Founder dependency
Whether important decisions, relationships and delivery still route through the owner.
Before buyers examine the business
Could it operate without you—and would a buyer believe it?
A profitable company can still be difficult to sell when decisions, relationships, delivery and operating knowledge remain tied to the owner.
Take the free three-minute operating-readiness check. See the structural risks most likely to weaken buyer confidence before formal exit planning or due diligence.
Check my exit readiness →Free · immediate score · no company documents required · no obligation to book
The operational question
If you stepped away for 90 days, what would stop?
Buyer confidence rises when performance is supported by capable management, repeatable processes, reliable information and transferable relationships—not the founder’s continued presence.
Operational readiness
Find weaknesses before a buyer does.
Management resilience
Whether leaders have authority, evidence and operating cadence to run the company.
Process transferability
Whether recurring work can be understood, repeated and improved without tribal knowledge.
Operating evidence
Whether performance, risk and exceptions can be demonstrated without rebuilding the truth.
Free operating risk check · 10 questions
How transferable is the business today?
Find the operating dependencies that could weaken buyer confidence before you enter an exit process. You’ll get your three priority gaps and a practical 90-day sequence.
No financial, customer or employee data required. Usually takes about 3 minutes.
A clear professional boundary
Operational decision support—not transaction advice.
This assessment considers operational readiness, founder dependency and transferability. It is not a valuation, tax opinion, legal opinion, regulated financial advice, due diligence report or assurance that a business can be sold. Specialist matters should be referred to appropriately qualified advisers.
Start before the deal process