01
Your Readiness Score
The eight drivers
We start with where you stand: an overall readiness score out of 100 and a reading on each of the eight drivers of company value, seen the way a buyer sees them.
Strategic Advisory
A Year of Working on the Business, Not Just in It.
For owners one to five years from a sale who want to arrive with a business that runs without them, and a price that reflects it. Twelve months, one focus each month, with an advisor who sells businesses for a living and knows what buyers look for.
$4,000 per month · month to month · 30 days notice to cancel
The One Prerequisite.
Maybe you want to bring in a manager and step back from the day to day. Maybe you are ready to sell. Maybe you plan to hand the business to the next generation. Whichever it is, the one prerequisite in all three is a business that can thrive without you.
Most businesses are not there yet. In Value Builder's Q2 2026 benchmark of 1,032 owners, the median readiness score was 56 out of 100, and only one business in a hundred scored 80 or above, the level associated with premium offers. One owner in five received a written offer last year, and buyers paid no more for what they found. The market is not the gap. Readiness is.
Strategic Advisory closes that gap on a schedule. Each month takes one driver of value, measures where you are, and leaves you with an action plan you can carry out before the next session. By the end of the year you have a business a buyer can see themselves running, a short list of who that buyer might be, and a clear picture of what you want the sale to make possible.
The Program
Twelve Months, One Focus at a Time.
The order matters: the year starts by measuring, works through the drivers a buyer weighs, and ends with who might buy and what you want from it.
02
Scalability Finder
Growth potential
Which of your products and services could scale the fastest, and which would grow the company while making it less dependent on you.
03
Customer Score
Customer satisfaction
A short survey of your customers, benchmarked against the fastest-growing companies in the world, using questions shown to predict growth.
04
Growth Quad
Growth potential
A review of your product and service mix to find the lines with the highest growth potential and the lowest investment risk.
05
Automatic Customer Builder
Recurring revenue
Where recurring or contracted revenue could be built into your business, so that revenue is more predictable and worth more to a buyer.
06
Positioning Planner
Monopoly control
The attributes that give you a defendable position in your market, and the messages that set you apart from competitors.
07
Hub & Spoke Review
Owner dependence
A survey of your team on how well they understand priorities without you, and the training, systems, and processes that let the company operate on its own.
08
Switzerland Structure
Concentration
Two exercises, an employee stack ranking and a customer concentration matrix, that produce an action plan for reducing reliance on any one person or account.
09
Customer Score, Revisited
Customer satisfaction
The customer survey again, six months on, so you can see whether the changes are showing up where buyers will look.
10
Cash Finder
Cash flow
Actions that increase cash flow from day-to-day operations, smooth out the low periods, and reduce how much working capital a buyer would need to fund.
11
Short List Builder
Acquirers
A long list of potential acquirers narrowed to the few with a strategic reason to buy and the resources to act, whether the sale is next year or in a decade.
12
Envelope Test
Your goals
What your life would look like after a sale, what you are aiming toward, and how the year has moved you closer to it. Then the cycle begins again.
Strategic Advisory is built on The Value Builder System™, an exit-readiness platform grounded in benchmarks from more than 80,000 business owners. Program tools and benchmarks are provided under license; the advice, analysis, and judgment are ours.
How It Works.
One working session a month with your advisor, one tool, one action plan. Between sessions the work happens inside your business, at a pace you can sustain alongside running it. The score is retaken each year so progress is measured, not assumed.
Who It's For
Owners of established businesses who expect to sell or transition within one to five years and would rather prepare than react.
The Terms
$4,000 per month. Month to month, with 30 days notice to cancel. No long-term contract, because the program should earn the next month on its own.
Where It Starts
If you have completed a Business Readiness Assessment with us, month one builds on it. If not, the first session establishes your baseline score across the eight drivers.
When You're Ready to Sell
The same advisor who helped you build the business's value takes it to market. Nothing you learned in the program has to be explained twice.
FAQ
Questions Owners Ask About the Program.
Who is Strategic Advisory for?
Owners of established businesses who expect to sell or transition within one to five years and would rather prepare than react. Whether the plan is a sale, a handoff to a manager, or the next generation, the prerequisite is the same: a business that can thrive without you.
What does it cost, and is there a contract?
$4,000 per month, month to month, with 30 days notice to cancel. There is no long-term contract, because the program should earn the next month on its own.
How much of my time does it take?
One working session a month with your advisor, one tool, one action plan. Between sessions the work happens inside your business, at a pace you can sustain alongside running it.
Do I need a Business Readiness Assessment first?
No. If you have completed one with us, month one builds on it. If not, the first session establishes your baseline score across the eight drivers of company value.
What do I have at the end of the year?
A business a buyer can see themselves running, a short list of who that buyer might be, and a clear picture of what you want the sale to make possible. The score is retaken each year so progress is measured, not assumed.
Does the program commit me to selling with FairExit Advisors?
No. Each step stands on its own, and none obligates you to the next. When you are ready to sell, the same advisor who helped you build the value can take the business to market, so nothing has to be explained twice.
Not Sure Whether a Year Is What You Need?
Start with a conversation, or with the free assessments. Either way, you will know where you stand before you commit to anything.