Don’t Take Your Foot Off the Gas
I can always feel the shift.
Not just in the what the founder says, but in the business itself.
Because once a founder decides to sell, a strange psychological trap emerges: the business is still running, but the owner’s foot has already started lifting off the gas.
And that single reflex…quiet, understandable, even rational…destroys more value and potentially sabotages more deals than competition, valuation disagreements, or lender scrutiny combined.
Let me tell you a story.
A few months ago, I met with an owner who built a rock-solid company over twenty years. He had a culture people actually liked, recurring revenue, and the kind of brand trust you can’t manufacture. Buyers loved what they saw.
Then he mentally checked out.
He stopped holding team meetings.
He got “busy” with golf.
He let two key employees drift without support.
Nothing catastrophic happened… at first. But his business performance began to soften. Buyers noticed immediately. The bank noticed. The valuation model dropped 25%.
By the time he realized what was happening, his company was still healthy.
But not as healthy as when he first made the decision to sell.
The gap cost him six figures at the closing table.
Here’s the part owners don’t expect:
Buyers don’t pay for the business you built. They pay for the business that is still growing without you.
And the season between “I’ve decided to sell” and “the wire hits my account” is where compounding momentum matters most.
The brutal truth: deciding to sell often triggers a slow, invisible decay.
It’s not intentional. It’s human. After years of grinding, the brain finally gives itself permission to relax. Owners step into a future-focused orientation. They start planning the next chapter, reclaiming time, imagining freedom. Meanwhile the present chapter starts to fray at the edges.
I see this with founders who are otherwise disciplined, sharp, and responsible. Once they’re psychologically out, the business begins to stall.
And buyers can smell it.
Here’s the twist that most people don’t know:
The period right after you decide to sell is the single most valuable stretch of time in the entire life of your company.
It’s the window when small improvements create disproportionate returns.
A tightened process.
A new customer win.
A stabilized team.
A cleaner P&L.
Every bit of upward movement changes the quality of the buyer pool.
You go from “fine” to “premium.”
From tire-kickers to strategic acquirers.
From negotiating weaknesses to negotiating leverage.
One owner I met took the opposite approach from the first story. The minute she decided to sell, she doubled down. She tightened her cash cycle, shored up a vulnerable department, and delegated herself out of daily operations.
The business didn’t just hold. It improved.
And the exit reflected that momentum: multiple offers, clean due diligence, and a valuation the buyer didn’t bother arguing.
The difference wasn’t luck.
It was discipline after the finish line already looked close.
One sentence every owner needs to tape to their monitor:
“The deal isn’t done until the money clears and value compounds until the last second.”
And here’s the part that doesn’t get talked about enough.
Keeping your foot on the gas isn’t about working harder. It’s about working intentionally in the right areas.
In the pre-exit phase, buyers are scanning for three qualities above all others:
Consistency. Stability. Transferability.
Consistency says: this isn’t a fluke.
Stability says: nothing breaks when the owner steps back.
Transferability says: the value continues after the ink dries.
Those three forces only show up when the owner stays engaged. Not forever. Not at 100 percent intensity. But with enough presence and leadership to keep the machine humming.
The owners who stay engaged create the future they want.
The ones who unplug early gamble with their legacy.
I’ve never seen disengagement increase valuation.
Not once.
So if you’re entering the exit window, or even just considering it, let this be a gentle challenge: don’t coast.
Not now. Not yet.
Your last stretch of ownership might be the most financially impactful season of your entire career.
David Hermann, CEO of hermanngroup and M&A Advisor/Broker at Sunbelt Business Brokers of Colorado
David Hermann is a transformative advisor and strategist who turns complex business challenges into extraordinary successes. Known for driving over $500 million in documented financial improvements for clients, David partners with C-suite leaders to unlock their full potential. With 60+ speaking engagements, numerous publications, and a spot in the top 1% of Consulting Voices and top 1% of the Social Selling Index on LinkedIn, he’s passionate about making strategy, change leadership, and operations insightful and accessible.