Laughlin Business Advisors Exit Acceleration

The Exit Advisory · confidential · capped seats

Sell it one day for what it is worth.

You cannot tell your team, and often not your family yet. So the biggest financial decision of your working life gets made alone, against a sale price nobody has tested. The Exit Advisory is a small, confidential group of owners getting ready to sell. It tests that price first, then works to raise it every quarter until you sell.

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Read by Craig and Jessica only. Nothing about selling goes on a calendar invite or a mailing list.

Your fileConfidential

Signed first
A confidentiality agreement, before a single figure
Invite reads
“Meeting with Laughlin Business Advisors”
Members
Never published or shared
Rescored
Every quarter, all 11 factors
How your application, your business details and your scores are handled from the first form.

How it stays quiet

Nobody on your team hears about it.

Confidentiality is what makes this decision lonely, so the group is small and every owner in it is vetted. Six protections hold from the first form you fill in.

  1. The agreement comes firstA confidentiality agreement is signed before you send a single figure.
  2. Two readers, no moreOnly Craig and Jessica open your application, statements and scores.
  3. Competitors kept apartName a competitor when you apply, and we will not admit them while you are a member.
  4. A plain calendar inviteEvery invite reads as a meeting with Laughlin Business Advisors, never a sale.
  5. Private where it mattersAnything with a name in it (a buyer, a broker, family) goes by private message.
  6. Membership kept privateWe never publish or share who is in the group. A personal email address is welcome.

What sets the multiple

11 things a buyer checks. You see them first.

A buyer’s accountant and lawyer work through every one of these before they name a price. In The Exit Advisory you are scored on all 11 in month one, again every quarter, and your work starts on the lowest score.

  1. 01Financial MuscleBooks that survive a buyer’s accountant, and knowing what drives profit.
  2. 02Growth EngineWhether the business is still climbing, with room left in its market.
  3. 03Key-Person RiskWhat happens when one employee, client or supplier walks out.
  4. 04Cashflow GradeWhether the money arrives on time, and whether growth costs cash.
  5. 05Revenue PredictabilityHow much of next month is already decided before it starts.
  6. 06Market DominationWhether you win on something real, or whether you win on price.
  7. 07Retention StrengthWhether customers stay, and would recommend you to someone else.
  8. 08Independence ScoreHow much runs without you. Usually the factor that sets the price.
  9. 09Team StrengthWhether your people stay after a sale, and whether a buyer wants them.
  10. 10Systems & ProcessesWhether the work is written down or lives in somebody’s head.
  11. 11Due Diligence ReadinessWhat a buyer’s lawyer finds when they start turning over rocks.
  12. Every 90 daysScored again every quarterAll 11 measured again, so you see which one moved and which is next.

How The Exit Advisory works

Scored in month one.Rescored every quarter.Worked on until you sell.

The Exit Advisory guarantee

Rescored every quarter. Checked after two quarters.

We rescore you every quarter. Show up, do the work we prescribe, take the action. If your readiness score has not gone up after two quarters, your monthly private session becomes weekly at no extra cost, for up to 12 weeks. No refunds, no discounts, no pauses. Also no contract, and you can cancel it yourself any month.
If yes

You keep working the next-lowest factor, and the rescore carries on every quarter until you sell.

If no

Your monthly private session becomes weekly, for up to 12 weeks, while the group and the weekly call carry on.

An illustration, not a forecast.

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What you get

Month one finds the number. The months after raise it.

Changing what a buyer sees takes time, so the work runs quarter by quarter, from your first score until the day you sell.

  1. 01
    What the business is worth, worked out in month oneYour first 30 days are The Exit Roadmap: an exit interview about what a good exit means to you, your earnings recast the way a buyer’s accountant would, all 11 factors scored, a valuation range and a written 12-step exit roadmap.
  2. 02
    A group for the shared workSystems, team, documentation, recurring revenue. Most of the work is the same for every seller, and each answer teaches every owner in the group.
  3. 03
    Private messages for anything with a name on itMoney, buyers, brokers, family. Some of this never belongs in a group thread, and it never has to go there.
  4. 04
    A weekly call with other owners getting ready to sellA recorded hour each week, working one factor together with owners who are also getting ready to sell.
  5. 05
    A private call each month30 minutes with Craig for the conversations with names in them: a buyer who called, a partner who wants out, a family that does not know yet.
  6. 06
    A new score and a planning day every quarterAll 11 factors measured again, so you watch the number move and plan the next quarter from the lowest one.
Craig Laughlin Jr, portrait against a dark background Jessica Laughlin, PMP, by a window in a navy jacket

Who reads your file

Two of us. Nobody else.

I’m Craig Laughlin Jr. I run the advisory work as a Certified Exit Acceleration Expert (CEAE), after 16 years as a business owner and five and a half years as a Director of Coaching at a coaching firm, working with 250+ business owners a year in four countries. You see your business the way a buyer will, years before a buyer does, while there is still time to change what they find.

Jessica Laughlin, PMP®, runs delivery: your onboarding, your documents and the final check on everything we hand you.

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What owners ask

Questions, in confidence.

Will anybody find out I am thinking about selling?

No. The confidentiality agreement is signed before you send a single figure, only Craig and Jessica open your documents, and a competitor you name is not admitted while you are a member. Even the calendar invite for your first call reads as a plain meeting with Laughlin Business Advisors.

Who is The Exit Advisory for?

Owners with years, not months, before a sale, who know the business still depends on them and will show up every quarter to be rescored. If you are selling in the next six months, you need a broker now, and we will tell you so. If you need a certified valuation for a bank, a divorce or a partner buyout, that is a different service.

How is this different from The Exit Roadmap?

The Exit Roadmap is your first 30 days in The Exit Advisory: the exit interview, the recast earnings, the valuation range and the 12 steps. At day 30 you stay and keep working, or leave with the plan.

Do you take a fee when I sell?

No. We are not brokers, and we take no referral fee from any broker. When you are ready for one, we help you choose, and we earn nothing from the introduction.

Can you promise a higher sale price?

No, and be wary of anyone who does. The market, your industry and the buyer all play a part. What we promise is the work: the factors a buyer prices, measured every quarter, and weekly private sessions if the score stalls while you do your part.

Why is there no price on this page?

Because you should not have to decide on an advisory relationship from a web page, or say out loud that you are thinking of selling before you are ready. Craig shares the full investment on the call. It is month to month, with no contract, and you can cancel it yourself any month.

Month one

Know what it is worth before a buyer does.

The application has two steps and takes about eight minutes. If The Exit Advisory is not the right fit yet, Craig will tell you what is.

Apply In Confidence

Want the valuation and plan first? The Exit Roadmap is your first 30 days in The Exit Advisory, and at day 30 you can stay or leave with your roadmap.