Is Your Business Ready to Sell?
Find Out Before a Buyer Does.
Answer 10 questions and our team will show you exactly where your business stands — and what sophisticated institutional buyers will scrutinize the moment they open your financials. Scored using the same criteria private equity firms apply to acquisitions.
Most Founders Don't Know What a Buyer Sees Until It's Too Late
The gap between what a seller thinks their business is worth and what a buyer offers is almost always a preparation problem — not a business problem.
Buyers Run a Quality of Earnings Review
The moment a buyer's team opens your financials, they are looking for reasons to reduce the price. EBITDA adjustments. Customer concentration. Owner dependency. Without preparation, that leverage flows entirely to the buyer.
The Best Exits Are Built 12–36 Months Early
The founders who walk away with the most money are almost always the ones who started the preparation conversation early — not the ones who waited until they were ready to sell and then rushed to market.
Institutional Buyers Score Your Business — We Show You the Score First
Private equity firms and strategic acquirers run the same evaluation checklist on every deal. This quiz was built from that checklist. You see your score before they do — and you have time to improve it.
No Obligation. No Pitch. Just Clarity.
This quiz exists for one reason: to give Bay Area founders an honest, unvarnished look at where they stand before going to market. No hidden agenda, no sales funnel disguised as a quiz.
"The most common thing I hear on a first call is some version of: 'I wish I had done this sooner.' The founders who get the best outcomes are the ones who started the conversation early — not because they were in a rush to sell, but because they had time to prepare."
Three Steps to Your Exit Readiness Score
No sign-up required. No email gate. Just an honest score and a clear picture of where you stand.
Your Exit Readiness Quiz
Answer honestly — this is for your benefit. The more accurate your answers, the more useful your score.
Business Exit Readiness Assessment
Horizon M&A Advisors · Confidential · Scored on 30-point scale
This is one of the first things institutional buyers assess — key-man dependency is a significant valuation risk.
Customer concentration is one of the most common reasons buyers reduce their offer or walk away from a deal entirely.
A CPA valuation and an M&A advisory valuation use different methodologies and produce very different numbers.
Your Business Has Real Potential — And Meaningful Work to Do Before Going to Market.
Based on your answers, your business has characteristics that sophisticated buyers will use to justify a lower offer or request significant price adjustments during diligence. The encouraging news: almost every gap we see at this stage is fixable with the right preparation plan and enough time.
What Buyers Will Flag in Your Business
The Right Time to Start Is Now — Not When You're Ready to Sell
Our team works with founders 18–36 months before a planned exit to close the gaps that matter most to institutional buyers. A 30-minute confidential call will give you a specific preparation roadmap for your situation.
Book a Free Preparation Call →You're Closer Than You Think — But Buyers Will Still Find 2–3 Things to Renegotiate.
Your business has solid foundations that institutional buyers will recognize. But in our team's experience across 500+ transactions, businesses in your score range typically lose 10–20% of their expected value during the diligence and negotiation phase because of specific preparation gaps that could have been addressed beforehand.
The Areas That Will Be Renegotiated
The Next 6–12 Months Could Meaningfully Change Your Outcome
Our team specializes in bridging exactly the gap you're in — founders who are close but want to maximize the outcome. A 30-minute confidential call will map the specific steps that will add the most value before you go to market.
Book a Free Strategy Call →Your Business Shows Strong Exit Readiness. Now the Process Determines the Outcome.
Scoring in this range means institutional buyers will take your business seriously. Your financials, operations, and structure are in a position to attract competitive offers. At this stage, the difference between a good exit and a great one comes down to the process: how you run the sale, who you approach, and how your financial narrative is positioned in the market.
What Your Score Signals to Buyers
Let's Talk About What the Right Process Looks Like for Your Business
Our team has guided 500+ founders through the sale process. At your level of readiness, the most important next step is understanding the right approach — buyer universe, timing, positioning, and deal structure. Book a confidential call to discuss your specific situation.
