how we work
We do not sell projects and we do not sell recommendations. We work inside the business, we own the outcome, and we measure the result on the financial statements. There are three ways to start, and they get progressively more serious on purpose.
1
Start with the Snapshot
Thirteen questions, about ten minutes, no financial data required, completely free. You will get a read on all six levers that drive what your business is worth, scored as a strength, a watch, or a risk, with an estimate of what each one is costing you. It is directional rather than a valuation, and it is honest. Most owners find at least one thing they were not tracking.
When you’re done, you’ll immediately see your results and we’ll send you the Value Levers Workbook.
2
The Value Gap Diagnostic
This is where we stop guessing. We look at three years of financials, talk to six to eight of your people, and walk your operations. At the end, you get a quantified gap between what your business is worth today and what it could be worth, ranked by which lever is costing you the most, with a ninety-day plan and a twelve-month plan attached to it.
We deliver it, in person if possible, in a ninety-minute working session, because a document you read alone is worth less than a conversation you can argue with.
The entire fee is credited against the first ninety days if you decide to bring us in. If you do not, the plan is yours, and you owe us nothing further. A number of owners have taken the plan and run it themselves. That is a legitimate outcome.
3
Embedded Operator
We come inside as an operator, not an advisor. One to three days a week, on your team, accountable for named outcomes tied to specific levers rather than to hours or activities. We build the systems, hire or develop the bench, and hand it over on a written schedule so the value keeps compounding after we leave.
The first thirty days carry a satisfaction guarantee. If the work is not what we said it would be, you do not pay for them.
Before and After Close
We are not a competitor to your investment bank, business broker, or deal counsel. They run the transaction. We run the operating work underneath it. The work that decides whether the business performs the way the model says it will, before close, and after it.
sell side
When a business is going to market, we work alongside the sell-side advisor to close the gaps a buyer will price as risk before they surface in diligence. Customer concentration, thin or inconsistent financial reporting, and a business that cannot run without its founder are the three things that most often cost a seller points on valuation, and none of them get fixed in the weeks before a process launches. We do that work months ahead of it, on the same six levers, so the business your client takes to market is the strongest version of itself when it gets there.
Buy side
When a buyer is underwriting an acquisition, financial and legal diligence tell you what the business has done. They do not tell you what it can keep doing without its current owner, or whether the systems and the team can absorb the growth the model assumes. We do that part. Working alongside the buyer's deal team, we assess the same six levers we use with any client and give a straight read on what is durable and what was propped up for the process. After close, we can stay inside as the operator who executes the plan, not the one who wrote it and handed it off.
You own the transaction. We own the operating work that makes it worth running.
Get in Touch
We work with a small number of businesses at a time, and nearly every engagement starts with an introduction. If someone sent you here, mention their name when you write.