Readiness Scan — Exit OSx

Eight questions about how the business runs today. We translate the answers into a dollar estimate of what acquirers — strategic, private equity, and search funds — would shave off the price.

A quick baseline

We need a rough business value to put a dollar figure on the discount.

Trailing-12-month revenue

Industry / sector

Believable

Trust in numbers + story

Our financial statements are prepared by...

An external CPA firm — annual auditAn external CPA firm — annual reviewAn external CPA firm — compilation only, or in-house bookkeeper with tax-CPA touchpointAn in-house bookkeeper or owner, no CPA involvementDifferent sources in different yearsI'm not sure

Buyer questions about operations, finance, and customers could be answered today by...

The owner plus 2+ other members of management, independentlyThe owner plus 1 other member of managementMostly the owner, with one other person knowing piecesOnly the ownerNo one fully — knowledge is fragmented across many peopleI'm not sure

Transferable

Survives without the owner

Our customer relationships are primarily held by...

Documented in a CRM with multiple team members touching each accountDocumented in a CRM, mostly with a single account owner per customerAccount managers who hold relationships but no formal systemThe owner personally — most key customers know the owner directlyThe owner is the only point of contact for most customersI'm not sure

Strategic-buyer divergence: a competitor/adjacent acquirer already has account managers who can absorb your customers. PE and Search Fund need transferability before the deal closes.

If the owner stepped away for 60 days, day-to-day decisions would be made by...

A documented chain of command with clear authority — operations continue without consultationTwo or more managers covering different functions — most decisions resolved without the ownerOne manager who calls the owner for material decisionsDecisions wait, or default to whoever is most senior on siteOperations would stall — only the owner makes most decisionsI'm not sure

Durable

Predictable cash flow

Our revenue mix is...

Mostly recurring (subscriptions, retainers, contracts >1 year)Mostly repeating (same customers, project-by-project, predictable cadence)Mix of recurring/repeating and one-time projectsMostly one-time projects with some repeat businessMostly one-time / episodic — each engagement is newI'm not sure

Industry-lens override applies in Phase C scoring: project-based industries (construction, M&A advisory, consulting) may score "mostly_episodic" as YELLOW rather than RED.

Our largest single supplier or distribution channel accounts for...

Less than 15% of cost-of-revenue or distribution15-30%30-50%50-75%More than 75%I'm not sure

Market Position

Moat + pricing power

When a customer considers switching away from us, the barriers they face are...

High — long-term contracts, integration with their systems, switching costs, or proprietary IP they depend onMedium — embedded but not technically locked inSome — they'd lose institutional knowledge or relationshipsLow — could switch with 30-60 days of noticeNone — services are commoditized; customer switches based on priceI'm not sure

If our costs went up in the last 24 months, we...

Raised prices and kept all customersRaised prices and lost a small share of price-sensitive customersRaised prices selectively (largest customers held flat)Absorbed the cost increase to keep customersCould not raise prices — competitive dynamics prevent itOur costs have not gone up significantly in this period

Answer all 8 questions to see your estimate.

See what buyers would discount.

A quick baseline

Believable

Transferable

Durable

Market Position