Exit Planning and Value Growth · Home of the Exit Acceleration program
What would future buyers really pay for your business?
Do you know what prospective buyers would actually pay for your business, and why? We help you find out, close the gaps future buyers discount, and sell on your terms, whether that is in two years or ten.
Sound familiar?
Is this you?
- You have a number in your head, but no idea whether prospective buyers would agree.
- The business depends on the owner, so prospective buyers worry it walks out the door when you do.
- A few customers make up too much of the revenue, which reads as risk.
- Recurring revenue is thin, so every year starts from zero.
- The financials do not hold up under diligence, and the price drops late in the process.
- There is no written plan for what happens when you step back.
Every business has exit value trapped inside it. The difference is a system that finds it.
Without a system
“Someday I’ll sell it” becomes the plan. A generic valuation gives you a number, but not what future buyers will discount, or what to fix first.
With a system
You see the business the way future buyers will, know which gaps cost you the most, and follow a clear roadmap to close them before you ever go to market.
The Exit Acceleration program
Six gaps that decide whether a business sells, and for how much
Owners are usually too close to their own company to see what future buyers will see. Exit Acceleration reviews the business across six readiness gaps and turns the findings into a clear order of work.
Owner dependence
Can the business run, sell and grow without you in the middle of every decision?
Financial documentation
Will your numbers hold up when a prospective buyer’s accountant goes through them?
Customer concentration
Is revenue spread widely enough that losing one customer would not change the deal?
Recurring revenue
How much of next year’s revenue is already predictable?
Management depth
Is there a team that future buyers can count on after you step back?
Operational systems
Are the ways work gets done written down, repeatable and teachable?
Your readiness summary shows where the business stands today, which gaps to close first, and how progress will be measured. The goal is a higher, more certain exit.
How it works
What we do together
Diagnose
A Value Builder assessment and an exit readiness review show how the business looks to future buyers, and where value is being lost.
Prioritize the gaps
We identify which gaps cost you the most, such as owner dependence, customer concentration or weak financials, and put them in the right order.
Implement and measure
Over 12 to 36 months, you work through the roadmap and track your readiness score as the business earns more and becomes easier to buy.
Sell on your terms
When you are ready, we stay on your side of the table through diligence and closing, working alongside your CPA, lawyer, banker and business broker.
multiple of pre-tax profit offered to businesses with a Value Builder Score of 80 or more: 6.1x against 3.55x for the average business.
Source: The Value Builder System
more likely to receive a premium offer of six times earnings or more, for companies that can sustain a three-month absence of the owner.
Source: Value Builder Analytics
The best time to build a business future buyers want is long before you need one.
“Phil is a consummate professional whose deep business insight and strategic guidance consistently deliver results. Whether you are preparing to sell your business or aiming to enhance its profitability, I highly recommend reaching out to Phil.”
Sam C.
Deliverables
What you get
- ✓An Exit Acceleration readiness summary: where you stand, what to fix first, and how progress is measured
- ✓A Value Builder score and report across eight drivers of value
- ✓A buyer’s-eye review of the risks prospective buyers would discount
- ✓A prioritized value growth roadmap
- ✓Regular progress reviews against your score
- ✓Coordination with your CPA, lawyer, banker and business broker
- ✓Support through diligence and closing
FAQ
Questions owners ask
What is the Exit Acceleration program?
It is the structured core of our exit planning work. We review the business the way future buyers will across six readiness gaps: owner dependence, financial documentation, customer concentration, recurring revenue, management depth and operational systems. You get a readiness summary showing which gaps to close first, then a roadmap to close them before you ever go to market.
When should I start preparing to sell my business?
Ideally two or three years before you plan to sell. That gives you time to strengthen your team, spread out your customer base, build repeat revenue and tidy up the financials, which are the things that actually move the price. Starting later still helps, but there is less you can change.
What do future buyers pay more for?
Lower risk and predictable cash flow. The Value Builder System measures eight drivers, including financial performance, growth potential, recurring revenue, customer satisfaction and how the business performs when the owner steps away. Its published data shows businesses scoring 80 or more are offered 6.1x pre-tax profit against 3.55x for the average business, a premium of 71%.
What do future buyers discount?
Anything that reads as risk. Owner dependence is the big one: if the business cannot run without you, buyers pay less, because too much of the value walks out the door when you do. A few customers making up too much of the revenue, thin recurring revenue, financials that do not hold up under diligence and systems that live only in people’s heads all pull the price down the same way. Exit Acceleration exists to close those gaps before a buyer ever prices them.
How is this different from hiring a business broker?
A broker’s job is to find a buyer and sell the business. This work usually starts earlier, raising the value of the business first, so that when you do sell, with or without a broker, the price reflects what you built. We work alongside brokers when it is time to go to market.
Do I have to be planning to sell?
No. The same work that makes a business sellable also makes it more profitable and less demanding of your time, and keeps your options open.
Do I have to leave the business when it sells?
Usually not on the first day, and how long you stay is part of the negotiation. Most sales include a handover period, often a few months, and some owners stay on part time for a year or more. Buyers pay more when your staying is a choice rather than a condition the business depends on, which is one more reason to build a company that runs without you well before you sell.
Related services
Where else we can help
Profit Acceleration
If this sounds familiar: shrinking margins, stalled profit, marketing you cannot measure
Find the profit already inside your business with the Profit Baseline ($2,500), then capture it with a 12-month roadmap and regular check-ins.
How profit acceleration works →Fractional COO
If this sounds familiar: growth that stalls because every decision still runs through you
An experienced COO inside your business, part time. We build the structure, weekly numbers and management depth that turn a busy company into a more profitable one, and give you your time back.
How a fractional COO works →Flash Coaching
If this sounds familiar: knowing what to fix, but never getting to it
A lighter way to start: a one-hour onboarding, then twelve months of short, focused strategy sessions that keep you moving.
How flash coaching works →Business Coaching
If this sounds familiar: every decision waits on you, and the important work never gets done
One-to-one or small-group coaching on a steady rhythm: pick the few moves that matter most, agree who owns them, and review what actually happened.
How business coaching works →Find out where the profit and value are hiding in your business
Book a short Discovery Call. We will talk through where the business is today, where you want to take it, and whether working together makes sense.
Book a Discovery Call