Straight talk for founders thinking about the next chapter - free, ungated, and written by people who have sat on your side of the table.
None of these mean you must sell. All of them mean you should have a plan.
If two weeks off means chaos, your company’s value is trapped in your calendar - and buyers price that risk hard.
The kids chose other careers and your best manager doesn’t want the debt. You’re not alone: most trades businesses face exactly this.
More trucks, more techs, more marketing - funded by a personal guarantee at sixty is a different bet than it was at thirty-five.
The technician shortage is structural. Platforms with training academies and career ladders are winning the labor war.
Unsolicited offers mean your market is in play. Better to run a considered process than react to a cold call.
Decades of work in a single illiquid company, in a single town, in a single trade. Diversification isn’t disloyalty.
Burnout makes bad sellers. The best deals are done by owners who chose their timing, not owners who ran out of road.
Zero disruption today; maximum risk tomorrow. Value erodes quietly through key-man exposure, and an unplanned exit - health, market, burnout - is always the worst-priced one.
The dream when it works. It requires a willing, capable heir and years of deliberate handover - and family harmony survives poor structuring about as well as a compressor survives no oil.
Keeps the culture, rewards loyalty. But managers rarely have the capital, so you become the bank - seller financing over years, with your payout riding on their execution.
Often the highest headline number. Read the fine print: brand retired, teams “synergized,” earn-outs engineered to be missed. The market’s reputation here was earned.
Full or partial liquidity now, brand and team preserved, growth capital added, and retained equity so you share the upside. This is what we build - and we’ll happily be judged against every other row on this list.
Every item below adds real money at the table. Start eighteen months out if you can.
Three years of accountant-prepared statements, personal expenses separated, revenue split by service line. Messy books cost more than any accountant ever will.
Membership and maintenance agreements are the single most valuable line in your P&L. Grow the base and document renewal rates.
Documented pay scales, low technician turnover, and a second-in-command who can run a week without you. Buyers pay for durability.
Licenses current, permits filed, customer agreements written. Surprises found in diligence come straight off the price.
Review scores, response times, community standing. Your local name is the asset - make it measurable.
Understand how businesses like yours are valued before anyone values yours. An informed seller is a respected seller.