Hey {{first_name}},
Let me tell you about a plumbing company owner that we recently spoke to.
They built a $3M revenue business over 18 years. Solid reputation. Loyal customer base. Good crew. When he first got a valuation, it came back at 2.8x SDE: roughly $1.4M.
Not terrible. But Mike felt like the business was worth more. And he was right, it just wasn’t showing it yet.
Instead of listing immediately, Mike spent 8 months doing four things:
First, he converted his handshake agreements into annual service contracts. That added $400K in recurring revenue and made the cash flow more predictable to a buyer.
Second, he promoted his lead tech to operations manager and stepped away from day-to-day work. The business ran without him for 90 days before he listed.
Third, he separated personal expenses from business expenses and had his books professionally cleaned. No more guessing what was real and what wasn’t.
Fourth, he documented every process: hiring, dispatching, customer onboarding, invoicing. He built an operations manual that a new owner could pick up and run with.
When Mike went back to market, the adjusted SDE was higher AND buyers were willing to pay a premium multiple because the risk was lower. Final sale: 4.2x SDE. The difference was over $700K in his pocket.
The point isn’t “wait to sell.” It’s “know your number so you can decide what to do next.”
Want to see where your business sits right now?
To your success,
Unlock Wealth Weekly Team