‘What's my business worth, and what should I be doing now to maximise it?'
Owners often aren't prompted to ask this until a transaction or funding process is imminent by which time it's too late to meaningfully move the number.
The hard truth: most owners can't answer it because they've never had the financial visibility that very large companies take for granted. You can't optimise what you can't see.
Four sub-questions get you there. What is the business worth today? What problems in the financials need fixing first? Which three to five levers will move value most? Is there the reporting, forecasting and capital allocation discipline to execute?
The answer for most owners is corporate finance discipline: CFO-grade information without permanent overhead, sharpening every major decision from pricing to acquisitions to succession.
We've worked with owners on both sides of this. Those who started early transacted on their terms. Those who didn't often discovered - too late - what the gap had cost them.
By Queensland based Family Business Accredited Advisor
Nick Carrigan
Saffron Partners
