Test the number you carry in your head
Business Value Assessment
A rough, tool-assisted estimate of business value — a starting point for planning, not an appraisal.
The Overview
What it is,in plain terms.
You carry a number in your head. It came from a conversation with a peer, a figure someone mentioned once, or arithmetic you did years ago and never revisited. Every decision downstream inherits it — the price written into your buy-sell agreement, how much funding a partner's exit would require, when you can afford to step back. The number has never been tested, and it is quietly setting the terms of everything you plan.
The engagement is straightforward. You provide financial figures and a description of how the business actually operates. Those inputs go into a third-party assessment tool, and the output is an estimated range together with a view of how the business compares with others in its category. We walk through the result with you and explain what is driving it. It is a working session, not a document filed away.
Be clear about what this is not. It is an estimate, not an appraisal. It is not certified, accredited, independent, or built to be relied on by anyone outside the room, and its quality depends entirely on the figures you provide. Work that requires a credentialed appraiser — tax or gift and estate filings, litigation, divorce, shareholder disputes, financial reporting — is separate, and you would engage that professional directly. This is also not legal, tax, or accounting advice.
The second half of the conversation is often more useful than the number itself. Buyers tend to pay more for revenue that does not run through the owner personally, a customer base not concentrated in a handful of accounts, revenue that recurs rather than restarting each year, financial records readable without a forensic exercise, and a management layer that holds when the owner is absent. The assessment frames the gap between where your business sits today and what stronger companies in its category look like.
Who It's For
The situationsthis is built for.
- 01
Setting a buy-sell price
Replace an inherited or stale figure in your agreement with an estimate you have actually looked at.
- 02
Sizing a funding need
Understand roughly how large a partner's departure or a family transfer may be before you plan around it.
- 03
Pre-exit orientation
Get a rough sense of range years before a sale, while there is still time to change what drives it.
- 04
Testing an unsolicited offer
Form your own view of the business before you respond to a number someone else put in front of you.
- 05
Partner alignment
Give co-owners a shared starting point when each of them privately holds a different figure.
- 06
Building an improvement list
Turn the gap between your business and stronger companies in its category into a short list of things to work on.
- 07
Annual check-in
Revisit the estimate as the business changes, so planning is not anchored to a figure from an earlier era.
The Through-Line
How an engagementactually runs.
Every engagement follows the same five steps, scoped to your business.
Step 01 · 1–2 conversations
Discovery
A conversation about the business, not a pitch. We map how the company is actually owned, review whatever agreements are already in place, and get clear on what you want to happen if an owner dies, is disabled, or decides to leave. Most owners have answered some of this in their head and none of it on paper.
↳ A written summary of your structure, the gaps we see, and the questions worth answering next.
Step 02 · 2–6 weeks
Analysis
The underlying work, so the plan rests on numbers rather than impressions: a tool-assisted estimate of value where one is needed, an honest read on where the company is concentrated, and a structural review of any existing agreement. Assumptions get written down, so you can see how a conclusion was reached — and disagree with it.
↳ A value assessment or gap analysis, with the inputs it rests on and the assumptions written down.
Step 03 · 1–2 weeks
The Plan
The recommendation in writing: the structures, the sequencing, what each professional at the table is responsible for, and where the products fit. You finish this step knowing what we advise and why — including the parts we think can wait.
↳ A written plan with recommended structures, sequencing, and an advisor coordination map.
Step 04 · 4–12 weeks
Implementation
Putting the plan into effect. We coordinate the drafting your attorney does, keep the sequence moving between the professionals involved, and make sure each piece lands with whoever is responsible for it. Work that sits with other people runs on their timelines, so this step is coordinated rather than promised.
↳ The plan in effect — documents executed with your attorney, and each piece of the sequence with the person responsible for it.
Step 05 · Ongoing — annual or trigger-driven
Cadence
A plan written once is a plan that quietly stops being true. Value, ownership, and the people the business depends on all move, so we keep a standing rhythm with you and with your attorney and CPA — annually, and whenever something material happens. Valuation and funding levels are two of the things reviewed, not the whole agenda.
