You can’t change history — as much as we’d like to sometimes
Every day you’re in business, you’re writing a little more of its history. Every decision, every invoice, every quiet quarter is sitting there in the numbers for anyone to see later — including the buyer who might one day be looking at your business.
That’s worth sitting with for a second: you can’t quietly rewrite last year. So the only real lever you have is being deliberate about the history you’re creating right now. Track your profit, your turnover and your gross margin, and keep an eye on where they’re heading. Buyers and analysts consistently prefer steady, gradual growth over sharp spikes or dips — consistency reads as reliability, and reliability is what gets paid for.
The five things buyers actually look for
Steady, consistent growth in profit and revenue — not a last-minute jump before you list.
A genuinely diverse client base. Leaning on one or two big accounts is a red flag, not a strength.
Real systems and processes — not just knowledge that lives in someone’s head.
A working marketing and sales pipeline that brings in new clients on its own, without you chasing referrals.
The ability to run without you. A business that only works because the owner is in it every day isn’t ready to sell.
Three things you can start today
- Pull up your profit, revenue and margin trends now, and be honest about what the last three years actually look like.
- Write down the processes that only exist in your head — start with the ones only you know how to do.
- Map out a repeatable way of winning new clients, so growth doesn’t depend on you personally knowing the right people.
What’s done is done. You can’t wind the clock back on a bad quarter or a shaky client mix — but you can control what tomorrow’s numbers look like. Do it right, every day, and the history you’re building will be one a buyer actually wants to see.
Excellent advice. Having attended one of John’s courses six or seven years ago, I took onboard this message such that when I did decide to sell my business, the process was successfully completed in less than four months.