Book a Confidential Valuation Call →What Each Score Range Means for Your Exit
Our scoring is calibrated to match how institutional buyers and PE firms evaluate businesses before making an offer.
Early Stage
Significant preparation needed before going to market. The good news: every gap at this stage is fixable with enough lead time.
- Build financial documentation to 3 years of clean accrual-based records
- Reduce key-man dependency by installing management depth
- Diversify customer concentration below 30% for top client
- Shift revenue toward recurring contracts where possible
- Timeline to market-ready: 18–36 months
Exit-Ready in 12 Months
Strong foundation with targeted preparation gaps. A focused 6–12 month preparation plan can significantly improve your outcome.
- Position EBITDA adjustments for M&A audience — not just tax reporting
- Define NWC peg and deal structure frameworks before LOI
- Strengthen management team depth in 1–2 key areas
- Get an M&A-grade valuation to establish the right pricing anchor
- Timeline to market-ready: 6–12 months
Ready to Market
Your business has the profile that attracts competitive offers from institutional buyers. The process and positioning now determine the outcome.
- Prepare a Confidential Information Memorandum with an M&A advisor
- Identify strategic buyers, PE firms, and financial buyers for your sector
- Run a controlled competitive auction to maximize price and terms
- Engage M&A counsel for LOI negotiation and deal structure
- Timeline to close: 6–12 months from go-to-market
The 8 Factors Institutional Buyers Score on Every Deal
This quiz was built from the same criteria private equity firms and strategic acquirers use to evaluate acquisition targets. These are not opinions — they are the factors that determine your multiple.
EBITDA Quality & Defensibility
Can the seller prove their earnings are real, recurring, and not inflated by one-time items? Buyers run a QoE (Quality of Earnings) review to find out.
Owner Dependency & Key-Man Risk
If the founder left tomorrow, would the business survive? Key-man risk is one of the most common reasons buyers discount a price or add earnout provisions.
Customer Concentration
Does one client represent more than 20% of revenue? Buyers treat this as existential risk and apply a significant concentration discount to the valuation.
Revenue Predictability
Recurring, contracted revenue commands 2–3x higher multiples than project-based or one-time revenue. Buyers pay for certainty.
Management Team Depth
A business with a full management layer that operates independently is worth significantly more than a business that needs its founder to run the day-to-day operations.
Financial Documentation Quality
Three years of clean, accrual-based financials prepared by a CPA are the baseline expectation for institutional buyers. Cash-basis records create doubt and delays.
Growth Trajectory & Sustainability
Buyers pay for the future, not the past. Consistent, defensible growth with a clear explanation of the drivers commands the highest multiples.
Net Working Capital Position
The NWC peg is one of the most misunderstood elements of a deal. How it is defined in the LOI directly affects how much the seller walks away with at closing.
I had an excellent experience working with Horizon for the sale of my business. Their team operated with a level of honesty and professionalism that is truly rare. I highly recommend their services and would gladly work with them again in the future.
Built by Advisors Who Have Been on Both Sides of 500+ Transactions
This assessment was built by the Horizon M&A Advisors team — not a software company, not a marketing firm. Every question reflects a factor we have seen buyers use to justify a lower offer or walk away from a deal entirely across three decades of M&A advisory in the Bay Area and beyond.
We built this quiz because the most expensive mistake a founder can make is going to market unprepared. The second most expensive mistake is not knowing they were unprepared until a buyer's QoE team told them.
Haven't Taken the Quiz Yet?
Find out in 3–5 minutes exactly where your business stands — and what buyers will scrutinize first. No email required to see your score.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not Ready to Sell Yet? That's Exactly the Right Time to Call.
The founders who get the best outcomes are the ones who started the conversation early — not when they needed to sell, but when they had time to prepare. Our team offers a free, confidential 30-minute call with no obligation and no pitch.
Book a Confidential Valuation Call
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