Guides for founders: build value, then sell

Each guide answers one question a founder asks on the way to a sale, in the order the work comes: building value, preparing the business, then selling it. Each tutorial walks through one job step by step.

Guides

Building value

What raises the value of a business before anyone buys it.

Guide · Published November 2026

Multiple expansion: more for each dollar of earnings

Written for the owner who sells once: why a business lands where it does in its range, the four things that move it up, what one turn is worth, and what does not move it.

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Guides

Preparing

Getting the business ready for a buyer to test it.

Guide · Published November 2026

How to prepare for due diligence as a seller

Diligence yourself first, fix or frame each flag, disclose early, and hold still while the buyer checks.

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Guides

Selling

How a sale runs, from the first conversation to the close.

Guide · Published November 2026

Exit planning for founders: how to plan the sale

Written for the founder, not the advisor: the three numbers, the route they point to, the work a buyer prices, the sale in four phases, and a one-page plan to fill in.

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Tutorials

The tutorials

One job at a time, step by step, with a worksheet to fill in.

Tutorial · Published November 2026

Owner dependency checklist and audit, step by step

Seven steps for a business that depends too much on its founder: the log, the checklist, the scale, one move, a backup for every seat, the absence test, and the re-score.

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Start with your own numbers

Answer the questions and get the scores and the gap behind the number. Free, and yours to keep.

Get your exit score Read the playbook