• The Readiness Snapshot: Succession and Exit Readiness

    Complete a four-decision self-assessment for your trade business, answering for how it runs today.

  • The Readiness Snapshot

    A four-decision self-assessment for trade business owners. Companion to The 4 Succession Decisions Trade Business Owners Must Make Before They Sell. A business built to run is not the same as a business built to transfer. This Snapshot is a fast, honest read on how close yours is to the second one. Answer for the business as it runs today, not as you intend it to run.
  • Transition Horizon
  • For each statement, choose Not yet, Partly, or In place.

  • Decision One: What Are You Building Toward

  • The destination is scale, sale, or succession. Each asks for different moves today.
  • 1) I have decided whether my endgame is scale, sale, or succession, and my leadership team knows it.*
  • 2) My current operating priorities reflect that destination, not just the way the business has always run.*
  • 3) I have a target timeframe for stepping back, and I am managing the business toward it.*

  • Decision Two: The Deferral Trap

  • Every year of waiting raises the cost of closing the gap. Readiness is work that begins now.
  • 4) My financials separate the business from the owner; personal expenses would not have to be unwound for a buyer.*
  • 5) I know what my business would sell for today, and what is holding that number down.*
  • 6) I am closing transferability gaps now, rather than deferring them to the year of the sale.*

  • Decision Three: Who Runs This Without You

  • A buyer is purchasing the ability of the business to run once you are gone, not you.
  • 7) The business could operate for thirty days without me making the key decisions.*
  • 8) The key customer relationships belong to the business, not to me personally.*
  • 9) There is a second layer of management that prices work and solves field problems without me.*

  • Decision Four: Can You Prove It

  • Due diligence tests every claim. The value that counts is the value you can defend.
  • 10) My core processes and standard procedures are written down and current.*
  • 11) Agreements, licenses, and records are organized and would withstand a buyer's review.*
  • 12) My claimed value rests on evidence a buyer could verify, not on assertion.*
  • How relevant was this course to your business?*
  • How effective was the instructor?*
  • Were the stated learning objectives met?*
  • Should be Empty: