Contents
- Your working
- How the scorecard is weighted
- How weak areas show up in a deal
- Questions
Your working
Each question is worth a stated number of points, and each answer is worth a quarter, half, three-quarters or all of them. The six areas are weighted by how much they affect a deal: owner dependency is worth 25 points and your reason for selling is worth 10.
| Area | Question | Your answer | Score |
|---|
Fix these first
The list is ordered by the points you are losing, largest first.
Send me this result
We'll email your scorecard and fix list back to you, with a note on the order we would tackle them in and how long each is likely to take for a firm your size. We will sign an NDA if you want one.
How the scorecard is weighted
Readiness and value are measured separately. A firm can be worth a good multiple and still be hard to buy, and a smaller firm can be so well organised that a deal completes in weeks. A buyer is testing two things: whether the income you describe will still exist once you have gone, and whether documents prove it. The six areas are weighted by how much they affect those two questions.
| Area | Points | Why it carries that weight |
|---|
| Owner dependency | 25 | It affects both price and deal structure more than any other area. If everything depends on you, the buyer is paying mainly for your introductions to clients. |
| Client base & concentration | 20 | Determines how much damage a single departure does, and how much of the income repeats each year. |
| Documented systems | 15 | Decides whether the work can be picked up by someone else, and how much effort it will take to bring the firm into the buyer's. |
| Staff & retention | 15 | Your team hold client relationships and knowledge, and staff leaving after completion is a serious risk for the buyer. |
| Financial records | 15 | Slow or untidy information makes due diligence take longer, and a buyer reduces the price for anything it cannot verify. |
| Reason & timing | 10 | Sellers who are unclear about why they are selling are more likely to pull out, and buyers pay more when completion looks certain. |
What the bands mean
| Score | Band | What it means for a deal today |
|---|
| 80–100 | Market ready | You could open a conversation now. Expect a straightforward process, a higher proportion of the consideration in cash on completion, and a shorter diligence period. |
| 60–79 | Close | A sale is achievable now, and a buyer will reduce the price for specific gaps. Six to twelve months of focused work would move you into the top band. |
| 40–59 | Getting there | The firm can be sold now at a discount, with more of the money deferred or linked to client retention. Twelve to eighteen months of work would raise the price by more than the work costs. |
| 0–39 | Not yet | Going to market now means selling at the bottom of the range and carrying most of the risk yourself. Unless the timing is forced, fix the top three items first. |
Worked example
A two-partner firm scores: owner dependency 2 and 2 out of 4 (12 × 0.5 = 6.0 and 13 × 0.5 = 6.5), documented systems 1 and 2 (8 × 0.25 = 2.0 and 7 × 0.5 = 3.5), staff 3 and 3 (8 × 0.75 = 6.0 and 7 × 0.75 = 5.25), client base 1 and 3 (10 × 0.25 = 2.5 and 10 × 0.75 = 7.5), financial records 3 and 2 (8 × 0.75 = 6.0 and 7 × 0.5 = 3.5), reason and timing 4 and 3 (5 × 1 = 5.0 and 5 × 0.75 = 3.75).
Total: 6.0 + 6.5 + 2.0 + 3.5 + 6.0 + 5.25 + 2.5 + 7.5 + 6.0 + 3.5 + 5.0 + 3.75 = 57.5, rounded to 58 — the "getting there" band. Ranked by points lost, the fix list comes out as client concentration (7.5 lost), clients who would deal with someone else (6.5), running for a month without the owner (6.0), documentation (6.0), then management accounts and job tracking (3.5 each). Owner dependency loses the most points of any area, 12.5 across its two questions, although neither question tops the list on its own.
How weak areas show up in a deal
In a real sale, each weak area turns into a specific term in the deal. Heavy owner dependency becomes a longer tie-in and a bigger slice of the money linked to clients staying. Poor documentation becomes a longer, more intrusive diligence process. Client concentration becomes a specific clause about what happens if a named client leaves within a year. Slow financial information causes delay, and long delays can cause a sale to fall through.
Scoring yourself early gives you time to fix these areas. Every point you add before you go to market removes a term you would otherwise have to negotiate, and your negotiating position is far easier to strengthen in the eighteen months before a sale than during one. Long client loyalty and a reputation built on the owner personally count as risks for a buyer unless the relationships have been shared with the team.
