Two businesses. Same revenue. Very different price.
The first one has documented lead sources, a customer database the company owns, systems a new operator can run, and a clear answer to where next month's revenue comes from.
The second does the same numbers, but the relationships are the owner's, the leads arrive by word of mouth, and the customer list lives in a phone. When the owner leaves, nobody knows what happens next — and neither does the buyer.
The second business sells for less, if it sells at all. Not because it's worse, but because the buyer is being asked to take on risk they can't measure.
What we build
- Documented lead sources with revenue attached to each
- A customer database owned by the business, not by you
- Marketing systems a new owner can operate
- Recurring and repeat revenue you can evidence
- Assets that transfer cleanly — domains, accounts, listings, profiles
- A reporting history that stands up to scrutiny
Domains, ad accounts, Google Business Profile, analytics, and review profiles are frequently registered under a former agency's login or a personal email nobody controls anymore. Untangling that during a sale is painful and occasionally impossible. It takes an afternoon to fix today.
Attribution is the thing a buyer actually wants
Due diligence asks a version of the same question over and over: how do we know this revenue continues? A business that can show which channels produce customers, at what cost, over a multi-year history, has an answer. One that says "we've always been busy" does not.
That history takes time to build, which is why this stage starts years before the sale rather than months.
We are not brokers
We don't value businesses, find buyers, or handle the transaction. That's a business broker and an accountant, and you'll want both. What we do is make the marketing and revenue side of the business defensible before it gets examined.
Two questions people always ask
How far ahead should I start?
Two to three years is comfortable. Twelve months is workable. Under six months and you're mostly documenting what exists rather than improving it — still worth doing, smaller effect on the number.
Does marketing really change what a business sells for?
It changes the part buyers scrutinise hardest: whether the revenue is predictable and whether it survives you leaving.