Owner FAQ
Asked by every owner. Answered with data.
Straight answers you can forward to your CPA, your attorney, or your kids. Market figures come from broker-reported transaction data — IBBA Market Pulse, Pepperdine, SRS Acquiom — not from our marketing. If an answer here ever conflicts with what we say in a room, hold us to whichever is better for you.
Value
- How will I know your number is fair?
- We'll show you the same market data your advisor would pull. In recent broker-reported data (IBBA Market Pulse), businesses selling for $2M–$5M traded at a median of about 4× adjusted earnings, and $5M–$50M businesses at about 5.3×. Where yours sits in the range depends on things you can see for yourself: recurring revenue, customer concentration, how much of the business runs without you, and the shape of your team. Bring your CPA to the table — we prefer it.
- What makes a business worth more — or less — within that range?
- Transferability. Revenue that repeats without reselling it, customers no single one of which can sink the year, managers who run the day without you, clean books, and equipment that's been maintained like you meant to keep it. Owner-dependence is the single most common discount; a strong second layer of management is the most common premium.
- Will you give me a number before I share financials?
- A serious range needs high-level numbers — revenue, rough earnings, payroll shape — under NDA. What we won't do is throw out a flattering teaser number to get you to the table and walk it down later. That move has a name in this industry, and it's the reason owners distrust buyers.
Confidentiality
- Who finds out, and when?
- Nobody, until you decide. We sign a mutual NDA before you share anything identifying. The market norm — and our default — is that employees learn at close, from you, with us in the room. If you want a key manager brought in earlier under their own NDA, that's your call. We never contact employees, customers, lenders, vendors, or competitors without your permission.
- What if we talk and it goes nowhere?
- We close the file and don't follow up. Nothing you shared is kept or shopped. Most owners we talk to are years from a decision — the conversation is still worth having, and it costs you nothing but the half hour.
Timeline & process
- How long does this take?
- Roughly three to five months from a serious first conversation to close when financing goes smoothly. Lender underwriting typically runs 60–90 days after a signed letter of intent. For comparison, brokered listings average around five and a half months just to find a buyer. Anyone promising to close in thirty days is telling you something about how carefully they'll look.
- How much of my time will this take?
- The first conversation is thirty minutes. Through LOI, expect a handful of calls and one or two meetings. Diligence is the heavier stretch — a few hours a week for several weeks — and we schedule it around your business, off-site and off-hours, so your team notices nothing.
- What do you need from me to start?
- Nothing on paper. Your industry, rough size, how spread out the customer base is, and how deep the bench runs — enough for both of us to know whether a second conversation makes sense. Documents only ever come later, under NDA.
Structure & terms
- How much cash do I actually get at close?
- The market standard at this size is a large majority of the price in cash at close — broker-reported medians run roughly 80–90% for businesses between $1M and $50M. Seller notes for a modest slice are common and useful; heavy earnouts are not: in brokered deals at this size they're rare, and in larger deals where they do appear, they historically pay out only a fraction of the headline. We build offers to respect that math.
- Do I have to stay on after the sale?
- You stay exactly as long as you want — the practical norm is a transition measured in weeks to months, shaped around how much of the business lives in your head. Six weeks or two years; it's your call, agreed in writing before close.
After the sale
- What actually changes after you buy?
- Ownership, and little else at first. We run the business personally — the name stays, the team stays, customers see the same faces. There's no fund behind us, so there's no clock ticking toward a resale. What changes over time: better tools for winning and running the work, built with your team, at their pace. See exactly what we build on the homepage — and hold us to our promise page.
- How are you different from private equity?
- Structurally, not rhetorically. A typical consolidator buys to sell again in three to seven years, integrates your back office into a bigger one, and installs an operator to execute a plan. We buy to hold, run it ourselves, and keep the business what it is. Consolidators pay real money and close reliably — for some owners they're genuinely the right answer. The difference is what happens to the company after your name comes off the documents.
- What if I'm not ready to sell — maybe ever?
- Then don't sell. Most owners we talk to aren't ready, and that's the point of the second door: we can work alongside you first — growth, tools, operations help — with no obligation to ever sell. If handing it over someday makes sense, you'll already know exactly who we are.