Sell a business in 90 days — the Sell Ltd sprint
By Chris at Sell LtdLast updated The 12-week sprint — deliverables and blockers by week
Seller survey complete, Companies House record ingested, Chris drafts confidential teaser, first-draft IM in progress. 20-minute onboarding call in your dashboard.
Filed accounts more than 12 months old — provide current-year P&L now to unblock.
Full IM approved by seller. Confidential teaser live on the Sell Ltd marketplace. Blocklist configured (competitors, customers, suppliers). Chris shortlists first buyer batch.
Reason-for-sale copy that reads as evasive — rewrite in your own words.
First tranche of 20–40 targeted approaches sent. NDA gate live. First 3–8 buyer enquiries expected by end of week.
Slow to approve the outreach list — batch-approve in one session.
5–15 buyers have signed the NDA and viewed the full IM. First buyer questions arrive in the deal room. Chris drafts responses; you approve.
Delayed deal-room replies (>72 hours) push serious buyers off.
2–5 buyer intro calls scheduled and taken. Chris pre-briefs you on each buyer's profile. First soft indications of price interest.
Under-preparing for the first call — Chris's pre-brief is your homework.
Second tranche of 20–40 approaches, informed by week 3–5 signal (which sectors are responding). Any weak teaser copy tuned.
Recalibration hesitancy — trust the data on what's working.
2–4 buyers request Tier 3 documents (customer contracts, IP schedule). Deal-room Q&A intensifies. Bring your lawyer in for a 30-minute check-in.
Releasing Tier 3 too easily — require written indicative offer first.
1–3 written indicative offers arrive. Chris scores each on price, structure, buyer credibility. You and your deal lead discuss which to progress.
Falling in love with the first offer — always run a second round for context.
Serious buyers invited to submit best-and-final indicative offers by a specific deadline. Timed pressure improves offer quality by 8–15%.
Vague deadlines — set a specific date and hold it.
You and your deal lead pick the preferred buyer on combined price + structure + credibility + fit. Runners-up stay warm as backup.
Picking on headline price alone — earn-outs kill deals.
Your corporate lawyer drafts heads of terms. Preferred buyer's counsel reviews. Chris drafts the exclusivity request.
Lawyer availability — book them in week 1 so they're ready in week 11.
Non-binding heads of terms executed. Exclusivity period begins (typically 60–90 days). Full SPA drafting begins under lawyer coordination.
Wide exclusivity terms — negotiate a shorter default (60 days) and specific carve-outs.
What happens after day 90
Signing heads of terms is a milestone, not the finish line. Days 91–160 are the legal tail: SPA drafting, warranty schedule negotiation, buyer diligence Q&A, tax structuring, and pre-completion conditions (regulatory approvals, key-customer consents where relevant). Chris organises the deal room and Q&A; your corporate lawyer does the drafting.
Typical post-HOT timeline: 6–10 weeks. Occasionally longer if buyer financing falls through or diligence surfaces material issues. If a deal collapses at diligence, the runners-up from your best-and-final round are typically still warm — Chris keeps that pipeline alive precisely for this reason.
Case pattern — what a clean 90-day sprint looks like
Illustrative composite (anonymised, based on Sell Ltd's own listing data): a £1.6m turnover B2B software business, single-founder, single-entity limited company, accounts filed on time, revenue growth 22% CAGR over three years, no unusual customer concentration.
- Weeks 1–2: Onboarding, IM approved, listing live. 24-hour IM SLA hit. Seller time spent: ~4 hours total.
- Weeks 3–6: 92 targeted approaches. 11 NDAs signed. 7 buyer intro calls. Two clear frontrunners emerge.
- Weeks 7–8: 4 written indicative offers received. Range: £2.1m–£3.4m. Structure varies — clean cash to 60/40 with 2-year earn-out.
- Weeks 9–10: Best-and-final round tightens the range. Preferred buyer selected: £2.9m clean cash on completion, no earn-out.
- Weeks 11–12: Heads of terms signed. 60-day exclusivity begins.
- Days 91–150: Legal + diligence. Completion on day 148. Sell Ltd 1.5% fee (£43,500) settled on completion. Broker equivalent would have been £150,000–£290,000.
Every claim in this pattern is a realistic median from Sell Ltd's own listing performance data — not a promise; your outcome depends on business quality, market timing and seller responsiveness.
When 90 days won't work
Honest disclosure: don't run the 90-day sprint if any of the below apply. Better to invest a further 30–60 days in preparation than push a half-ready business at buyers.
- Filed accounts more than 18 months out of date and no current management accounts.
- Unresolved customer concentration above 40% of revenue on a single customer.
- Live litigation or regulatory investigation that hasn't been quantified in advance.
- Multi-entity group structure requiring restructuring before sale.
- Cross-border tax structuring that hasn't had a chartered adviser look at it.
- Revenue below £250k where the deal economics rarely justify a full sprint.
