How to Write a Business-for-Sale Listing That Serious Buyers Answer

Your listing is often the first thing a buyer sees about your business. A clear, honest listing brings in people who can actually buy, and saves you time with people who can't. You don't need to be a writer. You need the right facts, in a sensible order, with the private details kept back until later.

Start with a clear headline

Buyers scroll through many listings, so the headline should say what the business is, roughly where it is, and one real strength. For example: "Established bakery and café in the Okanagan, 12 years, steady local trade." Avoid capital letters, exclamation marks and claims you can't back up. Plain and specific earns more trust than exciting.

What to include

1. What the business does. The products or services, who the customers are, and how the business finds them.
2. Roughly where it is. A town or region is enough at first. Say whether the business can move or must stay where it is.
3. How long it has run. Years in business and years under your ownership.
4. The key numbers. Yearly sales and the owner's earnings or cash flow, and which year they're from. Our guide to add-backs and normalized earnings explains how owners usually show what the business really earns.
5. The asking price. A price or a range, and whether you'd consider vendor take-back financing.
6. What's included. Equipment, vehicles, inventory, the name and website, phone numbers, and whether the sale is of assets or shares. See asset sale vs. share sale.
7. The premises. Whether you lease or own, how long the lease runs and the rent. Our guide to your commercial lease lists what buyers ask about.
8. Staff. How many people work there, full or part time, and whether key staff are likely to stay.
9. Why you're selling. Retirement, a move, health or a new venture. Buyers will ask, so a short honest answer up front builds trust.
10. Training and handover. How long you'll help the new owner settle in. See handing over your business.

What to keep private for now

A public listing should give enough to interest the right buyer, and no more. Keep these back until a buyer has signed a confidentiality agreement and shown they're serious:

• The business name, street address and photos that make it easy to recognise.
• Detailed financial statements and tax returns.
• Customer, supplier and staff names.
• Your own phone number and home address. Let buyers reach you through the listing first.

Show the numbers honestly

Use figures you can support with your records, and say which year they come from. If last year was unusual, say so briefly. Buyers will check everything during due diligence, and a number that doesn't hold up later costs more trust than a modest number stated plainly. If you're not sure what the business is worth, our free valuation tool and the guide what is my small business worth? can help you set a sensible starting price.

A simple template

Before you post

1. Read it as a buyer would. Does it answer what, where, how much and why?
2. Check every figure against your records.
3. Remove anything that would let staff or customers recognise the business before you're ready.
4. Have your documents ready, because good listings get questions quickly.
5. Decide how you'll handle replies. Our guide to weeding out buyers helps you spot serious ones early.

A note on advice

This guide is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Please speak with your own lawyer and accountant before you share financial details or agree to terms with a buyer.