Business advisory

Build a business worth more.

Profitable and valuable are not the same thing. I show you what your business is worth, what holds it back, and which few changes will make it stronger and less dependent on you.

Income is not value

Two companies can earn the same profit and be worth very different amounts.

Buyers, lenders, and successors don't only ask what a business earns. They ask how likely it is to keep earning it without you. That is the difference between a great income and a valuable asset.

Built around the owner

A great income that depends on you

  • You bring in most new business and hold the biggest relationships
  • Key decisions, and the know-how, live in one person's head
  • A few customers make up a large share of revenue
  • Processes are informal and the financials are built for the tax return
  • No clear answer to what happens if you step away
Built as an enterprise

A company that runs on its own strength

  • A management team that makes decisions and owns results
  • Documented processes and a repeatable way to win customers
  • Diversified customers and more predictable revenue
  • Financial reporting management actually uses to decide
  • Value that belongs to the company, so you have real choices
What I look at

Your whole business, not just the bottom line.

I assess 47 qualitative elements across eight areas of the company, the things that shape its quality, its risk, how predictable it is, and how easily it could be handed to someone else. Each area comes down to a plain question.

01

Planning

Is there a clear direction and a repeatable way to get there, or does the strategy live in your head?

02

Leadership

Can the company run well without you personally directing everything?

03

Sales

Is revenue predictable and repeatable, or does it depend on you and a few big customers?

04

Marketing

Why do customers choose you? Ideally the answer is bigger than knowing the owner.

05

People

Do you have the right people, and would the key ones stay through a transition?

06

Operations

Are critical processes written down, so the work gets done without relying on one person's memory?

07

Finance

Does your reporting show where profit is made and where cash goes, or does it exist mostly for the tax return?

08

Legal

Are contracts, ownership records, and buy-sell agreements in order? Where legal work is needed, I coordinate with your attorney.

Value and risk

What is your business worth, and why?

For most owners, the business is the largest asset they own and the one they can least put a number on. I establish a baseline estimate of what your company is worth today using the Value Opportunity Profile, a valuation framework built for privately held companies that weighs your financial results alongside the quality of the business producing them.

The number matters less than what sits behind it: the strengths supporting your value, and the risks holding it down, like owner dependence, a few customers carrying the revenue, a key employee nobody could replace, or income you have to win again every year. You see the company as an asset, where it is strong and where it could be stronger, before a buyer or a crisis points it out.

Schedule an Exploration Call
Estimated business value todayIllustrative
Conservative~ $1.75M
Most likely~ $2.0M
Upside~ $2.25M

Illustrative. An estimate for planning, not a promise of what a buyer will pay. A real price depends on buyers, markets, and deal terms.

Roadmap to value

Know what to work on first.

Not every gap deserves equal attention, and you only have so much time, money, and management bandwidth. So the assessment doesn't end in a list of 47 things to fix. It ends in a Roadmap to Value: the handful of improvements likely to do the most for the business, in the order that makes sense.

We work through it together in focused 90-day priorities, such as moving key customer relationships beyond you, writing down the processes only one person knows, or building monthly reporting you can steer by. Then I measure the progress and reassess the business and its value, so you can see whether it is actually becoming worth more.

Schedule an Exploration Call
Roadmap to value, first 270 daysIllustrative
Days 1 to 90: move key customer relationships beyond the ownerDone
Days 91 to 180: write down critical processes60%
Days 181 to 270: monthly reporting and forecastingNext

Illustrative. Your priorities come from your assessment. Every 90 days: implement, measure, reassess.

Options, not just an exit

Build options before you need them.

This is not only for owners getting ready to sell. If a transition is 5, 10, or 20 years away, that is the best time to start, because the same things that make a business transferable (stronger leadership, less owner dependence, predictable revenue, better reporting) also make it a better business to own today.

When the time comes, a strong company gives you real choices: keep it and step back, pass it to family, sell to your team, or sell to an outside buyer. If it is going to the next generation, I help hand over the leadership, relationships, and know-how along with the shares, so they inherit a company, not just your job. And I coordinate the tax strategy so more of what you built stays with your family.

