Most owners think about exit the way most people think about wills: important, later. But here’s what two decades around sales processes teaches you — everything a buyer pays a premium for is something that pays the owner today.
What buyers actually discount
Owner-dependence tops every due-diligence red-flag list: if the relationships, pricing and know-how live in your head, the buyer is buying a job, not a business, and prices it accordingly. Close behind: customer concentration, messy numbers, informal contracts, and a management team that has never made a decision without you in the room.
The five-part readiness checklist
1. A week off, unreachable, quarterly. The cheapest owner-independence test ever devised — and the same test the Terrain Survey applies. 2. Numbers a stranger could read: monthly management accounts, margin by line, no “ask Sandra” folders. 3. No customer over 30%. 4. Contracts in writing: customers, suppliers, staff — especially the handshake deals from 2014. 5. A second tier with real authority — decisions minuted, made, and survived.
Why start years early
Because each item takes quarters, not weeks, and because the list is simply a description of a good business. Owners who work it often decide not to sell — the business finally gives them money and time, which was the point of selling. Those who do sell, sell better: prepared trade sales routinely carry meaningfully stronger multiples than distressed ones.
The Owner’s Exit workshop runs twice a year and walks the checklist against your business — the next date is on the events page. Or begin the way every Fellside engagement begins: a free Survey Session and an honest look at the map.
Nothing here is financial, tax or legal advice; sale structuring needs your accountant and solicitor at the table.
WRITTEN BY
Martin Ashworth — Coach — Trades & Construction. MCIOB · ILM Level 7 Certificate, Executive Coaching & Mentoring.