Step Back or Sell, With the Risk Out First

Who the right buyers are, what risk they would see, and how we take it out in the order they would worry about it.

The full picture is on the Step back or sell page.

Transcript

When owners think about stepping back or selling, they usually start with the price. Buyers start somewhere else. What happens when you're not here? Stepping back and selling are the same work. One sells your time back to you. The other sells the business to someone else. Both need a business that runs without you.

Long before any buyer's due diligence, there are two questions worth answering. Who are the right buyers? And what risk would they see? First, the buyers. Most owners can name one or two. There are usually more. A competitor who wants your customers. A supplier or customer who wants more of the chain. A bigger firm that needs what you do, and can't build it.

Your own managers, or an investor backing them. We map them, one sector at a time, and narrow it to the ones that fit, and why they'd want it. Then, the risk. We read your business the way they will. Eight areas, every figure sourced. How much of your income sits with a few customers, and whether they'd stay without you.

Which work is under contract, and which is just a handshake. Who holds the know-how, and what happens if they leave. Whether your numbers stand up when someone checks them. And your market: where it's heading, and where you sit in it. One business looked healthy on paper. But half its revenue had no contract behind it, and customers were paying at 180 days.

A buyer would have found that in a day. Quick, but thorough. You see what a buyer would see, and the key questions they'll ask, before they ask them. Then we take the risk out, in the order they'd worry about it. A buyer isn't paying for the years you put in. They're paying for what it earns next, and how little risk comes with it.

And if you never sell, it's simply lighter to run. Step back, or sell. Start with a 15-minute call.