The Levers — Realized Advisory

Twelve scored questions across six areas, plus one about where your head's at, about ten minutes. There's no cost and nothing to sign. At the end you'll see where each of the six levers that most affect enterprise value stands for your business today, strength, watch, or risk, along with what that typically means in the market. This isn't a formal valuation and it doesn't need your financials, it's a directional read to help you see what's worth a closer look.

AS A BONUS, I'll send you the Value Levers Workbook: more detail on each lever, the research behind how it affects overall value, and deeper questions you can use to dig into your own results.

Founder dependency

1. If you took a 30 day vacation with your phone off, what would happen?

Runs fine, the team handles everything Minor issues, the team manages Significant issues pile up waiting on me The business would struggle to function

2. If you had to hand off your role tomorrow, could someone follow written instructions, or would they be calling you constantly?

They'd have clear written instructions for almost everything They'd have instructions for most of it They'd have instructions for some of it, with big gaps They'd be calling me constantly

Revenue quality

3. What share of your revenue is recurring or contracted, rather than one-time or project based?

Over 75 percent 50 to 75 percent 25 to 50 percent Under 25 percent

4. How far out can you reliably forecast revenue?

12 months or more, with confidence 6 to 12 months 1 to 3 months We mostly find out as it happens

Customer concentration

5. Add up what your three largest customers pay you each year. What share of total revenue does that represent?

Under 20 percent 20 to 40 percent 40 to 60 percent Over 60 percent

6. If you lost your single largest customer tomorrow, what would happen?

Barely notice it A meaningful but manageable hit Serious disruption to revenue The business's viability would be in question

Business model differentiation

7. How replaceable is your business to your customers?

We have real IP, brand, or a moat that's hard to copy Some differentiation, but a competitor could catch up Mostly competing on price or relationships Highly commoditized

8. In the past 12 months, have you had to lower prices or increase discounting to win business?

No, we've held or raised prices Occasionally, for specific deals Regularly, it's become expected Yes, consistently, just to stay competitive

Financial rigor

9. How would you describe your financial reporting?

Reviewed or audited financials, clean monthly close Solid internal books, no external review Bookkeeping is inconsistent We reconstruct financials when we need them

10. Are there any liabilities, guarantees, or legal issues sitting outside your day to day financials?

No, everything relevant is reflected in the financials One or two minor items, nothing significant A few things a buyer would want explained Yes, several, and we haven't addressed them

Operational resilience

11. How dependent are you on a single supplier or vendor for something critical?

Fully diversified, no single point of failure One important vendor, but replaceable Heavily dependent on one supplier We'd be in serious trouble if one vendor failed

12. Before something breaks, do the numbers usually warn you first, or do you find out the hard way?

The numbers warn us consistently, we catch it early Sometimes the numbers warn us, sometimes we don't catch it Rarely, we're usually reacting We pretty much always find out the hard way

Just one more thing

13. Which best describes where your head's at right now?

I'm actively thinking about a sale in the next few years Not planning to sell, I just want to build enterprise value Honestly not sure yet

Optional

What's making you think about this right now?

Last step

Where should I send the Value Levers Workbook? Once you submit, you'll see your snapshot immediately.

Looks like a few questions are still unanswered. Please answer all twelve to see your results.

Realized Advisory

The Value Levers Snapshot

Realized Advisory

Hours