Sell-Side|
Preparing a founder-owned B2B company for sale: the 18-month runway
The work that protects valuation happens well before launch: earnings quality, customer concentration, management depth and a data room built in advance.
Exit Planning & Sale Readiness
We work with owners twelve to thirty-six months before a sale to identify what buyers will scrutinize and address it while there is still time. The aim is a business that enters the market with fewer open questions, more credible numbers and a wider set of interested buyers.
When to engage us
- You expect to sell within one to three years and want to understand what will influence the value you receive.
- The company’s financial reporting was built for tax compliance and internal management rather than for outside scrutiny.
- Key customer relationships, pricing decisions or technical knowledge depend heavily on you personally.
- Revenue is concentrated in a small number of customers, contracts or channels that a buyer will view as a risk.
- Shareholders or family members have not yet agreed on timing, price expectations or what a successful outcome looks like.
How we run it
Why preparation pays
Buyers price uncertainty. Every question they cannot resolve in diligence becomes a lower multiple, a larger escrow, an earnout or a reason to walk away. Many of the issues that cause this, such as informal financial reporting, undocumented customer arrangements or an owner who holds every important relationship, take months or years to fix. They cannot be fixed during a sale process.
Exit planning addresses those issues in advance, while the owner still has the time and leverage to do so. It also gives owners a clearer basis for deciding when to sell, rather than reacting to an approach or to circumstances.
What we focus on
Not every improvement registers with buyers. We concentrate on the factors that most consistently influence value and certainty in the lower middle market:
- Quality of earnings: reliable monthly financials, a defensible earnings figure and adjustments that hold up under review.
- Revenue durability: contracted or recurring revenue, retention and the spread of revenue across customers.
- Management depth: a team capable of running the company without the owner’s daily involvement.
- Clean records: contracts, intellectual property, licenses and corporate documents in order and assignable.
- A credible plan: projections grounded in the company’s actual track record.
How the engagement works
An exit planning engagement begins with a diagnostic and continues with periodic reviews over one to three years. We work with your existing advisors, including accountants, legal counsel and wealth planners, rather than replacing them. Tax structuring and estate planning remain with those advisors; our role is to bring the perspective of the buyers who will eventually evaluate the company.
When the business is ready, the work carries directly into a sale process if you choose to proceed. There is no obligation to engage us for the transaction, and some owners conclude that the right decision is to continue operating the company.
What we deliver
Readiness assessment
A buyer’s-eye review of the company covering financial quality, revenue durability, customer concentration, management depth, contracts, systems and legal housekeeping, with each issue ranked by its likely effect on value.
Indicative valuation and value drivers
A planning range for what the business could be worth today, the factors that would move it and an estimate of how much each improvement is likely to matter to buyers.
Financial reporting roadmap
A plan, developed with your accountants, for monthly closes, accrual-basis statements, documented adjustments and the operating metrics buyers in your sector expect to see.
Leadership and key-person plan
A practical program to reduce dependence on the owner: delegating relationships and decisions, strengthening the second tier of management and putting retention arrangements in place.
Commercial and legal housekeeping
A checklist for customer contracts, assignment clauses, intellectual property ownership, corporate records and real estate arrangements, coordinated with your counsel.
Buyer landscape and timing view
An early view of the likely strategic and financial buyers, what each values and how market conditions in your sector may bear on the timing of a launch.
Timeline
- 1
Diagnostic
Weeks 1–6We review financials, contracts and operations and interview the owner and senior managers. The output is the readiness assessment and an indicative valuation range.
- 2
Readiness plan
Weeks 6–10We agree priorities and owners for each workstream, distinguishing changes that will register with buyers from those that will not. The plan is sequenced around the target sale window.
- 3
Implementation
Months 3–24Your team carries out the plan with our guidance. We meet quarterly to review progress, update the valuation view and adjust priorities as the business and the market change.
- 4
Pre-launch review
Final 3 monthsBefore a process begins, we repeat the diagnostic as a buyer would, confirm that the financial package is ready and advise on whether conditions support a launch.
Frequently asked questions
How early should we start?
Ideally two to three years before a sale. Some improvements, such as reducing customer concentration or building a management team, need several reporting periods before buyers will credit them. Twelve months is still enough to address financial reporting and housekeeping.
Will this commit us to selling?
No. The engagement is designed to give you options and a clear picture of value. Many of the improvements make the company stronger whether or not it is eventually sold.
Do you replace our accountants or lawyers?
No. We work alongside them. They remain responsible for tax, legal and accounting advice; we contribute the buyer’s perspective and coordinate the work toward a transaction.
Is the valuation you provide a formal appraisal?
No. It is an indicative range for planning purposes, based on market evidence and buyer behavior. It is not an appraisal for tax, estate or legal purposes.
Related insights
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Family business succession: choosing between a sale, a recap and a management buyout
Owners planning succession have more than one exit. The right path depends on liquidity needs, family goals and the depth of the management team.
Considering a sale, an acquisition or a recapitalization?
Conversations with Laurent Capital are confidential and carry no obligation. A senior member of the firm responds to every inquiry within one business day.