55% of consultancy owners plan to sell. Most are leaving money on the table. 

Our Consultancy BenchPress 2026 research found that 55% plan to sell. Another 36% have no plans yet and intend to “see how it goes”, while only 9% never want to sell.  

That 36% who are waiting to see is interesting. I understand you might not know what the business will look like in five years, whether you will still enjoy running it or what opportunities might appear. But “see how it goes” can become an excuse not to prepare. 

A decision to sell can happen quickly. Building a business that is ready to sell can’t. 

You can’t build exit value at the last minute 

The firms that achieve the strongest valuations and most attractive deals are those that have spent time purposely building a more mature business. That’s the point this year’s report reveals, and I think it is an important one.  

If the business depends on you to win the work, manage the biggest clients and make every important decision, that dependency becomes a valuation risk. 

The same applies if too much revenue sits with one client, the pipeline is unpredictable or the financial information is difficult to produce and explain. 

These aren’t problems you suddenly discover when you begin preparing for a transaction. They’re features of the business you’re building now. 

Exit planning begins well before finding a buyer. It should begin with making the firm stronger and less reliant on you. 

Would the consultancy work without you? 

A useful place to start is to ask what would happen if you left the business tomorrow: 

• Would the leadership team know what the priorities were? 
• Could someone else manage the most important client relationships? 
• Would new business continue to come in? 
• Could the team make shrewd commercial decisions without you? 
• Would you trust the numbers being reported? 

If the answer to any of these questions is ‘no’, then you have work to do. 

Consultancy BenchPress shows a clear difference between firms with a fully developed and communicated growth strategy and those relying on the owner’s instincts. 63% with a fully integrated growth plan grew last year, compared with 42% of those operating more instinctively and fluidly.  

A plan that exists mainly in your head might work while you are at the centre of everything. It is much harder for another leadership team, investor or owner to take forward. 

This is the real connection between business maturity and exit readiness. 

You don’t need to sell to benefit 

Preparing the consultancy for a possible exit does not mean you have decided to leave. It will help you create a more sustainable business, even if you don’t plan to sell. In fact, your business becomes instantly more valuable, if you are open to working with the buyer to support the transition. 

Reducing founder dependency should give you more time to focus on strategy and empower your leadership team. 

Reducing reliance on one client will make the business more resilient. 

Improving planning and reporting will help you make better decisions. 

Creating a more predictable route to revenue will make the consultancy easier to run. 

These are outcomes we all want, regardless of whether we intend to sell. 

What to do now 

First, put a timeframe on paper. It does not need to be a firm commitment. “No current plans, review annually” is more useful than leaving the question completely open. 

Then take an honest look at three areas: 

1. how much revenue and decision-making depends on you
2. how exposed the firm is to one client or relationship
3. how quickly you can produce clear, reliable financial and commercial information.  

Choose one dependency to reduce this year. Introduce another person into a key account. Delegate a decision that currently always comes back to you. Document a process. Strengthen the leadership team. 

Do something that makes the business slightly more capable of operating without you. 

If you’re a TCGN member and you are planning to sell, speak to your Account Manager, who can connect you with our panel of M&A advisors. 

Not yet a member? Explore TCGN membership and build a consultancy that gives you more choices in the future.