⸻ THE TRANSITION READINESS AUDIT
Can your company run 30 days without you?
A three-week, in-person diagnostic that scores where your company still depends on you, what that could cost at exit, and gives you a written plan to close the gap.
⸻ WHY IT MATTERS
What owner dependency can cost at exit.
Owner-dependent companies often sell for one to two turns of EBITDA less than comparable companies that run through a system. Here's what that can look like on a typical business in this range.
EXAMPLE BUSINESS
$30M
Revenue. $4M of EBITDA. Owner-led, 60 to 200 employees.
THE DISCOUNT
1–2 turns
What a strategic or financial buyer may take off the multiple when the company runs through the owner instead of the system.
EQUITY AT RISK
$4–8M
Of equity value at exit, potentially lost — unless the work to close the gap gets done in the years before a transition.
Illustrative example. Actual discounts vary by industry, buyer type, and deal structure.
⸻ THE ONE QUESTION
If the answer is yes, the work has been done.
Really yes — no late-night calls to the CFO from the airport. The senior team is real. The systems hold. The company is ready to be valued at what its work has been worth.
If the answer is no, the gap between where you are and where you need to be is what drives your company's value when you transition out. The Audit measures that gap across six dimensions, rolls it into one composite score out of 100, and gives you a written plan for closing it.
Can the company run 30 days without you?
It’s the question a buyer’s diligence team is really asking — and increasingly, your lender too.
⸻ IT’S NOT ONLY YOUR BUYER ASKING
Your credit committee is scoring the same ground.
A lender reviewing your next line increase or renewal is quietly looking at much of what a buyer's diligence team would. The Audit was built around a future transition — but many of the same six dimensions show up on a credit memo today. No transition required.
How much of the relationship runs through you personally
Whether the reporting package holds up without you walking someone through it
How concentrated the receivables are
How deep the management team goes past you
⸻ THE SIX DIMENSIONS
The 30-day question, broken into six gaps that drive value.
Each dimension is scored one to five and combined into a composite out of 100. The work is wherever the score is lowest.
01 · Owner Concentration & Equity Risk
How much of the company's operational, commercial, customer, financial and supplier weight still lives in the owner's head, hands and relationships.
WHERE MOST OWNERS SCORE LOWEST
02 · Senior Team Operational Independence
What the next layer can run without escalation — and whether decision rights and org design keep it there.
THE SENIOR LAYER THAT EARNS THE MULTIPLE
03 · Decision Architecture & Reporting Maturity
Operating cadence, top-of-house KPIs, a monthly board-style P&L, 13-week cash, and an add-back register a buyer will trust.
WHAT MAKES DILIGENCE MOVE FASTER
04 · Customer & Revenue Durability
Concentration, pipeline visibility, recurring vs. contractual revenue, churn, contract terms, and pricing left on the table.
THE 15% RULE AND WHAT IT COSTS
05 · Talent System & Bench Depth
Talent reviews, written succession plans for every senior role, structured hiring, performance management and retention.
SUCCESSION AT EVERY LEVEL
06 · Strategic Optionality & Buyer Profile
How many credible exit paths you have — strategic, financial, family office, ESOP, management buyout, generational.
CHOOSE THE TRANSITION
⸻ HOW THE SCORE WORKS
One number, scored out of 100.
Each dimension is scored one to five against a defined rubric — what a buyer's diligence team would likely find, not what the owner hopes is true. The six scores combine into one composite.
The composite isn't a grade. It's a measure of how far the company sits from a buyer-ready state, and where the highest-leverage work lives.
Most owner-led companies at this size tend to score in the high 40s to mid 60s when first measured honestly. The target for transition-ready is 80+.
Under 50
50–64
65–79
80+
The composite score
Foundational exposure. Owner dependency and operating gaps would materially complicate a transition.
Material gaps. The fundamentals are real, but the company still depends too heavily on the owner or a few key people.
Workable. The principal gaps are definable and addressable through focused operating work.
Transition-ready. Strong operating continuity, leadership depth, and reporting maturity.
⸻ HOW THE AUDIT IS DELIVERED
Three weeks. Flat fee. In person.
Half the read comes from sitting across the desk from your senior team — not from a data room.
WEEK 0
Kickoff
Engagement letter, scope, document request and interview roster — one call with the owner and CFO.
WEEK 1
On-Site
Two to three days at your facility. Stakeholder interviews and walkthroughs of operations, sales and finance.
WEEK 2
Financial Deep Dive
Reporting maturity, add-backs, working capital and the numbers a buyer will scrutinize.
WEEK 3
Value-Creation Plan
Scores by dimension, the composite, and a prioritized 6–12 month roadmap.
+30 DAYS
Working Session
An in-person session with you and your senior team, plus 30 days of follow-up access.
Flat fee. All-inclusive. Travel, preparation, deliverables, and follow-up are included. No hourly billing. No success fees. No surprise invoices. Pricing is calibrated to the specific scope of your engagement and is shared directly in conversation.
⸻ THE DELIVERABLE
A written plan. Not a binder. Not a deck.
Built to be used — by you, by your senior team, and when the time comes, by the people on the other side of a transaction.
A composite score out of 100 — the honest read on where the company sits today
Scores by dimension — with the specific evidence behind each rating
A prioritized 6–12 month roadmap — biggest gaps first, ordered by leverage and disruption
A buyer-profile view — who the company is built for today and how to widen the options
An owner-and-team working session — to land the plan with the people who will run it
⸻ HOW THE METHODOLOGY ANCHORS THE WORK
The same six dimensions run through every engagement.
In the Working Visit
A one-page Transition Readiness Snapshot — a fast read across the six dimensions and the starting score the Audit later confirms or revises.
In the Audit
The full diagnostic: three weeks, a composite score, a prioritized roadmap and a written plan you can act on with or without me.
In an Operator’s Partner Engagement
Quarterly milestone reviews against the six dimensions, with a defined exit at composite 80+ and the senior team operating independently.
In a Targeted Project
When one gap is holding the rest down: Senior Team Build, Reporting Maturity, Customer Concentration Reduction, Successor Onboarding, or a Pre-LOI Sprint.
⸻ AFTER A CONVERSATION, A WORKING VISIT ⸻
Get a real read on where the company stands today.
Ninety minutes on-site. $2,550 flat. Guaranteed and credited toward the Audit. You walk away with a one-page Snapshot of where you score across the six dimensions — and a direct read on which two or three matter most. Yours either way.