You refer the client
First call together. NDA on day one. We confirm scope and timeline. You stay in the loop on milestones.
Bring listed-ready clients to market.
Most lower-middle-market sellers aren't exit-ready when they walk in your door. We're the operational layer that fixes that — so your listings hit the market with diligence-ready data, your deals don't stall in QoE, and your time stays focused on running the deal.
NDA on day one. We never displace the broker.
The pre-sale prep tax
Paid in your time. Or paid in their multiple.
Most lower-middle-market sellers come to market 12 to 24 months before they should. Either you eat the prep work to make them listable — chasing spreadsheets, normalizing financials, drafting CIMs, building data rooms, coordinating diligence — or the operational gaps surface in QoE and the deal closes at a discount. Or doesn't close.
- 01
Sellers come to market too late, with declining revenue and outdated systems
- 02
Owner dependency means buyers price in 3 to 5 years of transition risk
- 03
Inconsistent financials slow diligence and signal sloppiness to sophisticated buyers
- 04
Operational data lives in spreadsheets and people's heads, not queryable systems
- 05
Modern buyers (PE, search funds, independents) expect KPI-mature sellers; the gap is widening
How we plug in
Three weeks. Three phases. Your workflow stays yours.
We're not the broker. We're the operational layer that runs alongside your engagement. The client signs Discovery directly with us; we coordinate with you and your QoE provider throughout.
We run Discovery
Two to three weeks. Five to seven hours of the seller's team time. We do the operational mapping, gap pricing, and roadmap work.
Report into your workflow
The deliverable goes to your data room, your QoE provider, and the seller's team. Most engagements continue into the cleanup phase we recommend.
What lands in your workflow
Five deliverables. Plug-and-play with your data room.
Each one maps directly to a question buyers (or their advisors) will ask.
- 01
Operations map
End-to-end picture of how the business runs. Goes into the CIM appendix and the data room as the operating model overview.
Use for · CIM appendix · operating model
- 02
Transferability & gap heatmap
Eight functional areas scored across visibility, reliability, and actionability. Every gap priced in dollars per quarter.
Use for · IOI/LOI prep · transition risk pricing
- 03
Concentration & key-person risk register
Customer concentration, vendor dependency, key-person risk. Disclosed in the data room with mitigation context, not buried.
Use for · Data room disclosure · risk management
- 04
Priced cleanup roadmap
Phase 1, 2, 3 of pre-sale operational improvements. Each phase priced upfront, sequenced by ROI on multiple uplift.
Use for · Pre-listing budget · timeline planning
- 05
Leadership walkthrough
Ninety minutes with you, the client, and their leadership. Joint session — we walk every page; you frame it within your engagement strategy.
Use for · Alignment · engagement kickoff
Pricing & partnership
$7,500 flat. Paid by the client.
Discovery is the same flat fee for every business — $2M revenue or $25M. The seller signs and pays directly. We don't take referral fees from brokers, and you're never on the hook for the work or the cost. For brokerages running multiple engagements, we have separate partnership terms.
Fee
$7,500
Flat. Same for every business size.
Who pays
Your client
Direct engagement. You stay in the loop.
Referral fees
None
Your commission stays whole. No misaligned incentives.
Common questions from advisors
The short answers.
Bring us a client. Or talk first.
Most partnerships start with a 30-minute call to walk through your typical engagement and see where Discovery fits. No pitch, no slide deck.
Turnkey solutions · Roadmap you own