The business you built, ready to hand over.
For owners of trades, clinics, distribution, manufacturing, agencies and other owner-run businesses who plan to sell or step back in the next one to three years. We read the company the way a buyer and their lender will, find what would stall the deal or cut the price, and run a plan to fix it before anyone looks.
- For
- Owners of any owner-run business
- Timing
- One to three years before a sale
- Fee
- Readiness review from $3,000
- Start
- A free 30-minute call
When the sale is ahead, not on the table yet.
- You are thinking about retiring or stepping back in the next one to three years and want the business to be easy to buy.
- Much of the business runs through you: customers call you, prices live in your head, the passwords are on your phone.
- The website, email, domain or software were set up years ago by a relative, a freelancer or a company that no longer exists.
- A broker or a buyer has already called, and you want to know what they will look at before you answer.
- Your children or your managers may take over, and the handover has to work whether they buy or a stranger does.
- You run a software or technology company? Exit readiness goes deeper into the code, and a strategic options review gives a second opinion on your options.
Buyers discount what they cannot check.
A small business is bought on its earnings, and a lender finances it on last year's numbers. A new website will not change that formula, and we will not pretend it does. What changes the outcome is uncertainty. A domain registered to a former employee, customer records that live on one person's phone, software only the owner can run, contracts nobody can find: each one gives a buyer a reason to slow down, ask for more, hold back part of the price or walk away.
Our work removes those reasons before a buyer finds them. The aim is a deal that closes on time and a price that is not cut in diligence. We cannot promise a buyer or a number. We can make sure the business shows up ready to be checked.
Six things a buyer reads.
The readiness review covers all six, in plain language, under an NDA.
- 1 · The owner
- A map of what depends on you: customer relationships, pricing, suppliers, knowledge and signatures. A business that runs without its owner is easier to finance and to buy.
- 2 · Records
- What a buyer and a lender will ask for: financial statements, contracts, licenses and permits. We point out the gaps; your CPA and attorney close them.
- 3 · Customers and revenue
- Repeat and contracted revenue, how much rests on a few customers, and whether the customer list and history live in a system the buyer will receive.
- 4 · Digital assets
- An inventory of domains, website and hosting, email, phone numbers, Google Business Profile and reviews, social and ad accounts, analytics, payment and marketplace accounts: who holds each one and whether it can be transferred.
- 5 · Systems and data
- Accounting, point of sale, CRM, scheduling and any custom software. Licenses and whether they survive a change of owner, admin access, backups, data export, basic security, outdated website software and accessibility.
- 6 · How it presents
- What a buyer sees before the first meeting: the website, the brand, the reviews and the information package. First impressions set the tone of the conversation.
A plan you can act on.
- A written report in plain language. Every finding is rated: stops the deal, risks the price, fix before listing, or nice to have, with how to fix it, who does it, how long it takes and a budget range.
- A register of digital assets: every account, who holds it and how it transfers. Your attorney can attach it to the purchase agreement.
- A twelve-month plan, ordered by what matters to a buyer and what takes longest.
- A 60-minute walkthrough, with your CPA, attorney or broker if you like.
- A check-in after 90 days to see what moved and what needs a push.
From the first call to a business ready to show.
Free call
Thirty minutes about the business, your timeline and what you want from the sale. No documents yet.
Readiness review
Interviews with you and read-only access to what matters, under an NDA. We write down what a buyer would find.
Report and plan
Findings ranked by their effect on the sale, with who fixes what: you, your team, your CPA or attorney, or our partner.
Fixes
Digital assets moved into the company's name, systems documented, the website and information package brought up to the standard of the business. Done by our technology and creative partner under a separate contract, or by anyone you choose.
Tracking
Optional. A short monthly check of what was closed and what slipped, so the plan keeps pace with the business.
Buyer's-eye review
Optional. A final read the way a buyer and their lender would read it, so the first real questions hold no surprises.
Ownership before polish.
Owners often want to start with the website or the brochure, because that is what they see every day. A buyer reads it the other way round. A dated website is a cost they can price. A domain in a former employee's name, a customer list on one phone or software nobody else can run is a question they cannot price, and those questions slow deals down and lower offers. So the plan starts with what the company owns and controls, then makes it easy to understand, and only then makes it look its best.
One thing we usually advise against: replacing core systems in the last months before a sale. A stable older system with clear documentation reads better to a buyer than a migration half done.
We plan it. Our partner builds it.
The Structure does the review, the plan and the tracking. The hands-on work, from moving accounts into the company's name to a new website, a refreshed brand, documented systems and a clean information package, is done by our technology and creative partner, PERETZ, which has built and run systems for companies for more than ten years. It is under common ownership with us, and we say so in every report.
Using PERETZ is never a condition: the plan is written so that any competent team can follow it. And if a buyer later asks us to review a business we helped prepare, we decline.
What we do not do.
- We do not value your business or tell you what it is worth. That is work for a qualified appraiser or your advisor; we show what moves a buyer's confidence.
- We do not list your business, find buyers or negotiate. We take no success fee and no referral fees from brokers, advisors or lenders, so we never compete with your broker.
- We do not give tax, legal or estate advice. We tell your CPA and attorney what we found, so their work starts from facts.
Start with a short call.
Deals, sale preparation and due diligence
Intro call
- 30 minutes
- Google Meet
- Free
- Confirmed after Yevhen reads your note
Yevhen reads your note and confirms the call, usually within one business day. No numbers needed yet.
Common questions.
What kinds of businesses is this for?
Owner-run companies of almost any kind: trades and home services, clinics and practices, distribution, light manufacturing, agencies, retail and tech-enabled services. If the business has customers, staff and a future without you, the same six areas apply. For software companies, exit readiness goes deeper into the code.
How early should I start?
One to three years before a sale is the useful window. Moving accounts into the company's name and writing down how the business runs take months, not weeks, and buyers like to see a business that has run that way for a while.
Will you tell me what my business is worth?
No. We show what raises or lowers a buyer's confidence and what to fix first. For a number, use a qualified appraiser or your advisor.
Do I still need a broker or an M&A advisor?
Usually yes, for the sale itself. Which one fits depends on the size and type of the business. We help you think it through, and we take no fee from either.
Do my staff need to know?
No. Internally the work can be what it also is: putting the business in order. We work with the people you choose and report only to you.
What does it cost?
The first call is free. The readiness review starts at $3,000, fixed before we begin. Monthly tracking and the hands-on work are priced separately, by us and by whoever does the work.
What if my children or managers take over?
The same work applies. A family or management buyer usually needs a lender too, and a business that runs without its owner is easier for anyone to take over.
Preparing a sale or looking at a target?
We reply within one business day. NDA before any documents change hands.