Educational
Readiness
A score for the work that is still undone. The seller plan splits into 90 days and one year. Neither score is a valuation, a loan approval, or a recommendation to sell.
Buyer readiness
Seven things a lender, a seller, or your own agent will ask before a serious bid. The score is the sum of the weights. It is not a credit decision.
0/ 100
Early. The list below is the work.
Action plan
01 · Proof of funds
Gather bank or brokerage statements that show the cash you can actually write a check from.
02 · Down payment identified
Name the dollars for the equity injection separately from cash you need to live on.
03 · SBA conversation started
Talk to an SBA lender before you fall in love with a listing. SBA publishes the 7(a) program; the lender applies the current SOP 50 10.
04 · Operating experience you can describe
Write the work you have actually run. A lender and a seller will ask. Related industry experience counts; inventing a resume does not.
05 · Written buy box
Write industry, states, price, and the cash flow you need. An agent can search that. A mood cannot.
06 · An advisor retained or shortlisted
Shortlist a lawyer or accountant. SCORE and an SBDC can help you find a human. NewHands does not assign one.
07 · Time to operate
Decide whether you can be in the building. Absentee plans need a manager who already exists.
Seller exit readiness
Unchecked items split into the next 90 days and the next year. Checking a box does not make the fact true. The weights are a teaching order, not a bank's scorecard.
0/ 100
Early. The list below is the work.
Action plan
Next 90 days
01 · Financials a stranger can follow
Produce a trailing twelve-month profit and loss and a current balance sheet before you take a meeting.
02 · Add-backs with support
List each add-back and the receipt or payroll record behind it. A repeating cost is not a one-time add-back.
03 · Customer concentration written down
Name any customer above a level you would not want a buyer to discover later. Twenty percent of revenue is a common place to start that sentence.
04 · A reason for sale you can say out loud
Write the reason in one paragraph. Buyers test it against the financials.
05 · A tax advisor in the conversation
Ask a CPA how an asset sale and a stock sale would be taxed for you. IRS Publication 544 is background, not your return.
06 · Family or partner decision
If a spouse, partner, or next generation has a say, have the conversation before a buyer does.
This year
01 · Someone besides the owner who can run a week
Name the person, or plan the hire, before the CIM says the business runs without the owner.
02 · Lease or premises status
Read the assignment clause and the years left. A buyer cannot close what the landlord will not assign.