Free, and yours to keep

What would a buyer pay for, and what would they discount?

Ten questions on the things that actually decide whether a private company is buyable. Two minutes, no documents, and a score out of a hundred at the end with the two or three things costing you the most.

It marks hard, and most owners score lower than they expect. That is deliberate. Only the best answer on a question earns full marks, because a buyer in diligence does not give part marks either, and a score that flatters you now is the one that costs you the years you needed to do something about it.

This is a readiness check. It is not a valuation, it does not estimate what your company is worth, and answering it does not put you in front of anybody. Most owners who take it are years away from selling, which is the point: everything worth fixing here takes longer than a sale process does.