Consulting for Exit · CFE
Exit the business you built — with a real partner, not just an advisor.
For founders ready to sell, or ready to build toward it. There are a few ways we can work together — and I like to have skin in the game. We'll find the right fit once we see where your business stands.
The premise
You spent years building it. Don't leave the money on the table on the way out.
Most founders sell for far less than they could — not because the business isn't good, but because it isn't ready. The value is trapped in you: your relationships, your decisions, the systems that live in your head. Buyers pay for a company that runs without the owner, not a job with your name on it.
Getting exit-ready is the difference between a 2.5x and a 4.5x on the same business. Consulting for Exit is about closing that gap — and I take a stake in closing it with you.
Where the value leaks
Most owner-led businesses sell for a fraction of what they should.
If you're like most founders approaching an exit, at least a few of these are quietly capping your multiple right now:
- The business runs through you — buyers pay less for a job than a company
- You are the brand, so the value walks out the door when you do
- Revenue is one-time, not recurring — valued at 1x instead of 4–5x
- One or two customers make up too much of your revenue
- The systems live in people's heads, not documented SOPs
- The financials aren't clean enough to defend a premium multiple
- No defensible moat — you're competing on price in a race to the bottom
- No plan, so the exit happens to you instead of for you
Is this you
Consulting for Exit is for a specific kind of founder.
Read both columns before you take the assessment. Being honest here saves us both time.
✓ This is for you if…
- You run a founder-led business doing roughly $1M–$20M
- You want to exit in the next 1–3 years, or build toward it
- You know the business leans too heavily on you
- You'd rather maximize the number than sell fast and cheap
- You're open to a partner with skin in the game, not just an hourly advisor
✕ This is not for you if…
- You want to sell next month at any price
- You're not willing to make changes to increase value
- You want a broker to just list it as-is
- You want the business to stay dependent on you
- You're looking for the cheapest hourly advice you can find
A few ways we can work together
However we work, I have skin in the game.
Advisory
Guidance to raise your exit value on a retainer. Available — but honestly, I'd rather have more at stake in your outcome than a fee.
Consulting for Exit
I take a stake, build the transferable value with you, and share in the exit we create together. Aligned incentives, not billable hours.
Acquisition
When it's the right fit, my group and I buy — often with seller financing — so you get a clean exit and a partner who keeps building it.
Which one fits depends on your business and your goals. The half-day is where we figure that out — together.
How it works
Three steps to a clearer, more valuable exit.
No pressure and no pitch deck — it starts with a short assessment you take right here.
Take the Exit Readiness Assessment
A short, self-guided assessment that scores how ready your business is to sell — and what's holding your multiple down. About five minutes.
Get your Exit Readiness Score
See exactly where the value is trapped, scored across the drivers that actually move your number.
Book your half-day
We walk through your score, pin down your number, and build the plan to get there.
The half-day exit strategy session
Four focused hours that can change your number by seven figures.
The paid half-day is where we do the real work: your number, your multiple, and the highest-leverage moves to raise your exit value. You leave with a prioritized plan — whether or not we work together after.
- Your number — reverse-engineered from the life you want after the exit
- Your real multiple — SDE vs. EBITDA, and how to move it
- Where the value is trapped, and the fastest ways to free it
- Getting you off the org chart and out of the brand
- Recurring revenue, clean financials, and defensible IP
- Your prioritized roadmap to exit-ready
Who you're working with
I've built, run, and exited real businesses — I'm not a broker or a theorist.
I built Natural Zing from a startup into a multi-seven-figure consumer brand — 200+ proprietary products, 35,000+ customers, 1,000+ wholesale accounts — and exited it. I've written the software, run the operations, managed the teams, and lived the founder's exit firsthand.
Now I help founders get the number they deserve. And because I take a stake in the outcome, my incentives are the same as yours: build real, transferable value and exit well.
Proof
Built from the inside. Two decades of doing the actual work — including the exit.
Aligned
I only win when you win.
When I take equity or buy, my upside is tied to yours. That's the whole point of skin in the game — I'm not paid to hand you advice, I'm paid on the exit we build together. The half-day is valuable on its own; the partnership only happens if the numbers work for both of us.
Start here
See if your business is ready to sell — and what it's worth.
Take the free Exit Readiness Assessment. About five minutes. At the end you'll get your Exit Readiness Score and see exactly where your value is trapped.
Questions
Straight answers before we talk.
What exactly is Consulting for Exit?
It's how I help founders build real, transferable value and then exit well. Instead of billing hours, I take a stake in the outcome — retainer, equity, or an outright purchase — so we're aligned on the same goal: the biggest, cleanest exit possible.
Do you actually buy businesses?
Sometimes, when it's the right fit — often with seller financing, and through a group that acquires and rolls up companies. Other times the fit is equity or advisory. The half-day is where we figure out which path makes sense.
How long before I can actually sell?
The horizon for maximizing an exit is typically two to three years — enough time to get you off the org chart, clean up the financials, and make the value transferable. Some businesses are closer. The assessment shows you where you stand today.
What happens on the half-day, and what does it cost?
It's a paid, four-hour working session on your business: your number, your real multiple, and the highest-leverage moves to raise your exit value. You leave with a prioritized plan you can act on — whether or not we work together afterward.
How does a half-day consult work?
We get on a call or meet in person and work through a list of questions built on a proven framework — aimed at surfacing at least ten times the cost of the consult in immediate, recoverable value. You leave with a prioritized plan you can act on right away.
What half-day consults do you offer?
Five focused half-day consults: Exit, Leveraged Sales, Bankable Profits, Transferable Value (Growth), and Acquisition Strategy. Each is a deep dive on one lever of your business, built on a proven framework. Some share overlapping questions, but each aims at a different outcome.
What size business is this for?
Founder-led businesses doing roughly $1 million to $20 million in revenue — owners who are serious about exiting well, not just quickly.
What if I'm not ready to sell yet?
That's exactly what Consulting for Exit is for. If your business isn't sellable at full value yet, we build that value first — and I take a stake in the upside we create together, so we exit well down the road.
How do you get paid?
Retainer, profit share, equity, or an acquisition — or a blend. The constant is that I have skin in the game. I'd rather be paid on the exit we build than on hours.
One step
The best exits are built years before the sale. Start now.
I take on a limited number of engagements. The assessment tells us both where you stand — and whether there's a fit worth a conversation.