Value drivers
Owner dependence is a discount, and buyers price it precisely
May 12, 2026
When a buyer evaluates a business, the first question is rarely about growth. It is about what happens to the business the day the current owner stops showing up. The answer to that question sets a ceiling on the price.
A buyer is not purchasing last year’s results. A buyer is purchasing the probability of future results, and that probability falls sharply when the most important relationships, decisions, and knowledge live in one person’s head.
Reducing owner dependence is not a single project. It is a set of deliberate moves made over the years before a sale: building a second tier of leadership, documenting processes, and moving key relationships from the owner to the team.
The fastest way to see the discount on your own business is to assess it the way a buyer would. That is what the Business Attractiveness Assessment is for.
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