Exit Readiness Scorecard

How sale-ready is your business — really?

A weighted, twenty-question self-assessment across six areas that drive valuation, transferability and buyer risk. It takes about ten minutes. You'll get a score, a category breakdown, and the three priorities most likely to lift readiness — on screen, immediately.

Private · No obligation · ~10 minutes

Step 1 of 6 · Exit · foundation0/20 answered

Category 1 of 6 · Weight 20%

Owner Independence & Transferability

Whether the business can operate — and keep winning work — without the owner in the middle of every decision, relationship and delivery.

Owner's role in day-to-day operations

Best practice

  • Business runs without the owner for weeks at a time
  • Owner focuses on strategy, not delivery
  • No single decision waits on the owner
Rating for Owner's role in day-to-day operations

Ownership of key client and supplier relationships

Best practice

  • Clients are attached to the business, not the owner
  • Suppliers deal with multiple points of contact
  • Relationships would survive a change in ownership
Rating for Ownership of key client and supplier relationships

Intellectual property, brand and know-how held by the business

Best practice

  • IP, systems and playbooks belong to the business
  • Brand equity is separate from the founder's personal profile
  • Nothing critical lives only in the owner's head
Rating for Intellectual property, brand and know-how held by the business
How it's weighted

Six areas. One picture.

Weighted around what actually moves valuation and buyer confidence: owner independence, clean predictable numbers, and low concentration risk carry the largest weight — because that's where deals are made or broken.

20%

Owner Independence & Transferability

Whether the business can operate — and keep winning work — without the owner in the middle of every decision, relationship and delivery.

20%

Financial Quality & Predictability

Whether the numbers are clean, trusted and predictable enough for a buyer or successor to underwrite without heavy discounting.

15%

Customer & Revenue Concentration

Whether revenue is spread across enough clients, sectors and channels that no single loss would materially damage the business.

15%

Team, Leadership & Succession

Whether the leadership and key people can carry the business through a transaction, transition or step-back.

15%

Systems, Process & Documentation

Whether the operational spine is documented, systematised and legible to an outsider — not held together by tribal knowledge.

15%

Valuation Drivers & Deal Readiness

Whether the business has been actively shaped around the drivers that increase valuation and reduce buyer risk.