Selling your business? Start with what you are walking towards
Most succession conversations start with the numbers. In this Adviser 3.0 session, Louise Jeffreys, Managing Director and Founder of Gunner & Co., focused on the part that rarely gets airtime: you. She explored why defining your "why", understanding what a buyer values and preparing yourself emotionally can be the difference between a smooth transition and a deal that stalls. What follows is a summary of the themes discussed. It is illustrative rather than prescriptive, and none of it constitutes advice.
Start with your why
Many financial planning business owners are accidental business owners: a job with real purpose grew into a firm, and at some point will need to become a succession plan. Louise's experience is that when deals fail, it is not always the numbers. Be open with your figures from the start and they rarely cause problems. It is taking yourself through the journey that adds risk.
Across the last three years of Gunner & Co.'s annual seller survey, 56 per cent cited retirement as their motivation. That leaves 44 per cent driven by something else, including market timing, de-risking personal wealth, burnout and, for 10 per cent, growth through partnership. When the survey began, closer to 75 per cent were selling to retire. Selling is becoming a far more strategic decision.
With a deal typically taking around a year, often after a couple of years of preparation, your why becomes a guiding light. It shapes:
Without that clarity, you risk "kissing a lot of frogs". With it, sellers often find two or three genuinely good homes for their business.
What are you walking towards?
If there is one thing to take away, Louise said, it is this. Businesses give owners identity, purpose and routine. One owner she met recently put it simply: he needed something to get out of bed for. Sellers who are not clear on what comes next often find their "one year to sale" is still a year away six months later.
To sharpen the vision, Louise shared Dan Sullivan's question from the Strategic Coach programme: if we were sitting here three years from now, what will have happened personally and professionally for you to be happy with the outcome? Take an hour to answer it properly. A good outcome is rarely just the headline price or completion day. It is alignment with your personal goals, confidence in the future of the business and peace of mind after the sale.
What buyers really value
Owners value the effort, history and loyalty behind their business. Buyers pay for repeatable earnings, reduced dependency on founders and predictable outcomes. Financial planning firms are well placed here: most businesses Gunner & Co. sees have more than 80 per cent recurring income. Storytelling still matters, but the stories that land are those tied to client loyalty, staff longevity and financial outcomes, not the school nativity you missed.
Louise walked through the value drivers worth understanding a couple of years out. The figures below are illustrative examples from the session:
Watch for emotional biases too: over-identifying with the business, anchoring to "what I need", fear of regret and control bias. If you have ever called yourself "unemployable", a retirement deal may suit you better than a growth partnership where you work on.
Think like a shareholder
The adviser mindset asks how to serve clients today. The shareholder mindset asks how to build transferable value. Do you own a job, or a business that would still be there if you stepped away for six weeks? For single-adviser firms, the answer is not adding cost, but mapping the client journey to see where people, technology and AI can reduce reliance on you.
Start earlier than you think: often three to five years before a sale, before you need to sell, and while options still exist. Knowing your why also builds negotiation confidence, the ability to walk away, and resilience during due diligence. One client reframed it well:
The psychology of letting go
"It's my baby", and nobody has an ugly baby. Buyers' questions can feel personal, but they are usually about cultural alignment and gaps, so your business settles smoothly into its new home. Expect loss of identity, fear of irrelevance, guilt towards staff or clients and anxiety about change. The stages often follow a change curve: excitement at the offer, resistance in due diligence, acceptance at the purchase agreement, and relief, rather than celebration, when it completes.
The best exits are designed
Louise's final reflection was that the best exits are designed, not rushed. Selling is not something to arrive at and hope for the best. For those who want to go further, Gunner & Co. runs a one-to-one market overview and a workshop, Preparing Yourself and Your Business for a Successful Sale, on 17th November at the Birmingham NEC.
From the Q&A
Registered individuals and ARs. Both can sell, but you need your principal firm's cooperation and written evidence that you own your clients. For ARs, review the contract early for personal guarantees, run-off PI and client contact provisions.
Network or open market? Never simply take the first offer. An open market comparison helps with negotiation and cultural fit.
A rough valuation. Across Gunner & Co.'s offers and deals over the last 18 months, the average has been around 2.6 per cent of revenue-generating funds under advice, with plenty of nuance around charging and profit.
Already inside the window? Start the conversation now. In one case, spotting early that a spouse's non-voting shares would not qualify for Business Asset Disposal Relief meant it could be fixed before the sale began.
One thing to do after today. Segment your clients by age and what they pay, ideally across the full value chain. It often reveals surprises.