What buyers look for in a small business.

Durable earnings.

Buyers do not pay for one good year. They pay for earnings they believe will still be there after settlement: repeat service work, contracted maintenance, recurring schedules, and long-standing accounts rather than one-off project work.

Customer concentration is where "durable" stops being a slogan. It is not set in legislation, but common Australian practice treats a single customer at around 20 per cent or more of revenue as a material risk that needs explaining, with anything under 10 per cent looking healthier. Expect a buyer to test the contract length, termination rights, and margin behind that customer, not just the revenue share.

A team that can carry the load.

A business that depends entirely on the owner is hard to buy, because the main asset walks out the door at completion. A common heuristic in Australian small business deals: can the business run for about three months without you? If not, who actually holds quoting authority, roster control, and the customer relationships?

Buyers will also test whether your staffing story is real by cross-checking it against payroll reports, BAS, and super records. If the accounts say labour is under control but the payroll and super trail does not reconcile, buyers will assume that risk sits with them after settlement.

A transition that makes sense.

Transition risk looks different by sector, and buyers know it. An electrical contractor's licence does not automatically transfer with a business sale, the new owner needs their own NSW licence or a licensed nominee in place, and unlicensed electrical work carries fines up to $22,000 for an individual and $110,000 for a company. An RTO cannot transfer its ASQA registration to a new legal entity at all, only a change of ownership within the same entity is possible, and ASQA must be notified within ten business days once fifteen per cent or more of shareholding changes.

For a strata business, continuity depends on licensing too: only a class 1 strata managing agent nominated as licensee in charge can supervise the business and authorise trust account withdrawals. If that is you, the buyer needs a real replacement plan, not a promise. For healthcare and allied health practices, a practitioner cannot use someone else's Medicare provider number, and a new practice location generally needs its own, so continuity is about who is actually staying and whether billing has been set up correctly, not just the equipment and goodwill changing hands.

Clean, honest records.

In practice this means lodged BAS, tax returns that match the accounts, payroll reconciled to Single Touch Payroll, super paid on time, current workers compensation cover, and a contract pack that shows who your customers actually are. Hiding any of that until late in diligence just teaches the buyer to distrust everything else.

The short version.

• Buyers price repeatability, not one strong year, and will stress-test any customer concentration that looks heavy.
• The less the business depends on you personally, the wider the buyer pool and the easier the handover.
• Transition risk is sector-specific: trade licensing, RTO registration, strata trust-account authority, and healthcare provider numbers all need their own handover plan.
• Clean records in 2026 means tax, BAS, payroll, super, and workers compensation records that all tell the same story.