Three years out
Value advisory
Start the conversation now. Three years out is not a reason to wait: everything on the list is fixable, and there is time to weigh every route to the number you have in mind. Value advisory from day one, then the sale on your terms.
Where you stand
Three years out, everything on the list is fixable
Owner dependence, customer concentration, and recurring revenue are the slowest elements to move, and three years gives each of them time to show up in the numbers a buyer reads. That is a reason to start now, not to wait.
Eighteen months
The slow elements start to move. Owner dependence can begin to change hands; a second customer can begin to grow.
- FNDRS does
- Value advisory on the elements that move in a year, then preparation.
- You do
- Hand off the first decisions, and start the sales work that spreads the base.
Two years
Most of the list is fixable. Recurring revenue, customer concentration, and the team that runs without you all have time to show up in the numbers.
- FNDRS does
- Value advisory: score the elements, pick the few that matter most to buyers, and rebuild them.
- You do
- Run the plan quarter by quarter and let the score move.
Three years out
Everything on the list is fixable, and there is time to weigh every route to the number you have in mind. More runway is more options, not a longer wait.
- FNDRS does
- Value advisory from day one, then the sale on your terms.
- You do
- Start now. Preparation from day one is the one thing every timeline benefits from.
Every time given here is an estimate drawn from past engagements, not a commitment. Each sale runs on its own calendar, set by how ready and how complex the company is, by the buyers and their lenders, and by the lawyers on both sides. We set a calendar with you at kickoff and revisit it as the process moves.
The work
Value advisory, from day one
Every business has issues. Buyers will find them. The only question is who finds them first and who frames them.
What can change
What can still change, and what a buyer will test
A valuable business is not automatically a sellable one. And a sellable business is not always worth what the founder needs.
What can still change
- Which category buyers place you in, and where in its valuation range you belong.
- The management team, recurring revenue, customer diversification, and systems.
- Sometimes the best pre-sale move is an acquisition or merger of your own.
What a buyer will test
- Can it run without you?
- Are the numbers clean?
- Do the licenses and contracts move?
- Which add-backs will survive a Quality of Earnings review?
The sale, phase by phase
Where the sale starts
The conversation starts now; the sale starts when you sign the engagement, after the Go-To-Market Analysis, the step before it. The sale runs in four phases, and this one opens it. Nothing goes to market before the engagement is signed, and no buyer sees the CIM before you approve it.
Phase 1 of 4
Go-to-market preparation
The financials rebuilt to an institutional standard, and the materials a buyer will read.
More on this phaseWhat happens
- Onboarding: the plan, the documents, and who does what
- The financials rebuilt to the standard an institutional buyer expects
- The confidential information memorandum (CIM) and the anonymous teaser written
- You review the CIM, and it is designed for buyers once you approve it
Who holds the clock
- You
- Documents, answers, and your review of the CIM
- The deal team
- The financials, the CIM, the teaser, and the buyer list
The gate You approve the CIM. No buyer sees it before you do.
Signing to the wire Seven to twelve months from signing to the wire, for a company that is ready.
Every time given here is an estimate drawn from past engagements, not a commitment. Each sale runs on its own calendar, set by how ready and how complex the company is, by the buyers and their lenders, and by the lawyers on both sides. We set a calendar with you at kickoff and revisit it as the process moves.
What a short runway cannot buy
The elements that take the longest to move
Owner dependence, customer concentration, and recurring revenue do not change in a quarter. Where each sits on the table tells you which timeline you are really on.
- Od19 · Owner DependenceHow much of revenue, relationships, and decisions route through the owner. Scored as control: higher is safer.
- Cc21 · Customer ConcentrationRevenue share held by the top customers. Scored as control: higher is safer.
- Rr09 · Recurring RevenueRevenue that repeats under contract or habit without being re-sold each period.
- Md13 · Management DepthA leadership team that runs the company without the owner in the room.
Questions
What founders ask three years out
No. If you have a number in mind, there may be more than one route to it. One is to build for three years and sell once. Another is two steps: a first sale of a majority stake that takes risk off the table now, with equity rolled into the buyer's company for a second sale later, the second bite. The second sale may be worth more or less than the first; it depends on the buyer. The Go-To-Market Analysis sets the paths side by side on your numbers.
No. Starting the conversation commits you to nothing, and some founders never sell. The valuation conversation and the exit score tell you what the business is worth today and what would change that.
The work holds. A business that runs without its owner, with revenue that repeats and a customer base no one account can tip, is worth more in any market, and it is easier to run in the meantime. The timing of the sale can move; the elements that were fixed stay fixed.
Yes. Our advisory model is built so that we can afford to say not yet.
No. A valuation is an opinion of value on a date. The Go-To-Market Analysis is a picture of what a buyer would see, including the adjustments they will make, the issues they will raise, and how different deal structures change your total proceeds. It is designed for decision-making, not for a report.
No. Preparation runs beside the business. The point is to make the growth you already have easier to prove, not to pause it.
Start the conversation now
Three years out is not a reason to wait. The first step is the same whatever the runway: the number today, the number you have in mind, and the routes between them, in one sale or two.