Why owners do this early

Most of what determines a sale price is set years before the listing: how clean the books are, how dependent the company is on the owner, how concentrated the customers are, how much of the revenue repeats. By the time a broker is involved, those things are facts. Two or three years out, they are still choices.

The Exit Readiness Review is built for that window. It answers three questions: what would a buyer see today, what is discounting the price, and what should you fix first.

What you get

  • A buyer's-eye read of the business. Financials, customer concentration, owner dependence, contracts, people, systems. We look at what a buyer's diligence team would look at.
  • A realistic value range. Not an appraisal, and not a number to list at. A grounded sense of where a business like yours trades today and why.
  • The discount list. The specific things costing you multiple, in order of impact, with what each one is likely worth to fix.
  • A work plan. What to do in the next 90 days, the next year, and before you list. Written so you and your team can act on it, with or without us.

How it runs

Two weeks. We spend time in the business, go through three years of financials, the customer list, the org chart, and the key contracts, and talk with you and one or two key people. You get the written findings and a working session to go through them.

Fixed fee. Many owners then engage us to run the work plan as a fractional COO; the review fee is credited toward that if you continue.

Who this is for

  • Owners of companies roughly $1 million to $20 million in revenue
  • One to five years from a planned sale, succession, or step back
  • Who want an operator's read before they talk to brokers, buyers, or family

Who does the work

Roger Johnson owned and ran a manufacturing and distribution business for fourteen years and sold it in 2023. He has been on the owner's side of the table in a sale and knows what the process asks of you and your company. The firm does not sell businesses, does not take a commission on the sale, and does not provide legal, tax, or valuation opinions. We prepare you for the people who do.

Read first

If you want to start on your own, these guides cover the ground: How to sell a small business, How to value a business for sale, How to price a business to sell, and How to prepare a business for sale three years before the exit.