↳ A periodic review noting what changed, what it affects, and what needs to be refreshed.
The Questions
Frequentlyasked questions.
Is this a business valuation?
No. It is a rough, tool-assisted estimate produced from figures you supply, and it should be described that way. It is not an appraisal and carries none of the standing an appraisal carries. Its purpose is planning — giving you a tested starting point instead of a guess — not supporting a filing, a transaction price, or a formal opinion of value.
Can I use the result for a tax, gift, or estate filing?
No. Filings of that kind generally require a credentialed appraiser, and under current federal tax law the standards involved are specific and outside the scope of this work. The same applies to litigation, divorce, shareholder disputes, and financial reporting. You would engage a qualified appraiser directly for that work; this assessment does not substitute for it.
How accurate is the estimate?
It is only as good as the figures you provide, and it is a range rather than a single answer. Treat it as an orientation — a way of finding out whether the number in your head is roughly right or badly out of date. Where the estimate and your expectation diverge sharply, that gap is usually the most useful part of the conversation.
What do I need to bring?
Recent financial statements and a candid description of how the business runs — who the customers are, how concentrated they are, how revenue arrives, and how much of it depends on you personally. Rough figures are workable for a first pass. The more honest the inputs, the more useful the output; polished numbers that hide a weakness help no one.
Does this replace my CPA or attorney?
No. This is advisory work and is not legal, tax, or accounting advice. It is designed to coordinate with the professionals you already use, not to displace them. Where the assessment raises a question with tax, structural, or legal consequences, the right next step is a conversation with your CPA or attorney, and we are glad to be part of it.
What is the second part of the conversation about?
What tends to make a company worth more to a buyer. Revenue that does not depend on the owner personally, customers spread rather than concentrated, revenue that recurs, clean and readable financials, and a management layer that functions in your absence. We describe the gap between your business and what stronger companies in its category look like, in plain terms.
Who is this for?
Owners of closely-held businesses who are making decisions that rest on an untested number — a buy-sell price, a succession plan, a response to an approach, a target date for stepping back. It is most useful when there is still time to act on what it shows. It is not a service for anyone who needs a formal opinion of value.
Related Topics
- business value assessment
- estimate of value
- buy-sell pricing
- owner succession
- closely held business
- customer concentration
- owner dependence
- management buyout
Related Services
More of thebusiness-owner stack.
- 01
Buy-Sell Agreements
Valuation & Continuity
Working through what a buy-sell agreement should say, and whether the one you have still matches the business it was written for.
- 02
Business Coaching
Business Coaching & Consulting
Advisory work for owners who are the bottleneck in their own business — including sales and marketing.
- 03
Owner Dependence & Delegation
Business Coaching & Consulting
Working out what genuinely requires the owner, what only appears to, and how to move the second category off your desk.
Important Disclosures
- A business value assessment is a tool-assisted estimate of value, not a certified, formal, or independent appraisal. It is not prepared under USPAP, AICPA SSVS, or any other professional valuation standard, and it is not performed by an accredited business appraiser.
- The estimate is generated by a third-party assessment tool from information the owner provides. Its accuracy depends entirely on the completeness and accuracy of those inputs, and on the assumptions the tool applies, as of a specific date.
- Value estimates are not predictions of future performance and are not binding on any party. Actual prices realized in a transaction may differ materially from any estimate presented here.
- Where a value figure is needed for regulatory, tax, litigation, financial-reporting, or transaction purposes, a formal valuation must be obtained from a qualified, credentialed appraiser engaged by the client. An assessment produced here is a planning starting point and should not be relied upon for those purposes.
Last reviewed: 2026-05-28
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Business Consultant
Benjamin Minifie
Business consulting for owners — valuation, continuity, and reducing owner dependence
Business Consultant
Stanislav Lisovskiy
Succession and management-depth coaching — the conversations owners avoid