I have had an approach and I am not ready. What now?

You do not have to answer yet. Listen, find out what the buyer wants and why now, and share nothing about the business until a confidentiality agreement is signed. Above all, do not give a number you have not checked.

An approach is information. It tells you someone sees value in the business, and a conversation can tell you what they value. That is useful even if you never sell to them.

The risk is moving at their pace. Early numbers shape the price, and numbers given casually are hard to take back. A letter of intent usually comes with a period in which you cannot talk to anyone else. Then the buyer’s review begins, and anything that is not ready gets found and fixed under his deadline, while you are still running the business.

I do not find buyers and I do not negotiate on your behalf. Before you sign anything, including a confidentiality agreement or a letter of intent, talk to your own lawyer.

What you can look at this week: write down what you would need to know about your own business before you would name a price. Then go through the fifteen questions and mark the ones you could not answer today.