Not because their business isn't valuable — because they never learned what a sophisticated buyer actually looks for. The 26-Factor Assessment shows you exactly what buyers examine before they even consider making an offer. 15 minutes. Free. And what you find may change how you're building your business — long before any buyer shows up.
You're going to score your business across 26 specific value drivers — the same factors sophisticated buyers use to evaluate an acquisition. Each driver gets a score from zero to ten.
Don't just pick a number and move on. For every factor, you'll have space to argue your score, flag what's complicated, and tell us what the number doesn't capture. The context behind the number matters as much as the number itself.
The more you put in, the more useful your results will be — to you, and to any advisor you bring them to. This won't tell you what to do. It will show you what's there — clearly, honestly, and across every dimension a prepared buyer examines.
The internal fundamentals: financials, key-person dependency, team, technology, and legal structure. These determine whether your business runs well without you in the room.
Your external position: growth trajectory, recurring revenue, market share, customer concentration, and barriers to entry. This is where most hidden value lives.
The multipliers: impact mission, brand equity, data strategy, and activated culture. Increasingly the difference between a competitive offer and an extraordinary one.
The assessment walks you through all 26 drivers one at a time. For each one, you'll see a plain-language question and a scoring guide — what a zero looks like, what a ten looks like, and where most businesses fall.
Give each driver an honest score from zero to ten. Then justify it. Tell us what the number doesn't capture. The commentary is where the real picture emerges — and where the most valuable insights come from.
Type your responses or use the voice input to speak them. Either works. Answer honestly — the score is for you, not for us.
Most founders spend 15 minutes and walk away with a clearer picture of their business than they've had in years. Not from an accountant. Not from a broker. Not from any standard valuation. This is different. And once you see it, you can't unsee it.
We're putting the finishing touches on the full interactive tool — 26 questions, scoring and commentary for every driver, and a results summary across all three categories. In the meantime, the fastest way to get your business read across all 26 factors is to apply for a strategy session.
The 26-Factor Assessment is based on The M&A Multiplier Playbook — Steve Little's documented methodology from 470+ transactions and 6 personal exits to nine-figure valuations.
It's the same framework that guided a $2M tech services company to a $120M acquisition. The same one that repositioned a trucking company from sub-1X to 7X. The same one behind a 400%+ valuation increase for an online coupons business.
The assessment doesn't manufacture those results. It does what every one of those engagements started with: it shows you where you actually stand.
Not ready for the full assessment? Start with the framework. Or bring what you know to a working session with our team.