How it works
What actually happens when you sell your business to us
Most owners sell a business once. The uncertainty is worse than any single step in the process, so here is the entire thing in order — including what we need from you and how long each part really takes.
Our commitment
Five business days from the day we have your numbers
Send us three years of business tax returns and a current year-to-date profit and loss. Within five business days of receiving them we will tell you whether we are a buyer and at roughly what price — a yes with a number, or a no with the reason.
We date that promise from the documents rather than from the first phone call, because gathering them is the part that genuinely takes time and we will not commit to a clock we do not control. You are entitled to a real number before you commit to anything.
Step 1
A conversation, not a pitch
Week 1
The first call is a conversation between two people, one of whom happens to be a buyer. We want to understand what the business does, roughly what it earns, who runs what, and — more importantly — what you actually want. Full exit? Stay on for a year? Make sure the crew keeps their jobs?
You do not need to sign anything to have this call. You do not need to give us your company name, your customer list, or your financials. Plenty of owners talk to us anonymously first, and that is genuinely fine.
What we need from you: Thirty minutes and an honest ballpark of revenue and profit.
Step 2
Getting to your number
Weeks 1-3
Small business financials are almost never a clean picture of what the business earns. The owner's vehicle is in there. So is the health insurance, the one-time legal bill, the family member on payroll who does not work there, and the salary you pay yourself that has nothing to do with the market rate for your job.
We rebuild seller's discretionary earnings from the actual returns and statements, walk you through every adjustment we made, and show you the range that produces. If our number is lower than you expected, we will tell you why rather than let you find out four months into a process.
What we need from you: Three years of tax returns and a current year-to-date profit and loss.
Step 3
A written offer you can actually read
Within 5 business days of receiving financials
If the numbers work, you get a letter of intent. It states the price, how it is paid, what portion is cash at close, whether we are asking you to carry a seller note, and what we expect from you after closing.
It is short on purpose. An LOI that requires a lawyer to interpret is usually hiding something. Yours will not.
What we need from you: Read it. Push back on anything you do not like.
Step 4
Diligence, run quietly
30-60 days
Diligence is where most owners expect the worst, and it is where most deals actually die — usually because something surfaces in month three that could have been disclosed in week one.
We do quality-of-earnings work on the financials, review customer concentration, look at contracts and licensing, and confirm the operational picture. All of it runs through you, not through your staff. Nobody at your company learns anything from us.
If we find something that changes our view, you hear it from us immediately and in plain language. Silence followed by a retrade is not how we operate.
What we need from you: Documents, access, and candour about the problems.
Step 5
Financing and papers
60-90 days
Acquisition financing for a business this size is usually an SBA 7(a) loan, which is slower than a conventional loan and has real requirements — an independent business valuation, a lender-ordered appraisal on any real estate, and standby terms on a seller note.
We run underwriting and the purchase agreement at the same time rather than in sequence, and we tell you where the deal actually sits each week instead of when there is good news.
What we need from you: Responsiveness. Lender questions answered in a day rather than a week is worth several weeks at the end.
Step 6
Closing
1 day
Closing itself is anticlimactic, which is the goal. Documents are signed, the lender funds, cash hits your account, and any seller note or earnout begins on the terms you already agreed to in the LOI.
We plan the employee and customer announcement with you beforehand — what gets said, by whom, in what order, and on what day.
What we need from you: A signature and a decision about how you want to tell your team.
Step 7
What happens the day after
Ongoing
72 North Capital buys businesses to own them. There is no fund clock, no five-year exit mandate, and no private-equity platform waiting to absorb your company and delete its name.
That is not a sentimental position. Route-based and commercial service businesses are worth what their crews and customer relationships are worth, and gutting either one destroys the thing you spent decades building — along with the asset we just paid for.
Most sellers stay involved for somewhere between thirty days and a year, at whatever level suits them. Some want out on day one. Both are workable, and it is better to decide that early.
What we need from you: As much or as little transition time as you want to give.
Questions
Common questions
- How long does it take to sell a business to 72 North Capital?
- From first conversation to closing is typically four to six months, with most of that spent on diligence and SBA lender underwriting. You will have a written offer in hand far earlier than that — usually within five business days of sending us financials.
- Do I have to sign an NDA to talk to you?
- No. You can have a first conversation without telling us your company name. We sign an NDA when you are ready to send financials, not before.
- Will my employees find out that I am selling?
- Not from us. Diligence runs entirely through you rather than through your staff, and nothing about the business is listed or advertised at any point. You decide what gets said to your team and when.
- What do I need to have ready?
- Three years of business tax returns and a current year-to-date profit and loss statement will get you a real number. Everything else can wait.
Step one is a phone call
No NDA, no company name required, no obligation of any kind. If it turns out we are not the right buyer, we will tell you who is.