M&A Readiness - Business Owner Questionnaire

  • M&A Readiness - Preliminary Assessment

  • What’s Next?

    If you are thinking about a future sale of your business—or just want to know how your business would be viewed by buyers—the first step is clarity.

    Take our short, confidential survey to assess your readiness and identify where you may be leaving value on the table.

  • Contact Information and Confidentiality Terms

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  • Disclaimer & Terms of Use

    By submitting this questionnaire, you acknowledge and agree to the following:

    Confidentiality

    We understand that the information you provide in this questionnaire may be commercially sensitive and deeply personal to your business. We are fully committed to safeguarding your privacy and maintaining the strict confidentiality of your data.

    All responses are securely stored and treated as strictly confidential. We will never sell or disclose your personally identifiable information — including your name, company name, contact details, or specific financial or operational data — to any third party without your explicit consent. Your data is stored using secure infrastructure and is accessible only to authorized personnel directly involved in delivering this assessment.

    Your responses will be used exclusively to generate your personalized readiness score and related feedback. If you choose to opt into optional visibility features (such as signaling investor interest), only non-identifiable, high-level business attributes (e.g., industry, region, revenue range) may be shared — and only with your prior approval.

    You may request deletion of your data at any time. Upon receiving your request, we will promptly remove your information from our active systems, unless retention is required to comply with legal or regulatory obligations.

    Prohibited Access and Use

    You confirm that you are not accessing this questionnaire on behalf of, or in service to, any competing firm, platform, advisory business, or data aggregator.  Unauthorized use, reproduction, distribution, or reverse-engineering of this form, its structure, or its scoring methodology is strictly prohibited and may be subject to legal action.

    Non-Advisory Role

    We do not provide legal, tax, investment, or financial advice. Completing this questionnaire does not create a client relationship and does not constitute a solicitation, offer, or recommendation to engage in any specific transaction.

    Readiness Score Disclaimer

    The readiness score is an internal benchmarking tool designed to provide directional insights. It should not be interpreted as a valuation, investment suitability assessment, due diligence substitute, or guarantee of outcome.

    No Guarantees

    Submission of this form does not guarantee investor interest or deal outcomes. Readiness score results are informational and should not be relied upon as definitive or comprehensive.

    Accuracy of Information

    We ask that you provide responses that are accurate and complete to the best of your knowledge. This enables us to generate a meaningful readiness score and actionable feedback.

    Consent to Contact

    By submitting this form, you consent to being contacted by our representatives for the purpose of clarifying responses, delivering your score/report, or discussing your results.

    Use of Data

    You grant us permission to use your responses in anonymized and aggregated form for internal analytics, scoring development, and service improvement. No personally identifiable information will be disclosed without your consent.

    Visibility Opt-In

    If you choose to opt into visibility in our investor-facing database, you acknowledge that only basic, non-identifiable business attributes (e.g., industry, region, revenue range) may be made accessible to select investors or service providers. Your company name, website, and contact details will not be disclosed without your explicit approval.

    Governing Law

    These terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware, without regard to its conflict of law principles.

  • Section 1 - Business Profile

  • 1.2 Do you operate under a DBA (Doing Business As) name (if different from question 1.1)?*
  • 1.4 What is the legal structure of your parent company (main legal entity)?*
  • 1.5 How many unique individuals or entities currently own a share of the business?*
  • 1.6 How many years has the company been operating?*
  • 1.8 What is the primary industry of your business?*

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  • 1.9 Does the company own or lease real estate? (Select all that apply)*
  • 1.11a Is the EBITDA figure provided in Question 1.11 inclusive of any addbacks (select all that apply)?*
  • 1.12 What are your capital expenditures as a percentage of annual revenue?*
  • 1.13 Do you have any third-party debt?*
  • 1.13a If Yes, please select which type(s).*
  • 1.14 Is your company currently the subject of any pending litigation that is not 100% covered by some form of insurance policy?*

  • Section 2 - Financial Infrastructure

  • 2.1 Have your financials been Compiled, Reviewed or Audited in the last 3 years?*
  • 2.1b Please pick the best description of your accounting firm.*
  • 2.2 Do you use Generally Accepted Accounting Principles(GAAP)-compliant accounting?*
  • 2.3 Do you generate monthly financial statements?*
  • 2.4 Do you generate KPI ("Key Performance Indicators") reports or similar reports on at least a monthly basis that you use to help operate and monitor the business?*
  • 2.5 Which accounting software does your company currently use (select the primary system your business relies on for financial reporting and bookkeeping)?*

  • Section 3 - Operations / SWOT

  • 3.1 What are your company’s greatest strengths or differentiators today? Please select up to three.*
  • 3.2 What are the most significant internal weaknesses within your business? Please select up to three.*
  • 3.3 What external growth opportunities are you most excited about? Please select up to three.
  • 3.4 Which external threats or risks are most likely to impact your business over the next 1–3 years? Please select up to three.*
  • 3.5 What percentage of sales do your top 5 customers represent?*
  • 3.6 Does your top customer represent more than 20% of sales?*
  • 3.7 Do any suppliers represent a critical dependency? (A critical dependency refers to any supplier whose failure to deliver goods or services in a timely manner would materially impact your ability to operate or meet customer demand.)*
  • 3.8 Do you have a documented strategic or operating growth plan for the next 3–5 years?*
  • 3.9 Do you have all customer/vendor contracts centralized and in writing?*
  • 3.10 Does your company have any intellectual property (IP)?*
  • 3.10a If yes, what type(s) of IP do you own? (Select all that apply)*
  • 3.11 Do you use a separate ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system to manage operations (select the primary platform used for inventory, production, supply chain, or other enterprise functions)?*

  • Section 4 - Human Resources

  • 4.2 What percentage of your employees are unionized?*
  • 4.3 Do you have a Human Resources manager or officer?*
  • 4.4 Do you have a formal Employee Handbook?*
  • 4.5 If you were suddenly unavailable, is there a contingency plan in place?*
  • 4.6 How many key executives or department leaders (excluding yourself) currently help run the company?*
  • 4.7 How many full-time equivalents (FTEs) are in your Accounting/Finance department?*
  • 4.8 What is the title of the head of the accounting function?*
  • 4.9 Do you have in-house legal professionals (i.e. a paid employee(s) at your company)?*
  • 4.10 Do you work consistently with a law firm?*
  • 4.10a If Yes, please pick the best description of the law firm.*
  • 4.11 Do you have a Board of Directors or Advisory Board?*

  • Section 5 - Transaction Interest

  • 5.1 Which type(s) investment transactions are you currently considering? (Select all that apply)*
  • 5.3 What is your expected timeline for a transaction?*
  • 5.4 If you decide to sell your business, what would your preferred transaction type be?*
  • 5.5 Who do you currently rely upon for guidance related to M&A activity? (Select the party or parties you typically consult when considering or exploring transaction-related matters.)*

  • Section 6 - Customized Readiness Insights

  • 6.1 Would you like to receive a readiness score +personalized report?*
  • 6.2 Would you like to schedule a free 15-to-30-minute consultation to review your results?*
  • 6.3 Would you like to be listed anonymously in a private company database? (The database would include summaries of company profiles such as industry, size, and geography and would be accessible only to pre-vetted investors and service providers.)*
  • 6.4 Assuming interest in being listed in the database, would you be interested in a periodic report that summarizes inbound investor interest on your behalf? (We would monitor investor activity related to your profile and provide periodic updates. No identifying contact information is shared unless you explicitly opt in.)*
  • 6.5 Would you like to explore acquisition opportunities in our database?*
  • Should be Empty: