Straight answers.

Yes. Buyers first see a short profile with no name, no address and no logo. Only buyers you approve, and who have signed a confidentiality agreement, ever learn which business it is. Most owners tell their team once the deal is signed.

Usually one of three types: a bigger company in your industry that wants to grow, a private investor or family office looking for a profitable business, or a manager who wants to own the business they know. We only introduce buyers who can show they have the money.

Four to nine months is normal from the first conversation to payment. Businesses with clean financial statements and a team that runs things day to day sit at the quicker end.

Often for a short handover — a few weeks to a few months — so customers and staff get to know the new owner. How long is something you agree with the buyer up front, not something sprung on you at the end.

When a business is sold as a going concern in South Africa, employees generally move to the new owner on terms that are on the whole no less favourable than before. We make sure the sale agreement deals with your team properly.

If it makes a steady profit and could carry on without you for a while, there is usually a buyer for it. Run the free calculator first — it gives you an honest range in two minutes.

Two amounts, nothing else: R45,000 when we start, and 3% of the final price only if your business is sold. No monthly retainers and no add-on invoices.

It covers the real work done before a buyer is found: checking your numbers, writing the anonymous business profile, building a buyer list and running every confidential approach. It also means we only take on owners who are serious about selling.

You don't pay the 3%. It only becomes due when the sale goes through and you've been paid.

Yes, both are free and there's nothing to sign. Use them as often as you like, whether or not you ever sell with us.

Most owner-run businesses are priced as a number of years of profit. A buyer starts with what's normal for your industry, then pays more for growth, repeat income and a team that runs without you — and less if one customer or the owner holds everything together.

Last year's profit before tax and interest. If your own salary or personal costs run through the business, the calculator lets you say so in the optional questions — a buyer won't carry those costs, so they get added back.

No. It values the trading business itself. Property you own, spare cash in the bank and any loans are added or deducted separately to work out what you walk away with.

It gives you an honest starting range, worked out the way a buyer would start. Answer the seven optional questions and the range narrows. A full valuation uses your actual financial statements.

Then the calculator values it on sales instead of profit, which is how buyers look at businesses that are growing fast or recovering. Expect a wider range.

How easy your business will be to sell, and at what kind of price. It scores you out of 100 on the eight things buyers look at first, from how trustworthy your books are to whether the business works without you.

The calculator answers 'what could I get?'. The score answers 'how easy will it be to get it?' and tells you the three things to fix first. Most owners do both.

Above 65 means a buyer will see a solid business and you can start the sale. Between 45 and 65, a few months of preparation usually earns back far more than it costs. Below 45, build the foundations first.

Only our team. Your answers are never shared with buyers or anyone else.