BBC Building Better Contractors

Exit readiness check

If someone wanted to buy your company tomorrow, would it be ready?

Twelve honest questions. Three minutes. Nothing to hand over — your answers are scored right here in your browser and never leave it unless you choose to send them. At the end you get a score, the areas a buyer would discount, and where to start.

12 questions · 4 areas · about 3 minutes

FirstWhere are you on the timeline?
Part 01 of 04Financials

01We close the books every month — I could show you last month’s P&L and balance sheet today.

02Three years of financial statements tie to our tax returns, and personal expenses are out of the company.

03Our job costing is reliable — we know which jobs, divisions and service lines actually make money.

Part 02 of 04Operations & systems

04Estimating, dispatch, follow-up and project delivery are documented well enough to train a new hire from.

05A meaningful share of our revenue is recurring — service agreements, maintenance contracts, repeat customers.

06No single customer makes up a dangerous share of our revenue — and I know the number.

Part 03 of 04People & leadership

07Someone other than me could run day-to-day operations for a month.

08I know who the key employees are, what keeps them here, and who could step up.

09Customers call the company — not my cell phone.

Part 04 of 04The owner & the plan

10I’ve decided what I personally want — retire, stay a while, cash at closing or finance part of it.

11I have a timeline, and I know what has to be true before the company goes to market.

12I know what I’ll do the morning after the sale.

0 of 12 answered