What to expect
Six weeks, start to finish. Here’s every step, what you get from it, and what we’ll need from you.
1 · The first conversation
90 minutes · no charge
We sit down and talk about your business and what you want out of it eventually — when, what it needs to be worth, and what matters to you beyond the number.
You get a straight answer on whether this is worth doing for you. Sometimes it isn’t, and we’ll say so.
2 · Financials and proposal
A few days · no charge
We look at three years of your statements to understand the scale and shape of the business, then put a proposal in front of you: exactly what we’ll do, what you’ll receive, how long it takes, and what it costs.
Priced to your actual situation rather than a package. No surprises later.
3 · The work
Weeks 2–5
We look at where your money actually comes from, what happens if you step away, whether your numbers can be proven to an outsider, what growth is left on the table, and anything that would complicate a transaction.
A day or two on site, and conversations with a few of your people if you’ve cleared it. Before anything is final, you check our facts — revenue figures, customer numbers, contract terms, who does what.
4 · The walkthrough
Week 6 · 90 minutes, in person
We sit down and go through all of it. You get the full written report, and you get us in a room to answer anything.
What a buyer would see in your business, good and bad. What each item is costing you, ranked. Who would realistically buy it and what each type wants. And a plan for where to put your money and attention.
What we won’t do
We won’t give you a valuation. We’re not appraisers, and a number would be less useful than what we’re giving you. You’ll get findings mapped to what a buyer actually does about them.
We can’t help you sell. We’re prohibited from being involved in a transaction, taking any commission, or even referring you to someone. That isn’t a limitation we’re apologizing for — it’s the reason you can trust what we tell you. Nobody in the room makes a dollar depending on whether you sell.
We won’t tell you what you want to hear. If the answer is that your business isn’t currently sellable, you’ll hear it from us in week six rather than from a buyer in year four.
Confidentiality, and what happens after
Everything is under a signed agreement before we see a single document. We won’t talk to anyone inside your business without your say-so, and we won’t discuss your business with anyone outside it. How long we keep your records, and when we destroy them, is written into the engagement letter.
If nobody on your team knows you’re thinking about this, that’s fine and it’s common. It just changes what we’re able to tell you, and we’ll be straight with you about that up front.
Afterward, some owners take the plan and run it themselves. Some want help executing it. Some come back once a year to see how far they’ve moved. All of those are fine, and there’s no obligation either way.
One more thing
Almost everything in the plan makes your business better to own whether you ever sell it or not — knowing which work makes money, having it run without you, being able to prove what it earns.
If you sell, you’ll have options. If you don’t, you’ll have a better business.
If you’re thinking about it, this is the right time.
