The Intent
You want to understand your exit position without committing to a sale or alerting the market.
How I Solve It
I apply the 25 Factors from a buyer's perspective, emphasizing Factor #6: Utility, Sustainability, and Scalability, Factor #13: Management Capability, Factor #14: Client Base, Factor #5: Liquidity, and Factor #24: Risk.
The 5 Senses Inspection Report simulates what a buyer would see, feel, and question within minutes of exposure to the business.
Experience
It is vital because "What would my business sell for today?" is not a mechanical calculation. It is a real-world judgment about risk, control, sustainability, and transferability — and that judgment is where 10–15 years of owner-operator and valuation experience, your gut–brain axis, does the heavy lifting.
Why It Is Not Mechanical
On paper, valuation appears formula-driven. In reality, governance rights, risk concentration, growth durability, market conditions, and stakeholder dynamics materially affect value.
Where Experience Changes the Number
Decisions around normalization, premiums, discounts, projections, and defensibility require judgment formed through lived ownership, negotiation, and financial accountability.
Why the Gut–Brain Axis Matters
The brain performs disciplined financial analysis. The gut recognizes unrealistic narratives, hidden leverage, emotional distortions, and deal risk. Together they produce conclusions that withstand scrutiny.
Protecting Financial Lives
The final number affects wealth, control, solvency, tax exposure, and long-term relationships. Requiring 10–15 years of serious hands-on business and valuation experience ensures the answer is fair, defensible, and durable. See my Experience page.
The Result
You receive a realistic view of what the market would pay today, without committing to action.