When I tell founders that selling or handing over their company takes three to five years of preparation, most of them look at me like I'm exaggerating. Three to five years? Really?
Trust me. It's not a lie. And I'm not saying it from theory. I've been in that transition myself.
What it looks like from the inside
Years ago, my employer was sold to a capital fund. I was hired to take over the marketing from the founder and CEO, and at the time the transition looked gradual and innocent. Nothing dramatic was announced.
But things started clicking for me, without anyone saying it out loud.
A long-term internal employee moved into the CEO seat. New ways of measuring the company appeared. We started going to the press with numbers that improved year after year. And then, finally, the sale — which the people close to it had known about for over a year, while the rest of us just sensed that something was going on. For some it was obvious. For others, it wasn't.
That is what a well-prepared sale looks like from the inside. Quiet. Deliberate. Years in the making.
The advisor is necessary, but not enough
If you're gearing up to sell, you will need an advisor. Someone who can help you get your books in order and build a decent presentation for potential buyers. I've heard one of these presentations myself, from Viggo Axelsen, an advisor who helps exactly these companies — looking at the business from a financial perspective, helping you pitch to investors, and guiding you through the process.
That part is essential. But a buyer doesn't just buy your books. To pitch a healthy, growing company, you need two more things:
- Happy employees
- Happy customers
And this is where the three to five years start to make sense.
The uncomfortable realization
Because this is the moment where many founders realize: I haven't actually done proper marketing. And I haven't really had HR until now. Or not the kind that builds anything.
Happy customers don't come from a good quarter. They come from years of the company being known for something, in a market that understands what it stands for and why it matters. A buyer who does their homework will look at where your growth comes from. If the answer is "the founder's network and a bit of luck," that is not a growth story. That is a dependency.
Happy employees don't come from a Christmas lunch either. They come from a company people can describe, believe in, and see a future in — including after you leave.
Neither of these can be produced in the final year. They are compounded. Like interest.
From a marketing perspective
From where I sit, the marketing work in those years is not campaigns. It is the groundwork that makes the company understandable and valuable to someone who has never met you:
A clear position in a defined market. A brand that stands for something specific. A pipeline that doesn't depend on one person's phone book. Visibility that proves the company is alive and growing, year over year — not a loud final push that everyone can see through.
When the numbers go to the press and improve each year, that is not a coincidence. That is preparation. Someone decided, years earlier, what story the company was going to tell, and then did the work to make it true.
So if selling or handing over is somewhere on your horizon — even a soft, distant, "maybe in five years" horizon — the preparation isn't ahead of you. It has already started. The only question is whether you're doing it deliberately.
If you want the market side of that preparation in place, that's the conversation I have.