Stage 2 of five · Can my business run without me?

The business runs without you for a stretch.

Readiness is a climb, and it has rungs. This is the release stage: what it means, what a buyer sees when he looks at a business here, and what moves you up.

You're here when

It runs without you for 90 days.

✓You can show it withNamed backups; licenses and key customer relationships held by someone besides you; the big decisions written down.
→What it unlocksA competitor or an individual buyer can take it over.

What this stage means

In the book's words.

“Next is to release you, so the business runs without you for a stretch and no single person, yourself included, is ever the one thing it cannot run without.”

From Buyer-Ready, Chapter 6. The ladder measures one thing: how many kinds of buyer can actually reach you, because each kind prices you differently. Two kinds of buyer can reach you now: a strategic, and an individual investor.

What a buyer sees

When he looks at a business on this rung.

A buyer here sees a real company. People make decisions. The work gets priced without you in the room.

Then his accountants go to work. They do not check your earnings. They rebuild them, from the bank statements up. Every add-back without a receipt falls out of the rebuild, and every handshake gets priced like a coin flip.

The business can run without you. The question now is whether the numbers can.

The one thing holding you here: Proof

The business runs without you, but the story of it still lives in your head. A stranger who takes nothing on your word cannot yet reach your number on the paper alone.

The rows that matter most here

Where buyers look first on this rung.

●Add-backs without receiptsAsserted is not documented. A buyer prices asserted at zero.
●Key people with nothing signedLoyalty is real. It is not a document.
●Revenue on a handshakeA buyer cannot bank a handshake.
●Knowledge in one headYours or someone else's. One person the place cannot run without.

In no particular order. Which ones cost you most depends on your numbers and on who would buy you, and nobody honest can rank them from a web page.

Start with these five tools

From the 18 in the workbook.

1Add-Back ScheduleTwo columns: asserted and documented. Proof starts with earnings.Tool
2Dependency InventoryRun it again. Make sure the dependency did not just move to someone else.Tool
3The Walk-ThroughWho you cannot lose, what is signed, what is still a handshake.Tool
4Concentration LedgerYour biggest customers, and who holds each relationship.Tool
5Evidence LockOne signed, dated page. The version of the company you measure from.Tool

Have the book? The code in the back unlocks all 18 blank tools free at offmarketmethod.com/book.

Next rung: Prove

What moves you to prove.

1Put a receipt behind every add-back, or take it off the list.
2Turn handshake accounts into signed agreements on a quiet day, not during diligence.
3Sign staged retention for the few people the place cannot lose.
4Start your working capital history, month by month, calculated your way.
5Sign your first Evidence Lock.

← Run · Prove →

Not sure this is your rung?

The Map is 10 questions. It places you on a stage and shows you one thing a buyer would price that you may not have seen. Free. Nobody calls you.

Show me where I stand →

Already know your stage? The Buyer-Ready Kit hands you the Start Path for it: these five tools, in order, with the math done for you. $297.