Most firms describe what they do in adjectives. We run one method, the same way every time. We measure a business against the five things a buyer prices, tell you the one thing holding value down, and close that gap. The method never changes; what we fix depends on your business. Here it is, start to finish.
Every business we touch is scored on the same five dimensions. Not a new framework per client, one standard, always. This is what a buyer, a lender, or an investor is really pricing, whether they say so or not.
Are the numbers real, clean, and provable?
Does it run without the owner?
Who is in the seats besides the owner?
Will the numbers hold and grow?
Is it ready for a buyer’s deep look?
We score each one, find the lowest, and fix that first. The weakest dimension is the binding constraint: the one weak link dragging value down, and the place we start. Fixing your strengths does not move the price; closing the constraint does.
Indiana limestone comes out of the quarry as rough, unfinished stone, then it is cut, squared, and set until it becomes the capstone: the finished piece that tops and holds a building. Most owner-run businesses are the same, valuable rock, not yet a finished, sellable asset. Our work is the cutting and setting in between. Every step has a plain name, and every name means one thing.
No mystery, no open-ended engagement to find out what you are getting. Each stage names what it is, what we need, and what you walk away with.
Fixed-fee, defined-scope work for when a deal or a decision is on the table: Quality of Earnings, sell-side readiness, buy-side diligence, a working-capital read, a financial model, or lender readiness. One number, quoted up front, in and out.
See the deal services →A CFO and an operating partner in the seats with you, running the value arc: clean numbers, the operating rhythm, a team that can run it, and the plan that makes the business worth more, month by month.
See the embedded model →Here is the line most firms will not give you straight. The how never changes: the five-dimension standard, the ninety-day arc, the deliverable at every step, the cadence, and a partner’s signature on the work. That is fixed, and any owner can hold us to it. What depends, honestly, is which of the five is your weak link, and therefore the specific fix. We will not pretend to know that before we look; that would be a sales pitch, not a diagnosis. An ironclad method with an honest “we will find out together” is more credible than a scripted promise, not less.
Take the free Foundation Check in about ten minutes, or start with a straight conversation. Either way, you will know your binding constraint before you spend a dollar.