We help business owners dramatically increase transferable value.
But you don't have to sell your business to be free within it.
For owners of $5M to $100M companies who are building an asset, not just an income stream.
Whether you want to sell in three years or thirty, the work is the same.
Commands More.
We help you eliminate perceived risks and increase the economic value of your company. A value which commands a higher purchase price.
Demands Less.
While you’re building economic value, we help you realize expanding freedom inside a company that demands less of your time.
Opens Doors.
With a profitable growing business that demands less of your time, many doors open to you. You can continue to hold and grow, to transfer internally, or to sell on your terms.
Three out of four owners who sell regret it just one year later.
The regret is sometimes about the number. It’s more often about what the number could not fix.
You do not have to sell your business to get the freedom you think only the sale will give you. That freedom is something you build in while you still own it. When you do choose to sell, it’s on your terms.
That’s the work we do.
Where the regret comes from
- The business would not run without them, so it would not transfer at full value.
- They didn’t keep enough of that value because they failed to structure their exit ahead of time.
- Without the business they struggle with purpose, identity, direction, and connection.
To win the race, enjoy the journey.
A few years ago, I was one of five owners of a medical device company. My ownership stake was based on a $20 million value. Within 2 years we had a very solid offer at $80 million. Still, we worked with an investment banker, ran a process, and ended up closing the deal $30 million higher. I learned some lessons here.
Within two years the founder had passed. We were the same age.
This was heartbreaking and tragic, but he built his company so that he could enjoy his life while he still owned it. He was active in his community, traveled with his family, had a plane, a helicopter, hobbies, was generous, and spent time with his grandkids, all while still running his business. That was the real lesson. The work isn’t a race. It’s part of the journey.
Freedom without the exit.
One of my group members has built an impressive company. Early on, he carried the business himself, as many founders do, with most key processes in his head. But with four young children, he wanted more time to travel and be present with them. With the group’s support, he documented critical processes, made strategic hires, and leveraged comparative advantage.
Today, the business keeps growing while he takes regular two-week family trips and helps homeschool his kids.
He gets unsolicited offers all the time, but he’s not done building and growing his business, and he doesn’t have to give up the rest of his life to keep at it.
We work directly with owners to build Economic Value
We work to raise the number a buyer would pay for what you have built, and to make that value transferable at the highest multiple the business can earn.
But even more importantly, we help you build freedom and independence while you still own the business. Not after the sale. Now. Keep, sell, grow, hold, the option is yours. The timing is yours.
Economic Value, plainly, is what a buyer is willing to pay for what you built.
For a private company, a business sale price expresses economic value as a multiple of net earnings or EBITDA.
We work with our clients to identify the one-offs and discretionary spending to solidify a revised number referred to as R/EBITDA.
We then help to stack the rocks in the favor of high transferability which leads to a high multiple.
"Build a business worth owning. Then the choice is yours."
We build value by stacking Rocks
A Rock is a priority you commit to for ninety days and finish before the next one starts. There are many challenges that create the gaps that separate you from a significant exit on your terms and timing. We identify the rocks that will fill those gaps, customize them to your business, and help you complete them.
We stack them, quarter after quarter, rock after rock until those gaps are filled.
This is where our name comes from, RockStack Advisors.
The concept of Rocks traces to Stephen Covey: put the big rocks in the jar first, or the small stuff will crowd them out.
Quarterly execution systems like EOS turned it into a discipline.
We turn the quarterly execution system into an engine to build economic value and on the life you want around it.
The gaps we work with you to close
Business Value.
It starts by taking the decisions and the value out of your head and build them into the company.
Wealth.
Know exactly what the business must produce to fund the life you actually want.
Identity.
Define what drives you before the business stops being the answer.
Book a first conversation. Thirty minutes, no pitch. We answer your questions and learn about you and your business. If it makes sense, we can talk about next steps and book an assessment meeting.
Take the Readiness Check. Twelve questions, about 5 minutes and get a rough idea of where you are. It’s not the RockStack Assessment, but it’s low investment and may surprise you.
Attend an Event with RockStack. Join other business owners and senior leaders as a guest of RockStack at events around the region. Some are purpose focused, some are educational, some are just for fun.