Where is your deal leaking?
You have a buyer and the deal is moving forward. But is anything quietly putting your value, leverage or momentum at risk?
Our two-minute Deal Leakage Diagnostic is designed for business owners already in a live transaction. It checks five areas where problems commonly develop between offer and completion – often before they become obvious.
Click the button below and answer a short series of questions to see where your deal may be exposed. At the end, you’ll get an immediate assessment of your transaction and an indication of whether there are warning signs worth investigating.
Why deal leakage matters
Finding a buyer is only part of selling a business. Once a transaction is underway, the balance of information and experience often sits with the buyer – particularly when they have acquired businesses before and the seller is doing this for the first time.
Small issues can compound. A minor concession can set a precedent for a larger one. Information supplied without the right context can create a negotiating point. A few weeks of drift can weaken momentum and give the buyer greater leverage.
And none of this necessarily means the deal is going badly
Deal leakage is often gradual. The transaction can still appear to be progressing while value is being chipped away, negotiating leverage is weakening or momentum is beginning to slow.
That is why it is worth taking two minutes to check what is happening beneath the surface.
The five areas this diagnostic covers
- Value: price chips, working capital adjustments, consideration structure, EBITDA adjustments and late concessions.
- Information: what has been shared, when, and whether it was given proper context before it reached the buyer.
- Emotion: deal fatigue, fear of losing the buyer, and direct negotiation affecting otherwise commercial decisions.
- Leverage: exclusivity, dependency on a single buyer, and the loss of negotiating tension.
- Momentum: due diligence, unanswered requests, unclear ownership of actions, and stalled decisions.
Each area can affect a transaction independently, but they tend to interact. A loss of momentum often creates leverage for the buyer, which in turn puts pressure on value.
Start the diagnostic
Enter your details at the end to see your results