Build a Business to Sell: Lessons From 20 Exits

About the Episode

When you build a business to sell, the buyer is part of the plan long before the listing goes live. This episode breaks down what a founder who has built and sold 20 small software companies does differently: defining his ideal buyer, keeping the books clean enough to close in about 60 days, and preparing due diligence answers before they are requested. You will discover which of these habits carry over to any business, and why finding the right buyer and earning their trust is the hardest part of every sale.

What You’ll Learn

• Define your ideal buyer before you go to market: Stuart keeps an ideal buyer profile the same way most companies keep an ideal customer profile, and he targets first-time founders he can train. Knowing who you are selling to tells you which buyers deserve your time.
• Run the business as if a buyer is already reading the books: Clean books, documented processes, and simple operations are why Stuart’s sales close in about 60 days from listing. Jacob notes that many brick-and-mortar businesses take closer to a year, so treat the habits, not the timeline, as the lesson.
• Be upfront about why you are selling: Trust is one of the hardest parts of any transaction for both sides. Stuart tells every buyer he built the company to sell it, which answers the question a quick exit would otherwise raise.
• Prepare for due diligence before it starts: Stuart opens each deal with a ready data room and suggests the 10 to 15 items buyers usually ask for. Most buyers add only one or two requests of their own.
• Make the handover easy to trust: A full day of in-person training and introductions to his contractor team help buyers feel more secure in the transaction and going forward.

Topics Covered

Want More? Related Resources:

• Case Study: Lessons Learned From Selling Multiple Tech Companies
• M&A Basics: Building a Sellable Business
• Process for Screening Buyers When Selling a Business
• M&A Due Diligence Preparation
• Stuart Faught on LinkedIn

This episode provides general information only and does not constitute legal, tax, accounting, or other professional advice. The guest’s views are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Morgan & Westfield.

Meet Our Guest

Stuart Faught

Founder, MiniHorse.ai

Stuart Faught is a software entrepreneur and the founder of MiniHorse.ai. He has built and sold 20+ small software companies and became the #1 seller on Acquire.com. Today, he helps first-time founders launch and scale Ready-to-Scale™ software businesses, drawing on lessons learned from building, growing, and exiting companies firsthand.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuart-faught-59a5a76b