Owner Value Overhaul: One Day On-Site to See What Buyers Will Discount
One day on site, for your specific business. We look at it the way a buyer’s team will, name what each gap would cost you on price or terms, and put the fixes in order. The written plan follows about a week later.
A buyer is not buying your revenue. He is buying the cash flow that keeps coming after you hand over the keys.
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Send a noteTell us about the business and what you want it ready for: a sale, a handoff, or simply a business worth more.Start here
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One day on siteWe go through the business the way a buyer’s team would, area by area.
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The written planAbout a week later: what a buyer would mark you down for, and what to fix first, in order.
No listings, no commissions, no success fee. Want the background first? Free briefing: How to See Your Business Through a Buyer’s Eyes.
- $4,750Fixed fee, plus travel.
- 1 dayOn site, for your specific business.
- ~1 weekFrom the day to the written plan.
- 0%No listings, no commissions, no success fee.
Choose the Owner Value Overhaul when:
- You want the business worth more to a buyer, whether you sell in a year, in five, or never.
- You know there are value questions, such as owner dependency, a few big customers, or books built for taxes, but not which one to fix first.
- A sale is a few years out, and you want the fixes made before anyone lists the business.
What a buyer checks before he pays.
- How much of the business is you: who quotes the work, holds the big accounts, and makes the calls when you are gone.
- Revenue a buyer can count on: how much repeats or is under contract, and how much rides on a few customers.
- Books a buyer can verify: whether your earnings hold up when someone rebuilds them from the bank records, and whether every add-back has paper behind it.
- A team that can lead: who makes decisions and who is accountable for results when you are not there.
- How the work runs: on written process and systems, or on people’s memory.
- The records a buyer’s team will ask for: contracts, leases, licenses, employee records, and clauses that end when ownership changes.
The work that makes a business worth more to a buyer is the same work that makes it easier to run today. Start early and it pays you twice.
Fix the deal-killers first, then what sets the price.
A buyer works in a set order. Books that do not tie to the bank, a slow answer to his document list, or a risk he finds late can each end the deal on their own, so those come first. After that come the things that move you up or down the range: how much of the business is you, the quality of your revenue, and how the work runs.
Owner dependency is usually the biggest single lever. In the deals SweetSpot has worked, it commonly costs at least a full turn of earnings. A turn is one year of earnings: on $500,000 a year, one turn is $500,000 of price.
Time matters too. A buyer wants at least two clean years of financials, and those years have to be behind you on the day he looks. With three or more years, you have time to work toward the top of your range. With less, plan on about twelve months for preparation and the sale together.
Strong profit does not automatically mean the business can transfer.
A commercial excavation company was near $7M in revenue and about $1M in profit, but the owner's phone still carried too many exceptions. To a buyer, profit that depends on one person’s phone is a job, not a business. That is the kind of gap the Owner Value Overhaul names and puts in order.
Not ready to book? Start free: the 14-Day Owner Absence Audit, a two-week test of how the business runs without you. Bring what you find to us afterward.
Each one answers a different question.
| Compare | Business System Inspection | Three Engine Diagnostic | Transition Blueprint Day | Owner Value Overhaul |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The question | What is causing one problem I can already point to? | What is wrong with how the business runs: sales, delivery, and cash flow? | How does ownership move, to whom, and in what order? | What makes the business worth more to a buyer, and what should I fix first? |
| Where | Remote. You send records you already keep, and we talk it through. | On site, priced per on-site day. The number of days depends on the size and complexity of the business. | One day on site, owners only. | One day on site. |
| What you get | A written call: what is causing it, what to fix first, and what to leave alone. | A prioritized plan in person, then a written report for your team. | A strategy you can explain, then the written Transition Blueprint about a week later. | The written plan about a week later: what a buyer would mark you down for, and what to fix first. |
Transition Blueprint Day and the Owner Value Overhaul are each a fixed fee for one day, plus travel. The Three Engine Diagnostic is priced per on-site day, plus travel. The number of days depends on the size and complexity of the business; we agree it with you, in writing, before you book. Not sure which fits? See every service, or send a note and a person reads it.
We are not brokers.
We don’t list businesses, we don’t bring you a buyer, and nothing we earn depends on you signing. So if the honest answer is “not yet,” that is what you will hear.
We read your company the way a buyer will, because our founder has been the buyer. Daniel Sweet has been on both sides of small-business sales and purchases, with $250M+ of deal value advised, and has bought and grown Texas companies through Sweetview Partners since 2019.
The Owner Value Overhaul is a fixed fee, plus travel. When you do go to market, we work alongside the broker or banker you choose; we don’t replace them. What has to be ready before you hire a broker.
The Owner Value Overhaul does not guarantee a sale, a price, or a timeline.
Questions owners ask about the Owner Value Overhaul
What is the Owner Value Overhaul?
One day on site for your specific business, for owners who want it to be worth more to a buyer. We look at it the way a buyer’s team will: how much of it runs on you, the quality of your revenue, whether your books hold up, and the records a buyer will ask for. The written plan follows about a week later.
How much does it cost?
$4,750 plus travel, for one day on site: the same fixed fee as Transition Blueprint Day. No percentage of anything, and no success fee.
What do I get at the end?
A written plan about a week after the day: what a buyer would mark you down for, and what to fix first, in order.
Is it only for owners who want to sell?
No. It is for owners who want the business to be more valuable and transferable whether the eventual path is a sale, a family handoff, an employee buyout, or continued ownership. The work that makes a business worth more to a buyer also makes it easier to run.
How is this different from a valuation?
A valuation estimates what the business may be worth today. The Owner Value Overhaul looks at what is pulling that number down, and which fix to make first.
Should I choose the Three Engine Diagnostic or the Owner Value Overhaul?
Choose the Three Engine Diagnostic when the question is what is wrong with how the business runs today: sales, delivery, and cash flow. Choose the Owner Value Overhaul when the question is what makes the business worth more to a buyer, and what to fix first.
How is it different from Transition Blueprint Day?
Transition Blueprint Day plans how ownership moves: to whom, in what pieces, and in what order. The Owner Value Overhaul looks at what the business is worth to a buyer and what to fix first. If a sale or a handoff is on the table, you may need both.
What happens after the plan?
The plan is yours to run. If it calls for hands-on help putting it in place, we scope that with you.
How long do the fixes take?
Some can be made quickly. Meaningful transferability work usually takes months or years, and a buyer wants at least two clean years of financials behind you. That is why it pays to start early.
Do you take a percentage of a sale?
No. We are not brokers. We don’t list businesses, bring you a buyer, or take a success fee.