Free tool · about five minutes
A headline offer is a forecast, not a price.
Enter the numbers and this free tool shows you what an offer is likely to actually pay, after the odds it closes and the pieces that come off after you sign.
From Ron’s articles in Forbes Business Council and Fast Company Executive Board.
★★★★★Great book!
“Fantastic book. The author offered knowledgeable insights into businesses and being “buyer-ready”. A book that you’d reach for over and over in different phases of your business. Would also make a great gift!”
A composite, built from real deals
An owner (composite) shook on $14 million and felt the relief of a finish line. By the time it closed, the wire was $9.8 million. Nothing was hidden. The headline was a forecast, and nobody had shown that owner how to read it. This tool does, before you are the one at that table.
Framework: Cordis Institute WP-003, The Deal Certainty Discount (Ron is Head of Research).
The Map shows you where a buyer would look. Turning that into your own number is the paid step, and only if you want it.
How this is estimated
Expected realized value = headline × probability of closing × (one minus expected compression after signing). The gap between the headline and that number is the Deal Certainty Discount. The starting points, from WP-003:
- Earnouts pay out about 21 cents on each negotiated dollar (SRS Acquiom).
Around those, this tool moves the probability of closing for the number of bidders, how far along the deal is, and each known diligence risk, and discounts seller notes and escrow a little and earnout dollars to about 21 cents. These are estimates for education, never a valuation of your business.
This tool weighs a decision and estimates a discount on an offer you enter. It does not value your business and is not financial advice.
About ten minutes, thirteen questions, no financials.
Educational estimates only. Not an appraisal, valuation opinion, or tax, legal or investment advice. This report is generated from the information you provide and from general ranges we have seen in lower middle market businesses. It has not been prepared by a licensed appraiser, it does not follow any appraisal standard, and it is not a substitute for a formal valuation, a quality-of-earnings review, or the advice of your own CPA, attorney, or financial advisor. Figures shown are illustrative and will differ, sometimes materially, from any price an actual buyer offers or any value a professional assigns. Nothing here is an offer to buy or sell a business or a security, and nothing here creates an advisory relationship. You are responsible for your own decisions. Before you act on anything in this report, have your own professional advisors review your specific situation.
★★★★★Great Book!
“Gifted this book to a friend who owns a business and is interested in the selling process. They absolutely loved it!”
