Learning Center · Get Ready to Sell
The work that changes the number happens years before the sale.
Buyers do not pay for the business you have on the day you sell. They pay for the business they believe they are inheriting — its margin, its recurring revenue, its independence from you. Every one of those is improvable, and each takes 12 to 36 months. This is the honest checklist.
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Tools in this track
The premise
“I might sell in the next few years. What do I do now?”
The sequence
Do these in order. The order is most of the value.
- 01
Know the number today
Value the business as it stands, with the add-backs a buyer will actually accept — not the ones you would like them to.
- 02
Score what a buyer will discount
Exit Readiness grades the eleven things diligence tests. Each failed item is a discount, a holdback, or a reason the deal re-trades at the last minute.
- 03
Close the biggest gap first
Owner dependence and margin are worth more than everything else combined. Fix those and the rest is paperwork.
- 04
Decide how you want to exit
One payout, or a share of everything that comes next. Model both before you talk to anyone.
The instruments
Everything in this track.
- Valuation
What is my business actually worth?
Estimate enterprise value from revenue, margin, and the factors buyers actually adjust for.
- Adjusted EBITDA
- Valuation range
- What's moving your multiple
- Valuation
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×.
- EBITDA uplift
- Added enterprise value
- Value per margin point
- Strategy
Am I ready to sell — and what's missing?
Grade the eleven things diligence actually tests, and see which gaps cost you multiple rather than just time.
- Readiness grade
- Ranked gaps
- Estimated multiple drag
- Strategy
Sell once, or take multiple equity events?
Compare a single sale against a partnership with staged liquidity, over 5, 10, or 15 years.
- Both outcomes
- Year-by-year table
- The difference
- Valuation
How much value walks out when I do?
Score the business on the twelve dependencies buyers discount for, and see the cost in EBITDA turns.
In development - Valuation
What is a recurring plan member really worth?
Lifetime value of a plan member, and what recurring revenue does to your valuation multiple.
In development
Background reading
The guides behind these numbers.
- Selling Your Business What a sale process actually looks like, what buyers pay for, and the work that has to happen 12–36 months before you start.
- Private Equity Guide How PE actually works in home services, the difference between a fund and an operator platform, and the questions to ask before signing.
- Margin Benchmarks Operating bands for trades and home services by revenue size — gross margin, marketing, overhead and net — and how to use them without misleading yourself.
Partnership
Run the numbers, then bring us the output.
Our operators have run trades businesses themselves. Show us what these tools told you and we'll tell you what we'd do about it.