Built for the owner. Built for the outcome.
Every exit carries something beyond a number: legacy, timing, years of sacrifice, people who depend on the outcome. We understand what’s at stake.
We advise founders and owner-operators through consequential ownership transitions, combining preparation, positioning, buyer outreach, negotiation, diligence, and closing support into one controlled sell-side process, handled with discretion from first conversation through close.
Exit Advisory.
A sale process run well is methodical, competitive, and controlled from start to finish. We build each one around a single objective: the best achievable outcome for the seller, on price, on terms, and on certainty of close.
What separates a well-run process from a poorly run one is not effort. It is architecture. The sequence of steps, the timing of buyer contact, the management of information, and the structure of competition all determine how much leverage you carry into negotiations.
Discuss a Mandate →Competitive Process Architecture
Value is maximized at the margin of competition. We sequence outreach, set structured bid deadlines, and manage buyer dynamics to generate multiple qualified offers, then use that leverage.
Controlled Information Release
What buyers know, and when they know it, determines how they price the risk. We manage information flow at every stage so disclosure is a tool, not a liability.
Narrative Positioning Before Outreach
We build the investment thesis for your business before a single buyer sees it. How the story is framed shapes how the business is valued, and which buyers pursue it seriously.
Active Diligence Management
Most deals that collapse do so in diligence, not at LOI. We stay in the room through close, coordinating attorneys, accountants, and buyer teams to protect what you negotiated.
Term Structure, Not Just Price
Headline price is one variable. Structure, earnouts, indemnification caps, escrow terms, and non-competes all affect real economics. We negotiate the full package.
We are typically a fit for owners with $2M–$50M in enterprise value, recurring or defensible revenue, meaningful owner involvement, and a desire for a controlled, confidential process.
Five phases, fully managed.
Each phase is sequenced to build leverage for the next, and a principal manages every one. Below is the shape of an engagement; the full method lives on our process page.
We align on your goals, your timeline, and your definition of a successful outcome before any mandate is signed. Everything that follows is built around what matters to you.
We normalize the financials and build the investment narrative that frames your business for the buyers most likely to pay full value, before a single counterparty sees a document.
We approach a pre-screened universe of strategic and financial buyers confidentially, qualifying each one before any identifying material is shared, and drive toward a structured deadline that creates genuine competition.
With competing offers in hand, we negotiate price, structure, earnouts, and terms so the letter of intent you sign reflects what you were actually promised.
We stay at the table through diligence, coordinating attorneys and accountants and protecting the terms you negotiated all the way to the wire.
Everything the mandate requires.
Business Valuation & Value Thesis
A defensible value thesis grounded in your financials, operations, and buyer market, before anyone else sees it.
Confidential Information Memorandum
A high-quality CIM that positions your business compellingly for the right buyers, without premature exposure.
Targeted Buyer Identification
We don’t blast lists. We identify specific strategic acquirers, PE groups, and family offices with the capital and thesis to pay full price.
Confidential Outreach & Process
Controlled buyer communications, NDA execution, and process management, protecting your identity and your employees throughout.
LOI Negotiation
Price, structure, earnouts, non-competes, reps and warranties. We know what’s market and where to push back.
Diligence Coordination & Close
Full coordination of attorneys, CPAs, and the buyer’s team through diligence and closing, until the wire clears.
When the decision demands representation.
Exit Advisory is not for every business or every timeline. It’s for owners who have reached a moment where the stakes and the counterparties require serious, experienced representation.
- A first sale, with no prior transaction experience
- An unsolicited offer that arrived before you were ready
- Succession planning with family or management complexity
- PE interest, recapitalization, or minority liquidity opportunities
- Partner buyouts or co-founder ownership restructuring
- A business ready to go to market and a seller ready to move
Inbound Offer on the Table
A buyer approached you directly. That offer is a data point, not a ceiling. Before responding, understand your real position.
Selling for the First Time
This is likely the most consequential transaction of your life, and a routine one for the buyer across the table. Representation is what closes that gap.
PE Is Circling
Private equity firms are experienced, full-time acquirers who know exactly where value hides. When one is at the table, you need someone equally seasoned on your side.
Complex Stakeholder Map
Multiple owners, family dynamics, or key employees with equity. We manage the personal complexity alongside the financial one.
Timing Is Right
The business is performing, the market is favorable, and the owner is ready. This is when a well-run process returns the most.
Retirement Within Reach
Your exit funds your next chapter. The difference between a good process and a great one compounds for years.
Every engagement is treated like the only one that matters. All conversations are confidential. No obligation, no fee for an initial discussion.
Exit Readiness & Valuation.
Not ready to sell today? We help you understand your current value, close the gaps suppressing it, and build the conditions to command a premium when the time comes.
Exit Readiness & Valuation.
The businesses that command premium valuations are not just profitable. They are prepared. Buyers pay more for businesses with clean financials, documented processes, diversified customers, and management depth that doesn’t walk out with the owner.
We assess your business through a buyer’s lens, quantify your current market value, identify the gaps suppressing it, and build a concrete plan to close them, months or years before you go to market.
We look at your business the way buyers do.
Before you go to market, we apply the same lens a buyer’s diligence team will, so you can fix what needs fixing and lean into what makes your business exceptional.
Recurring & Predictable Revenue
Contract revenue, maintenance agreements, and repeat customer rates, the single highest-value characteristic in most transactions.