Read next
- How Sell Ltd works — end-to-end journey
- Confidentiality — how the NDA process works
- Managed sale — hybrid AI + human deal team
- Sell Ltd pricing — every line item published
- AI-built information memorandum in 24 hours
- Buyer matching — how Chris finds qualified acquirers
- Sell My Business UK
- Sell Ltd vs BusinessesForSale.com
Related product pages
- How the Sell Ltd AI deal adviser worksOne product — Chris, IM builder, buyer matching, deal room, marketplace
- Meet Chris — your AI deal adviserWhat Chris does, what he won't do, the data he reads
- AI-built information memorandum in 24 hours24-hour IM SLA, section list, downloadable checklist
- Buyer matching — how Chris finds qualified acquirersCompanies House SIC → strategic-buyer shortlist, sample matches
- The Sell Ltd deal room — private, secure, buyer-readyNDA gating, encrypted docs, audit log, per-buyer permissions
- Sell Ltd pricing — every line item publishedFree to list · 1.5% success · optional managed sale — full teardown
- Managed sale — hybrid AI + human deal teamWhen to pick managed vs self-serve, SLA table, who does what
- How Sell Ltd works — end-to-end seller journeyResearch → Listing → IM → Outreach → Pitch → Qualify, stage by stage
- Confidentiality on Sell Ltd — how buyer NDA worksTeaser gate, click-to-sign NDA, revoke access, sample clauses
Frequently asked questions
Can you really sell a business in 90 days?
Yes — but 'sell' means signed heads of terms with an exclusive preferred buyer, not fully completed with cash in the bank. The Sell Ltd 90-day sprint gets a well-prepared UK SME (accounts up to date, motivated seller, no unusual structural complexity) from onboarding to a signed heads-of-terms document. Legal completion and cash transfer typically add another 6–10 weeks on top.
What does 'sell business 90 days' realistically deliver?
In 90 days you can realistically complete: full onboarding + IM, live listing with buyer approaches, initial buyer calls, written indicative offers, buyer qualification, and heads of terms with the preferred buyer. What you cannot compress: buyer finance-committee approval cycles, corporate lawyer SPA drafting, and share-transfer completion — those live in the post-90 window.
Who is the 90-day sprint suitable for?
Motivated sellers with a clean UK limited company: accounts filed on time, single-entity structure, no major litigation or regulatory issues, revenue £250k–£5m and a clear reason for sale. Complex deals (multiple entities, earn-outs, cross-border, regulated sectors) typically need 120–180 days and are better run through the managed sale service.
What if I'm not ready to move that fast?
The sprint is a template, not a mandate. If you want to pause between weeks, you can — the process runs at your pace. Most sellers value the framework because it prevents drift; a sale without a timeline typically stretches to 9–12 months. Pick the pace that fits your circumstances.
Does the sprint cost extra?
No. The 1.5% success fee is unchanged whether you complete in 90 days or 360 days. The sprint is a way of working, not a paid product tier. Managed sale (2–4%) is a separate service and can be layered on top of the sprint framework if you want a human deal lead alongside.
What if a buyer doesn't emerge by week 6?
Recalibrate. Chris and the platform diagnose which lever is underperforming — teaser copy, targeting, buyer shortlist quality, price expectation — and adjust. Common fixes: broadening the SIC shortlist, softening the reason-for-sale copy, or re-benching the price expectation against fresh comparables. Rarely does the underlying business turn out to be unsellable; usually one variable needs tuning.
What are the common blockers?
Top four: (1) filed accounts more than 12 months out of date (fix: provide a current-year P&L); (2) unresolved customer or supplier concentration (fix: address in the IM narrative); (3) undisclosed litigation (fix: disclose and quantify); (4) unrealistic price expectation (fix: rebench against fresh multiples). Every blocker is fixable in under a week.
Do I need to stop running the business?
No — and buyers don't want you to. A business that visibly grows during the sale process is more attractive, not less. The sprint expects you to spend 3–5 hours per week on the sale during weeks 3–12, and 5–10 hours per week during weeks 10–12 (indicative offers, buyer calls). You are still running the day-to-day.
What role does my lawyer play in the sprint?
Very little in weeks 1–8. From week 9 onwards your corporate lawyer starts reviewing indicative offer terms, prepping SPA drafts, and standing by for heads-of-terms drafting. Bring your lawyer in early (week 1) for a 30-minute intro call so they're prepared when the pace picks up. Don't wait until week 12 to first speak to them.
How does the sprint compare to a broker mandate?
A traditional broker mandate typically runs 6–12 months from signup to heads of terms because the IM alone takes 4–8 weeks. The sprint compresses this: 24-hour IM, same-week listing, same-day outreach approvals. On weeks 8–12 the pace is comparable to a well-run broker mandate. Weeks 1–4 is where 6–10 weeks of broker time is saved.
Can I run the sprint on the free self-serve tier?
Yes — the free self-serve tier gives you Chris, the IM builder, buyer matching, the deal room and the marketplace. Nothing about the sprint requires the managed sale upgrade. Some sellers do upgrade around week 6 when buyer meetings pick up and they want a human lead handling the calls.
What happens after day 90?
If heads of terms are signed: hand over to your corporate lawyer for SPA drafting and diligence coordination, typically completing 6–10 weeks later. If not: recalibrate with Chris on what to change and continue the process at whatever pace suits you. The platform doesn't turn off after 90 days — the sprint is a framework, not a countdown timer.
How do I start the sprint?
Complete the seller survey today (30 minutes). Chris starts drafting your IM the same day. Book a 20-minute onboarding call in your dashboard for week 1 to walk through the sprint plan. Free — you only pay if a sale completes.
Start selling with Chris
Free to list. 1.5% on completion. No retainer, no exclusivity, no six-week wait.