Skip to content
American Service Partners — home
Partner Login See If You're Eligible
See If You're Eligible

Strategy tool

Am I ready to sell — and what's missing?

Eleven questions, weighted by what they actually cost you. Some of these change the price. Four of them decide whether a deal closes at all. Answer them honestly now, because a buyer's diligence will reach the same conclusions either way — the only variable is whether you find out first.

Eleven questions · 0 of 11 answered

Answer honestly rather than aspirationally. A buyer's diligence will reach the same conclusions whichever way you answer here — the only difference is whether you find out now or across a negotiating table.

01Do you have three years of clean, reviewed financial statements?Deal-breaker

The first thing requested and the most common reason a deal slips. Tax returns alone are not enough — a buyer needs accrual statements that tie out.

02Are personal and business expenses fully separated?Deal-breaker

Every personal expense running through the P&L becomes an add-back you have to defend line by line. Undefendable add-backs are simply deducted from the price.

03Is there someone other than you who runs day-to-day operations?Deal-breaker

If the business stops when you take two weeks off, the buyer is purchasing a job, not an asset — and will price it that way or require you to stay.

04Would your revenue survive if you stopped answering the phone?Deal-breaker

Owner-held customer and referral relationships do not transfer. Buyers discount revenue that walks out with the seller.

05Do maintenance or service agreements make up a real share of revenue?Moves the price

Contracted, repeating revenue is the single largest positive driver of multiple in home services. It converts a project business into an annuity.

06Is any single customer under 10% of revenue?Moves the price

Concentration is inherited risk. Above roughly 10% from one customer, buyers start holding back part of the price against the chance that customer leaves.

07Has your net margin been stable or improving for three years?Moves the price

A buyer capitalizes the trend, not the peak. A single good year after two poor ones gets valued off the average.

08Is technician retention strong, with a hiring pipeline that works?Moves the price

In a labor-constrained trade the crew IS the capacity. A business that cannot hire cannot grow, and the buyer's model depends on growth.

09Is the work run in a field service or CRM system, with exportable data?

If the operating history lives in someone's head or a spreadsheet, diligence takes months longer and the buyer cannot verify the story.

10Are licenses, insurance and contracts current, clean and assignable?

Non-assignable contracts, lapsed licenses and open litigation do not usually kill deals — they delay them, and delay costs leverage.

11Is the fleet and equipment in good order, with no deferred spend?

Deferred capital expenditure is a bill the buyer will inherit, and they will subtract it from the price with a calculator, not a conversation.

Your score

Answer the questions to see your readiness grade, your ranked gaps, and what they are likely costing you in multiple.

Keep going

Other tools that follow from this one

Valuation 3 min

What is my business actually worth?

Estimate enterprise value from revenue, margin, and the factors buyers actually adjust for.

Open →
Valuation 3 min

What would better margins be worth when I sell?

See what closing the gap between your margin today and your target margin adds to enterprise value at 5×, 7× and 10×.

Open →
Strategy 4 min

Sell once, or take multiple equity events?

Compare a single sale against a partnership with staged liquidity, over 5, 10, or 15 years.

Open →

Partnership

Want these numbers reviewed by someone who has run your business?

Our operators have run trades businesses themselves. A conversation costs nothing and comes with no obligation.

Talk with an operator→