Can I stop showing my business to a buyer who's asking too many detailed questions too early?

Yes — you're not obligated to keep engaging with any particular buyer, and slowing down or pausing with someone who's pushing for detail well beyond what the stage of the conversation warrants is a reasonable response, not something you need special justification for. A buyer asking for specific customer names, detailed financials, or sensitive operational details before they've signed anything, or before they've shown any real proof of seriousness, is asking you to skip the staged approach that protects you.

It's fine to simply say you're not ready to go into that level of detail yet, and to explain what would need to happen first — a signed confidentiality agreement, evidence of financial capacity, or a written indication of interest. A genuine buyer who understands how these processes normally work generally won't push back hard on reasonable pacing; someone who reacts poorly to being asked to wait is giving you useful information about how to treat them going forward. There's no requirement to justify your pacing to anyone. A Treadstone business lawyer can help you set expectations early so pacing conversations feel routine rather than confrontational.