Exit readiness for owner-led businesses
Make the business easier to run. And easier to sell.
A buyer asks how the work runs without you. Most owners answer from memory.
What a buyer finds first
Diligence looks for the same gaps in most owner-led companies.
- Work nobody wrote downThe steps live in people's heads.
- One person holds itA key account or process depends on one employee. Sometimes that person is the owner.
- Reports that disagreeTwo reports give two numbers for the same month.
- Margins nobody can showNobody can say which projects or customers make money.
- Known problemsEveryone knows where work slips. No record shows what was fixed.
What we deliver
Five pieces. You keep all of them if you sell and if you keep the business.
- Operating mapHow customers, projects, approvals, delivery and billing connect. In writing.
- Management viewProject margin, exceptions, capacity and delivery on one screen.
- Written proceduresThe steps each role takes. The work stops depending on one person.
- Organized recordsOperating records kept in one place, ready for a buyer's questions.
- Improvement ledgerWhat we found, what we fixed and what changed after.
We measure before we build
We start with how the business runs today. We write down where work waits, repeats or depends on one person.
Then we set a baseline for each problem. The ledger records every change against it, from your own records.
Who does what
We work beside your advisers. We do none of their work.
3Fold
- The operating map
- The management view
- Written procedures
- Organized operating records
- The improvement ledger
Your M&A adviser, CPA and lawyer
- The value of the business
- Tax advice
- Financial diligence
- The sale itself
Start with one workflow
- Diagnostic$250 for one workflow. You get the findings and a plan in writing.
- BuildBuilds start at $5,000. Each one is scoped in writing.
- LedgerEach fix goes into the improvement ledger. Then the next workflow.
One workflow at a time.
$5,000
One time. Scoped in writing.
To start
$2,500
Paid when you approve the written scope.
At acceptance
$2,500
Paid when the build is ready for you to accept.
What the $5,000 covers
- The operating map for one workflow
- A management view of that workflow
- Written procedures for the roles in it
- The records it runs on, organized
- Its entry in the improvement ledger
- Documentation and handoff
A standard build is $5,000. A whole company is larger and is priced in the written scope.
Questions
Will this raise what a buyer pays?
We cannot promise that. A buyer and your advisers set the value. We make more of the business something a buyer can check.
Do we have to be selling?
No. Every piece is useful if you keep the business and grow it.
Do you replace our CPA or M&A adviser?
No. We build the operating side. Valuation, tax, financial diligence and the sale stay with them.
When should we start?
A year or more before a sale. The ledger needs time to show what changed.
Do you need our financial records?
Only the records the build needs. We ask for viewing access where the tool offers it.