If you’ve spent years building your business, you probably think its value is based on your hard work, your “secret sauce,” or how much you love your customers. But here’s the cold, hard truth: A buyer doesn’t care about your past; they only care about their future.
When someone looks at your business to buy it, they aren’t looking for a job. They are looking for an asset that makes money while they sleep. If the business can’t run without you, it’s not a business—it’s just a high-stress job you created for yourself.
If you want to get a massive check when you exit, you need to understand the “Three Big Buckets” buyers look at when they value a small business.
1. Can It Survive Without You? (The “Vacation Test”)
This is the number one thing that kills deals. If you are the only one who knows how to talk to the big clients, or you’re the only one who can fix the specialized equipment, a buyer will run away.
Buyers look for “transferability.” They want to see:
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs): Do you have a “how-to” manual for every job in the company?
A Strong Middle Manager: Is there someone on staff who can make decisions when you aren’t there?
Brand Independence: If the business is named “Bob’s Plumbing” and you are Bob, you’ve got a problem.
2. Is the Revenue “Sticky”?
A buyer wants to know that if they buy the business on Monday, the customers will still show up on Tuesday. They value Recurring Revenue way higher than one-time sales.
Low-Value Revenue: You have to go out and “hunt” for every single dollar every month (like a house painter).
High-Value Revenue: You have contracts or subscriptions where the money comes in automatically (like a pest control route or a gym membership).
The more “automatic” your money is, the higher the multiple a buyer will pay.
3. Clean Books (No “Funny Business”)
You might be used to running your personal cell phone, your car lease, and your family vacations through the business to save on taxes. That’s fine while you own it, but it makes a buyer nervous.
A buyer wants to see a clear “paper trail.” They want to see that your profits are real and that your expenses are predictable. If your books are a mess, they will assume the rest of the business is a mess too, and they’ll offer you a lower price to cover the risk.
The Bottom Line
Buyers don’t buy “potential.” They buy systems and cash flow. If you can show them a business that runs on a system, keeps its customers long-term, and has clean math, you won’t just sell your business—you’ll have buyers fighting over it.
At Buy Scale Sell, we specialize in helping owners move from “worker bee” to “empire builder” so they can exit for maximum value. You’ve done the hard work of building it; now make sure you get paid what it’s actually worth.
Grab my book! https://amzn.to/45Cm2ky
Hi, I’m Heather.
Let me help you scale your Utah $1M+ biz to $20M+
My credentials:
- Built & sold Queen of Wraps (yep, that’s my face on the side of I-15)
- Learned 1,769,230+ lessons so you skip trial-and-error
- Zero Ivy MBA (just pioneer grit + market-tested tactics)
Let’s talk if you’re:
- Ready to make your ‘good’ business a GREAT business
- Hitting $1M+ and knowing you’re built for more
- Have 10+ employees that need to see your vision
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