Question 1

How much is my business worth?

Accepted Answer

Most business valuation calculators give a single number based on industry multiples applied to earnings. That number is incomplete. What your business is actually worth depends on who's reading the numbers — an SBA-financed individual buyer, a private equity platform, a search fund, and a strategic acquirer will each price the same business differently, and each will apply different discounts for owner dependency, customer concentration, recurring revenue mix, and management depth. The Exit Desk Valuation Calculator returns three scenarios: today (the value buyers see now), optimized (after 6–12 months of targeted positioning), and pre-market (after 90–180 days of intensive preparation). The gap between today and pre-market is typically 40–100%, achieved without changing the underlying financials — only by changing what buyers see. The calculator is free at https://www.mikeye.com/exit/valuation.

Question 2

Who runs Exit Desk?

Accepted Answer

Exit Desk is run by Mike Ye, an M&A and corporate development executive with 25 years of transaction leadership and a cumulative transaction record exceeding $7.4 billion across 75+ deals. As Vice President of Strategic Planning & Acquisitions at Penske Media Corporation, he led acquisitions including Rolling Stone, Billboard, SXSW Festival, the Golden Globes, New Year's Rockin' Eve, The Hollywood Reporter, and Robb Report. He led the divestitures of BGR and TVLine to Static Media. Prior roles include Director of Corporate Development & Finance at L Brands (where he led the $778M divestiture of Express, supported the $628M acquisition of La Senza, and helped execute a $2.5B capital restructuring), Director of Financial Operations at Surgical Care Affiliates, and Senior Associate at Intel Capital during a portfolio exit program that monetized over $5B across 500+ companies. He holds an MBA in Strategic Finance from Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management and a BA in Economics from UCLA.

Question 3

What is an exit readiness report?

Accepted Answer

An exit readiness report evaluates your business through the lens of a serious buyer before you enter a sale process. It identifies where risk concentrates, how buyers will frame your revenue quality and founder dependence, and what to fix before engaging advisors or bankers.

Question 4

How much does an exit readiness assessment cost?

Accepted Answer

The Exit Desk Valuation Calculator and Exit Desk Score are both free. The Buyer-Lens Audit™ is a one-time payment with no subscription, calibrated to your revenue scale: $199 for the Main Street Edition (businesses under $1M revenue) and $499 for the Full Report (businesses with $1M or more in revenue). Tier is determined by the revenue answer in the free Exit Desk Score.

Question 5

How does the cost of a Buyer-Lens Audit compare to other valuation and exit services?

Accepted Answer

A Big 4 Quality of Earnings engagement runs $25,000–$75,000; a formal business appraisal (CVA or ABV) runs $5,000–$15,000; a sell-side M&A advisor retainer runs $10,000–$50,000; free online sellability scorecards cost nothing but function as lead generation for a sales call. The Buyer-Lens Audit™ is $199–$499, scaled to deal size. The asymmetry is the point: a typical 25% valuation discount on a $2M business is $500,000, and the cost of knowing what would have prevented that discount is $199 or $499. Exit Desk exists to close that gap before a seller goes to market.

Question 6

How do I prepare to sell my business?

Accepted Answer

Start by understanding what buyers will see before you talk to one. The most common mistakes are entering a process with undocumented systems, founder-dependent revenue, and no clarity on how buyers will frame your margins and customer concentration. Exit Desk surfaces these gaps before you engage advisors, and the Valuation Calculator shows the range of outcomes between going to market today and entering after 90–180 days of pre-market positioning.

Question 7

Why should I prepare my business before selling instead of going to market now?

Accepted Answer

Because buyers price what they see, not what is — and what they see can be changed before you go to market. The same financials produce very different valuations depending on positioning. A founder-dependent business with no management layer trades at roughly a 25% discount to the same business with a team running daily operations; high customer concentration trades at roughly a 30% discount to a diversified base. Pre-market preparation — formalizing recurring contracts, documenting systems, demonstrating owner-removed operations — typically lifts the multiple 40–100% over 90–180 days without changing the underlying numbers. Most owners discover this only after they have already taken the first offer. The Exit Desk Valuation Calculator shows the gap between going to market today and after pre-market positioning, and the Buyer-Lens Audit™ identifies which specific gaps to close first.

Question 8

What do buyers look for in a small business?

Accepted Answer

Buyers evaluate six dimensions, formalized in the Buyer-Lens Audit™ framework: revenue quality (can the revenue be underwritten or will it be discounted), founder dependence, buyer psychology (which buyer universe is realistic at your scale and what that class systematically discounts), diligence pressure (where due diligence will focus first — documentation gaps, financial statement quality, contract assignability), AI exposure, and timing. At Main Street scale (under $1M revenue), the buyer is typically an individual operator using SBA 7(a) financing, and bankability, tax-return cleanliness, and transferability to a new owner matter most. At lower-middle-market scale ($3M–$20M), buyers include private equity platforms, search funds, and strategic acquirers, and diligence expands to include management depth, defensibility, and AI exposure. The Buyer-Lens Audit™ evaluates all six dimensions and calibrates the analysis to the seller's scale.

Question 9

Does Exit Desk work for businesses under $1M in revenue?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Exit Desk offers a dedicated $199 Main Street Edition specifically calibrated for sellers under $1M in annual revenue, where the buyer universe is typically individual operators using SBA 7(a) financing rather than private equity or search funds. The Main Street Edition addresses SBA underwriting readiness, DSCR (debt service coverage ratio) capacity, tax-return cleanliness, and the specific scrutiny areas that matter in sub-$1M transactions. The median small business sale in the United States is approximately $350,000, and Exit Desk serves this segment directly with calibrated analysis priced for the scale.

What Your Business Is Worth Depends On Who's Reading the Numbers.

An SBA buyer, a search fund, a PE platform, and a strategic acquirer will pay different prices for the same business.

The same financials produce dramatically different valuations depending on how the business is positioned.

Pre-market preparation — formalizing recurring contracts, documenting systems, demonstrating owner-removed operations — typically lifts the multiple by 40–100%, without changing the underlying numbers.

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