Does the business run without you?
I have evaluated small businesses from the buyer's side, and it was the first question I asked about every one. If the customer relationships and the day-to-day decisions sit in one person's head, a buyer is really buying that person's job and prices it that way. Written down and run by the team, they become part of the company.
- Documenting how the work gets done, from quote to invoice
- Working with your accountant to get the books ready for a buyer's review
- Building the systems that let a manager run the week without you
- Finding where the business leans too hard on one customer or employee, and planning around it
The same tools, pointed at a sale
Exit readiness is a separate engagement from the operations work, but many of the same tools apply. A process that is written down and automated is one a buyer can check for themselves. The job dashboard built for a trade business can also show a buyer how each job performed.
Three to five years out is the right time to start
It leaves room to fix what a buyer would flag, and to show several years of clean results before anyone looks at the books. If a sale is on your mind, book a fit call.
Free, and the conversation stays between us.