Getting Your Business Ready for What Comes Next
Most business owners spend years building something valuable, then struggle when it's time to move on. We help you understand what buyers actually look for and how to position your business properly.
View Learning OptionsWhy Most Business Sales Don't Meet Expectations
Here's something I've noticed after working with dozens of business owners: they usually wait until they're ready to sell before thinking about what makes a business attractive to buyers. By then, it's often too late to fix the issues that matter most.
A business that runs smoothly without constant owner involvement is worth more. Documentation that actually exists is worth more. Systems that someone else can understand are worth more. But building these things takes time—usually between nine months and two years, depending on where you're starting from.
Our programs walk you through this preparation process step by step. Not because we promise you'll get some magical valuation, but because organized businesses with clear processes tend to attract more serious buyers.
Common Issues We Help You Address
These are the problems that come up repeatedly in our consultations. Some are easier to fix than others, but all of them benefit from early attention.
Everything Lives in Your Head
Your business runs fine because you know all the details. But when a buyer starts asking questions about processes, or when you're trying to hand things off, there's nothing written down. This becomes a real problem during due diligence.
You Are the Business
Clients call you directly. Key relationships depend on you personally. The business works because of your specific expertise or contacts. Buyers see this as risky because they're not you.
Inconsistent Performance
Some months are great, others aren't. Revenue jumps around based on whether you landed a big contract or lost a major client. This pattern makes buyers nervous about future predictability.
Financial Records Tell Different Stories
Your bookkeeper, your tax return, and your bank statements don't quite match up. Or you've been running personal expenses through the business. These discrepancies slow down sales significantly.
Customer Concentration Problems
When three clients represent 70% of your revenue, buyers worry about what happens if one leaves. This drastically affects how they value your business.
Unclear Ownership or Contracts
Partnership agreements from ten years ago that don't reflect current reality. Client contracts that are verbal or outdated. Intellectual property that isn't properly documented. These create legal complications during sale negotiations.
How Our Program Works
We've broken this down into manageable phases. Most participants work through these over twelve to eighteen months, though some move faster or slower depending on their starting point.
Assessment Phase
We look at your business from a buyer's perspective. What would concern them? What looks strong? This isn't about judgment—it's about identifying where your time and effort will have the most impact. Usually takes four to six weeks of careful review.
Documentation Development
Creating the operational guides, process maps, and system documentation that buyers expect to see. This is often the most time-consuming part, but it's also what gives buyers confidence that the business will continue running smoothly.
Financial Preparation
Getting your books in order, normalizing expenses, preparing the financial story that accurately represents your business performance. We also help you understand which metrics buyers in your industry care about most.
Operational Independence
Systematically reducing the business's dependence on you personally. This might mean training someone to handle client relationships, documenting your decision-making process, or creating clear procedures for tasks you currently handle instinctively.
Sale Readiness Review
A final assessment to identify any remaining gaps before you go to market. We also help you prepare for the questions buyers will ask and the information they'll request during due diligence.
Rhiannon Pembroke
Rhiannon spent fourteen months preparing her consulting business for sale. The documentation work was tedious, she'll tell you that. But when she finally listed in September 2024, she had three serious offers within six weeks.
Eighteen Months Later
The sale closed in early 2025. She stayed on for a three-month transition period, which went smoothly because the operational documentation was thorough. Last time we talked, she mentioned that the buyer rarely needs to contact her anymore—everything they needed was already documented.
Eseld Fairburn
Eseld's situation was more complex. Her manufacturing business had significant customer concentration issues, and several key processes existed only in her head. We worked together through most of 2024 addressing these concerns.
Current Status
She decided to delay listing until late 2025. The preparation work revealed that her business needed more time to demonstrate consistent performance without the concentrated customer base. She's still working through the changes, but tells me the business runs better now anyway, even if she decides not to sell.