12 questions. 10 minutes. A clear picture of where you stand — and what it will take to go to market at the number you deserve.
12 questions
No email required
Instant results
Question 1 of 120%
Financials
Do you have three years of clean, professionally prepared financial statements?
Financials
Can you clearly explain and document your owner add-backs and adjusted EBITDA?
Financials
How has revenue trended over the past three years?
Operations
Can the business run for 30 or more days without you present?
Operations
Are your key processes documented and repeatable by others?
Team & Leadership
Do you have a management team that a buyer could rely on post-close?
Team & Leadership
How dependent is the business on a single key employee or relationship?
Clients & Revenue
How concentrated is your revenue across customers?
Clients & Revenue
How much of your revenue is recurring or under contract?
Governance & Risk
Are your legal documents, contracts, and IP in order?
Governance & Risk
Are there pending legal issues, regulatory matters, or undisclosed liabilities?
Owner Readiness
Are you personally ready to sell — financially, emotionally, and with a clear sense of what you want from the deal?
Your sell-readiness score
—
out of 36
Well Positioned
You may be ready to go to market.
Your business scores well across the fundamentals buyers care about. That doesn't mean the process is simple — it means you're not going to get stuck in preparation. The work now is about positioning, pricing, and finding the right buyer at the right time.
The next step is a conversation, not a contract.
At this score, the questions shift from "are you ready?" to "what are you worth, and who's going to pay it?" JMB can walk you through a preliminary value range and help you decide if now is the right moment to run a process.
You're close — but gaps exist that will show up in due diligence.
Your business has real value, and a motivated buyer could get there. But buyers and their advisors will find the weak points, and without preparation, those gaps become price reductions or dead deals. A paid value estimate will tell you exactly what to fix — and how much it's worth to fix it.
Common gaps at this score level
Financial statements that aren't presentation-ready
Owner dependency that a buyer will discount
Revenue concentration that creates risk perception
Undocumented processes and informal contracts
A value estimate shows you the deal you could close.
JMB offers a paid value estimate engagement ($7,000–$10,000) that gives you an honest, buyer-grounded picture of what your business is worth today — and what preparation would do to that number. The fee is credited against the success fee at close.
Most business owners aren't ready when they first think about selling. The good news: preparation compounds. Businesses that go to market structured and positioned close faster, at better multiples, with fewer surprises. What you have now is time — and knowing where to spend it.
Where to focus first
Get three years of financial statements into presentable shape
Begin reducing owner dependency — this takes 12–24 months
Document your key processes and client relationships
Review and update legal documents, contracts, and IP assignments
Understand your adjusted EBITDA and what drives your multiple
A value estimate tells you what the work is worth.
Before you spend a year preparing, it helps to know what the business could be worth at the finish line — and which preparation steps move the number most. JMB's paid value estimate ($7,000–$10,000, credited at close) gives you that picture. It's the beginning of the engagement, not the end of it.