Management Team Depth
Businesses that can operate without the owner command significantly higher multiples and cleaner deal structures.
Documented Systems & Processes
SOPs, workflows, and technology infrastructure reduce integration risk and give buyers confidence in a post-close transition.
Clean, Normalized EBITDA
Profitability that is accurately presented and defensible, with legitimate add-backs documented, drives meaningful valuation uplift.
Customer Concentration
When one or two customers represent 20%+ of revenue, buyers apply meaningful risk discounts, often dramatically.
Owner Dependency
Key relationships, technical knowledge, or operational control that can’t transfer are among the most common value suppressors.
Disorganized Financials
Inconsistent records, personal expenses commingled, or weak reporting causes buyers to re-trade or walk. Cleanup before market is essential.
No Succession Plan
Without a clear picture of how operations continue post-sale, buyers price in transition risk at every stage of negotiation.
A structured path to market readiness.
We review your business through a buyer’s lens: financials, operations, customers, contracts, and team.
We deliver your current market value, what’s driving it, and, critically, what’s suppressing it.
A concrete, prioritized action plan to close the identified gaps and position your business for a premium outcome.
We monitor your progress and the M&A market, so we know precisely when you’re positioned to go, and transition seamlessly to full Exit Advisory.
Every dimension of your business, evaluated.
Financial Quality & Reporting
We review your accounting practices and financial statements to ensure your profitability story is clean, defensible, and presented the way buyers expect to receive it.
- Revenue recognition consistency
- EBITDA normalization and add-back documentation
- Working capital analysis
- Debt, liability, and off-balance-sheet item identification
- Financial reporting quality and audit trail assessment
Revenue Quality & Customer Base
We map your revenue streams, customer concentration, contract structure, and retention history to understand how buyers will price your income, and what risks they’ll discount for.
- Top-10 customer concentration analysis
- Revenue mix: recurring versus project revenue
- Contract terms, renewals, and cancellation risk
- Customer acquisition and retention trends
Operations & Owner Dependency
Buyers need to believe the business can run without you. We assess operational documentation, management layer, and key-person risk, then prescribe solutions before it becomes a diligence red flag.
- Owner involvement and key-person mapping
- Process documentation and SOP assessment
- Technology systems and infrastructure review
- Operational scalability evaluation
Management & Human Capital
The strength of your management team affects how buyers value the business and structure the deal. We assess team depth and help you build the layer that gives buyers confidence.
- Organizational structure and reporting lines
- Key employee retention risk assessment
- Compensation benchmarking
- Succession planning and management development strategy
Why founders choose representation.
The decision to sell is not just financial. It involves uncertainty, discretion, leverage, and the risk of navigating a sophisticated counterparty alone. This is why owners hire an advisor.
Protecting Leverage
Once you engage a buyer directly, leverage shifts, often permanently. An advisor creates process structure, buyer competition, and negotiating strength that keeps leverage on your side.
Managing Discretion
Employees, customers, and competitors cannot know you’re exploring a sale. We control the flow of information at every stage, protecting your business while it’s in motion.
Navigating Uncertainty
Most owners have never sold a business, while the buyer does this for a living. An experienced advisor evens the table, translating terms, anticipating tactics, and managing the process so you aren’t learning on the job.
Reducing Noise
A sale process generates enormous volume: buyer inquiries, diligence requests, legal markups, timeline pressure. We absorb that complexity so you can keep running the business through close.
Aligning Our Incentives
We are paid when you close. Not for activity, not for time, but for results. That structure means we’re pushing for the same outcome you are.
Asked by nearly every owner.
Straight answers to the questions that matter most before a first conversation. Anything not covered here, we’ll answer directly, in confidence.
01Will anyone know my business is for sale?
Not unless and until you approve it. All initial outreach is conducted through anonymous, blind teasers. Your identity is never disclosed until a counterparty has executed an NDA and been qualified. Data room access is tiered and tracked, and we coordinate with you on what employees, customers, and vendors learn, and when.
02What size businesses do you work with?
We work with businesses owned by founders and families in the lower middle market, typically between $2M and $50M in enterprise value. Within that range, we focus on sectors where we know the active acquirers and the drivers of valuation. We also selectively take engagements outside them where our process gives the seller a genuine advantage.
03How are you compensated?
Our fee structure is built around successful outcomes, not billable activity. We succeed when you succeed. The specific structure of an engagement is discussed openly and directly in our first conversation, before any commitment is made.
04What if I’m not ready to sell yet?
That’s often the best time to talk. Our Exit Readiness & Valuation engagement establishes what your business is worth today, identifies the gaps suppressing value, and builds a concrete plan to close them, months or years before you go to market. Owners who prepare command stronger outcomes.
05How long does a sale process take?
It depends on the readiness of the business and the shape of the market. We won’t compress preparation to manufacture speed. Every engagement moves through five phases, from discovery and positioning through outreach, negotiation, and close, with the timeline set by what protects your outcome rather than an arbitrary deadline.
06Could you ever represent the buyer in my deal?
No. We do not represent both sides of a transaction, we take no buyer referral fees, and we manage no proprietary capital. When we work with you, our only interest is yours.
Discuss a potential transition.
Tell us about your business and where you are in your thinking. All inquiries are held in strict confidence, with no obligation and no fee for an initial discussion.