Bought, not sold.
An Indiana owner's guide to a business worth more, and ready to sell. Foreword by Jared Luegers, CFA.
A buyer values the profit that is real, durable, and still there once you leave. This guide walks the five things every serious buyer scores, in plain language, with an honest self-assessment so you know exactly where you stand before you ever go to market.
Built to the standard of the guides the big firms hand their clients, written for Indiana owners. A gift, not a pitch: read it, use it, and you will know more about your own readiness than most sellers do at the closing table.
The five things a buyer scores.
Financial Hygiene
Clean, provable numbers that tie to the cash in the bank. The foundation everything else is priced on.
Operational Independence
Does it run without you? Earnings that survive your exit are worth a premium; the ones that walk out with you get discounted.
Leadership Bench
The people and decisions that do not depend on the owner. A buyer is buying the team as much as the numbers.
Market & Product Position
Customer concentration, pricing power, and where the growth actually comes from.
Transaction Readiness
The data room, the add-backs, the working-capital picture, everything that keeps a deal from getting re-traded.
A Readiness Self-Assessment
Score yourself from Quarry to Capstone and find the one binding constraint holding your value back.
The full field guide.
The complete Owner Edition, below. Flip through it here, or download the PDF to keep or forward.
The next useful thing, depending on where you are.
See where your business stands.
The guide shows you what buyers score. The Foundation Check shows you your score, in about ten minutes.