumes a managed process. Businesses that drift onto a listing site and wait can sit for a year or more — or never sell at all.
Where the time actually goes
Breaking the timeline into stages makes it easier to plan and to see where you can save time.
- Valuation and preparation: 4–10 weeks, driven almost entirely by how clean your financials are.
- Confidential marketing and buyer screening: 1–4 months to build genuine competition.
- Negotiation to signed letter of intent: 2–6 weeks.
- Due diligence to definitive agreement: 30–75 days.
- Closing and funding: 2–4 weeks.
What speeds it up — and what stalls it
The fastest deals share a pattern: clean books, a documented add-back schedule, a business that runs without daily owner heroics, and a realistic asking price anchored to a defensible valuation.
The slowest deals also share a pattern: messy or aggressive financials, heavy owner dependence, customer concentration, a landlord who won't assign the lease, and a seller who emotionally over-prices the business and rejects every early offer.
Frequently asked questions
About the author
Ali Sedighi, MBA, is the founder of BizSell.ca, a confidential business brokerage and M&A advisory serving British Columbia in five languages. He leads every engagement personally, from valuation through close.
This article is general information for business owners, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules and figures change — confirm specifics for your situation with a qualified professional.