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TransferabilityIllustrative
Owner-dependentTransferable

Illustrative. The more the business can run without you, the more options you have for its future.

Retirement plan design

A tax-efficient way to move money off the business.

As an owner, you have access to retirement plans most employees never see. The right plan lets you save far more, and shelter more from taxes, than a standard 401(k), lower this year's tax bill, and move large sums onto your personal side.

I match the plan to your age, your profit, and your team, then revisit it as the business grows.

Schedule an Exploration Call
Annual owner contribution potentialIllustrative
Solo 401(k)~ $70,000
SEP IRA~ $70,000
Cash balance plus 401(k)~ $400,000+

Illustrative ceilings for an established owner. Actual limits depend on age, income, and plan design.

One cohesive plan

Your business is one piece of your wealth, not all of it.

Real freedom comes from a net worth that does not depend on a single asset. I coordinate how you pay yourself, how the business is structured, and the taxes on both sides, and I track your ownership in the business alongside your investments, retirement plans, and property, turning wealth tied up in the company into a spread of personal assets over time.

That is what lets you answer the only question that matters: are you free to choose?

Schedule an Exploration Call
Personal net worth, todayIllustrative
Business equity62%Investments16%Retirement14%Real estate8%

Illustrative. Heavy concentration in the business is the risk I plan with you to reduce over time.

What you walk away with

Clarity you can act on, not a report that sits in a drawer.

The assessment is the starting point. What you keep is a clear view of the business and a plan for making it worth more, revisited as the company changes.

Clarity

Where the business stands

  • An honest look at the whole company, across all eight areas
  • A baseline estimate of what it may be worth
  • What drives that value, and what the company does well
  • What creates risk, from owner dependence to customer concentration
Direction

What to do about it

  • Where the opportunities are to make it stronger
  • What to work on first, and why
  • A Roadmap to Value, worked in focused 90-day priorities
  • Regular check-ins to measure progress and reassess the value
How it works

Three steps, then a loop.

The first two happen once. The third repeats for as long as you own the business.

01

Understand

Your business as it is today, and what you want from it: the numbers, how it runs, and where you want to be in five or ten years.

02

Assess and value

47 elements across the eight areas, alongside the financials, to establish what the business is worth today and what is supporting or holding back that value.

03

Build and measure

A Roadmap to Value worked in 90-day priorities, then reassessed, so you can see whether the business is actually becoming worth more.

Questions owners ask

Before we start.

Is this only for owners planning to sell?

No. If a transition is years away, or may never happen, that is the best time to start. The same things that make a business transferable, less owner dependence, stronger leadership, predictable revenue, better reporting, make it a better business to own in the meantime.

What does the valuation actually tell me?

A baseline estimate of what the company is worth today and, more usefully, why: the strengths supporting that value and the risks holding it down. It is a planning number, not a price, and not an appraisal for a transaction.

What if the business is going to family?

Then the work is transferring the company, not just the shares: leadership, customer and vendor relationships, and the knowledge that currently lives with you. The roadmap makes that explicit, so the next generation inherits an enterprise rather than your job.

How is this different from what my CPA or attorney does?

They handle the return and the documents. This is the planning around them: what the business is worth, what is limiting that value, and what to work on first. Where legal or accounting work is needed, I coordinate with them rather than replace them.

How often is the business reassessed?

Periodically, and after anything that changes it materially: a big customer won or lost, a leadership change, a strong or poor year. Reassessment is what turns the roadmap into progress you can see rather than a document.

An estimated value is for planning, not a promise of what a buyer would pay; an actual price depends on buyers, markets, and deal terms. I do not provide legal or accounting services, and those matters should be coordinated with your attorney and CPA.

Let's chat

Find out what your business is worth, and what could make it worth more.

A complimentary 30 minute conversation about your business, your goals, and your vision. A relaxed session to learn how I work and ask any questions. I am here to listen, not to sell.

Schedule an Exploration Call