Option two · The Exit Readiness Program
Know where you stand. Then have someone watching.
For owners who are not selling this year, but who refuse to be caught unprepared when the year arrives.
The problem
The value of your exit is decided long before you list.
Customer concentration, owner dependence, unassignable contracts, cash-basis books, a key employee with no contract. None of these are visible from inside the business, and all of them come out in diligence, at the worst possible moment, when your leverage is at its lowest.
The Exit Readiness Program exists so those things surface on your calendar instead of a buyer's. We assess, we prioritise, and then we stay with you: reviewing the business every quarter and standing between you and any buyer who comes calling.
Illustrative readiness profile
An example only. Your assessment scores the same six dimensions against your financials, contracts and operations, and ranks the gaps by their effect on price.
What you get
An assessment up front, then a standing relationship.
Readiness assessment
Six dimensions scored against your actual financials, contracts and operations, with an indicative value range attached.
Prioritised gap list
Not thirty things to fix. The three that move your number the most, in the order to do them, with the value at stake beside each.
Quarterly monitoring
Every quarter we review updated financials and metrics, re-score readiness, and tell you what changed in your value and in your market.
Buyer vetting
When someone approaches you unsolicited, send them to us. We check who they are, whether they can fund it, and what their offer is actually worth.
Market intelligence
Multiples, lending conditions and buyer appetite in your sector, so timing is a decision rather than a guess.
A broker already up to speed
When you decide to list, we are not starting from zero. The valuation work, the data room and the story already exist.
The year, quarter by quarter
What monitoring actually looks like.
Assessment and baseline
Financial review, contract and lease review, operations interview. You receive a readiness score, an indicative value range and the prioritised gap list.
First review
Updated financials, progress against the gap list, and a re-score. We flag anything that has moved in the wrong direction while it is still small.
Market check
Where multiples, lender appetite and buyer activity sit in your sector, and what that means for your timing.
Value re-run
A refreshed indicative range against the improvements made, so you can see whether the work is paying.
Annual planning
Next year's readiness plan, and a straight answer to the only question that matters: list next year, or keep building?
A buyer approaches you
Forward them to us. We qualify the party, assess the offer against your range, and tell you whether it deserves a conversation. No cost, no obligation to act.
Owners rarely choose their exit date. Illness, an offer, a partner, a burnout year. Readiness is what turns a forced sale into a chosen one.
The program is designed to be dropped at any point. If a quarterly review tells you it is time to list, we convert the engagement to a sell-side listing and the assessment work carries straight over.
Free, and nothing is submitted
Ten-question readiness self-check.
Check every statement that is true of your business today. Nothing is sent anywhere, and no email address is required. This is a rough directional read, not the assessment itself, but it will tell you which conversation to have next.
Choosing between the two
List now, or get ready first?
| List Now | Exit Readiness Program | |
|---|---|---|
| Right for you if | You want out within the next twelve months and the business can withstand diligence today. | You are one to five years out, or you are not sure, and you want the number to be higher when you go. |
| What happens first | Valuation, CIM, data room, go to market. | Readiness assessment, indicative value range, prioritised gap list. |
| Ongoing | Weekly activity reporting through to closing. | Quarterly review, re-scoring and market intelligence. |
| Unsolicited buyers | Directed into the live process. | We vet them for you and tell you whether the offer is real. |
| Commitment | A listing agreement for the engagement term. | A program engagement you can convert to a listing at any point. |
| Fees | Success fee at closing, set out in the listing agreement. | Assessment fee plus a quarterly program fee. Both quoted in writing before you commit. |
Someone approached you about buying your business?
If the party approaching you is a buyer looking for representation of their own, send them to The Deal Strategy Co.