Six mistakes, three moments
Costly mistakes do not happen at random points in the calendar. Two are made before the business goes on the market, three during the transaction, one after signing. Identifying them by moment rather than by theme helps you see which one concerns you today.
What five of them have in common: they are corrected with time, and only with time. That is why anticipation remains the most profitable lever in a business transfer.
Before the sale: anticipation and valuation
Mistake 1, failing to anticipate. It is the most common and the most costly. Many business owners leave it to the last minute, driven by fatigue, a health problem or an unexpected offer. What it produces: accounts that are hard to read, no successor identified, no management team able to take over, and a rushed sale on unfavourable terms.
What to do: start preparing the sale two to five years before the deadline, clarify the organisation, renew strategic contracts, identify a manager to train, and set a written timetable.
Mistake 2, overvaluing or undervaluing the business. Some business owners believe their company is worth a fortune out of personal attachment. Others undervalue it through lack of market knowledge. Both mistakes cause the sale to fail: the first discourages buyers and leaves the business on the market, which devalues it further; the second costs the seller the fruit of thirty years of work.
What to do: have an independent valuation carried out, work from a range rather than a single figure, understand the methods buyers use, and be able to justify your price. The valuation methods in detail.
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Talk to an adviser →During the transaction: communication, buyer, advisers
Mistake 3, mishandling communication. Two extremes exist, each as damaging as the other: keeping the project completely secret, or announcing it too early. Complete silence creates a shock effect at the time of the announcement, demotivates teams and weakens the company's position. A premature announcement worries customers, alerts competitors and drives away the best people.
What to do: maintain external confidentiality during the search for a buyer, inform a small circle of trust internally, prepare communication to employees and customers in advance, and comply with the legal information obligations, which exist in France for companies with fewer than 250 employees.
Mistake 4, choosing the wrong buyer. Rushing at the first candidate, or conversely rejecting any profile that does not resemble your own: two frequent and symmetrical failings. The risk is settling on a buyer who has neither the skills nor the means to match their ambitions, rejecting a good offer out of prejudice, or not probing deeply enough into the seriousness of the financing announced.
What to do: consult several candidates, check the feasibility of the financing, define your selection criteria in advance, and provide for protective clauses such as an earn-out, a no-resale clause or conditions precedent. The precise questions to ask.
Mistake 5, trying to handle everything alone. To save money, or out of a habit of deciding quickly, many business owners go ahead without advice. The consequences are well known: important clauses forgotten, weak points poorly negotiated against better-advised buyers, time lost, and no emotional distance at the moment of the key decisions.
What to do: surround yourself from the outset with a lawyer, an accountant and an adviser specialised in SME transfers, and treat these fees as an investment that secures the transaction.
After signing: the human transition
Mistake 6, neglecting the transition. The sale does not end at signing. The period that follows is just as decisive for the success of the project, and it is the one that is prepared the least.
The risks are well known: a departure that is too abrupt, know-how not passed on, a takeover poorly received internally, customers and suppliers left in the dark, a former owner who creates confusion by remaining too present.
What to do: plan a transition period of six to twelve months, take on a supporting role without authority, personally introduce the new owner to customers and partners, and prepare your own next chapter.
Key takeaways
- Five of the six mistakes are corrected with time: anticipation is the only real lever.
- A price that cannot be demonstrated is a price that cannot be negotiated.
- The post-sale period is prepared before signing, not after.
Sources and references
Two kinds of information in this article. The rules of law refer to the texts listed below, cited with their reference. The practical benchmarks, timeframes, buyer behaviour and ranges come from the transactions we study: they are field observations, not published statistics.
- French Commercial Code, articles L.141-23 to L.141-32 and L.23-10-1 to L.23-10-12. Prior information of employees in the event of a planned sale. The first block covers companies with fewer than 50 employees, the second those with 50 to 249 employees.
- Bpifrance. Public financing schemes for business transfers and takeovers, and the Lab's work on SME transfers. www.bpifrance.fr
- CRA, Cédants et Repreneurs d'Affaires. Association of sellers and buyers that documents how SME takeovers unfold.
This article is intended as general information. It constitutes neither legal advice, nor tax advice, nor an investment recommendation. Sources last checked: September 2026.
