Picking up the phone to an M&A advisor can feel like a bigger step than it is. Many owners put it off because they think they need to have decided to sell, or that they’ll be pushed toward a listing. A good first conversation is neither of those things.

It’s a chance for you to learn how buyers would likely see your business, and for the advisor to understand what you’ve built and what you want. Here’s what usually happens, so you can walk in knowing what to expect.

What the conversation is for

Think of it as an exchange of information, not a pitch. You get a realistic view of your options. The advisor gets enough of a picture to tell you whether a sale makes sense now, later, or perhaps not at all.

The conversation should be confidential, and it shouldn’t require you to sign anything or commit to a next step. If an advisor asks you to sign an engagement letter in the first meeting, that’s worth noticing. Many owners have this conversation years before they sell, and that’s perfectly normal. Here’s why an early conversation can still help.

What you’ll probably be asked

Expect questions about the business and about you. The business questions are fairly predictable:

  • What the company does, who it sells to and how long it has been operating;
  • How revenue and profit have moved over the last few years;
  • Whether a few customers make up a large share of sales;
  • Who runs things day to day, and what happens when you’re away;
  • Whether you own the property, or lease it.

The personal questions matter just as much. Why are you thinking about this now? Do you want to step away completely, or stay on for a while? Is there a family member or employee who might take over? What would you need from a sale to feel comfortable about your future?

There are no wrong answers. “I’m not sure yet” is a perfectly good reply, and a useful starting point.

What to bring, and what to hold back

You don’t need to bring or send anything in advance. If you have your last two or three years of financial statements to hand, they can make the conversation more specific, but they aren’t required.

There are a few things you don’t need to share at this stage. Customer names, detailed pricing, employee files and contracts can all wait until there’s a real reason to look at them. A careful advisor won’t ask for them early. If you’re uneasy about sharing even general figures in a first call, say so. Ranges are fine.

What’s most helpful to bring is a sense of what you want, even if it’s rough. A target retirement date, a number you have in mind, or a concern about your staff all give the conversation direction.

What you should leave with

By the end, you should have a clearer picture of a few things:

  • The kinds of buyers who might be interested, such as competitors, larger companies in your industry, private equity groups or individual buyers;
  • What tends to raise or lower value for a business like yours, including how much it depends on you;
  • Roughly what a sale process involves, and how long it usually takes;
  • Whether there’s anything worth working on before going to market.

Don’t expect a precise number. A responsible advisor will want to normalize your financial statements before giving a view of value, and even then it should be a range, not a single figure. You can read more about how that works on our valuation page.

A first conversation should leave you with better questions, not a signed agreement.

Questions you should ask the advisor

You’re assessing them as much as they’re assessing your business. Some questions worth asking:

  • What size of business do you usually work with? An advisor focused on much larger or much smaller deals may not be the right fit.
  • How do you get paid? Ask about any upfront fees, the success fee and what happens if the business doesn’t sell.
  • Who will actually work on my file? The person you meet first isn’t always the one doing the day-to-day work.
  • How do you find buyers, and how do you screen them? Listen for a clear answer about confidentiality and NDAs.
  • How do you compare offers? Price matters, but so do financing conditions, seller financing and what’s expected of you after closing.
  • What would you need from me, and when? This tells you how much of your time a sale would take.

A good advisor will answer plainly, and will also tell you if they think waiting is the better choice.

After the conversation

You’re free to do nothing. Some owners take what they’ve learned and come back a year or two later. Others decide to work on a few things first, such as tidying up the financial statements or reducing how much the business relies on them personally.

If you do want to go further, the usual next step is a closer review of the business and its financials. You can see how the stages fit together on our process page. Whatever you decide, write down the questions that came up during the call while they’re fresh, and raise them with your accountant and lawyer, since their advice will matter at every stage.

General information for business owners and buyers, not financial, legal, tax or accounting advice. Any examples are hypothetical.