We just signed our Letter of Intent and the buyer wants to close in sixty days. What are the actual operational and financial friction points that will drag this process out, and how do we head them off?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

The period between signing a Letter of Intent and closing is where deals go to die, typically due to friction in due diligence and integration planning. The primary operational bottleneck is the sudden, overwhelming demand for historical data, contracts, and systems documentation. Your leadership team is already running at capacity, and this extra load can cause them to drop their quarterly Rocks. To head this off, you must treat the transaction itself as a major corporate initiative. Assign a dedicated champion to own the data room, and leverage your weekly Level 10 Meeting™ to isolate transaction issues from daily operations. Do not let the buyer interact directly with your entire leadership team without coordination. Keep your team focused on executing the V/TO®, because any dip in performance during diligence gives the buyer immediate leverage to renegotiate the purchase price. Financially, the biggest hurdle is reconciling your historical books with the buyer's Quality of Earnings expectations. Ensure your finance team has cleaned up all personal expenses and nonrecurring items before the LOI is even signed. By maintaining operational discipline through the EOS® framework, you prove to the buyer that the business is a self-sustaining machine, which keeps the closing process on track and prevents costly delays.