Selling a business - how to find out the value of your business

What is the real value of your business?

When it’s time to sell—or simply grow the value of what you’ve built—the “real” value sits well beyond your P&L. In this episode, we explore the core value drivers and how to turn them into a compelling (and defensible) sale price.

The key value drivers we cover

• Customers & community: depth of loyal, repeat buyers vs. transient trade.
• People: who are the true value carriers (owners, sales stars, chefs/technicians), and how to retain them.
• Intellectual property & reputation: brand strength, know-how, awards, proprietary formulas/processes.
• Suppliers & agreements: reliability, quality, and distribution coverage that protect revenue.
• Lease & location: especially for site-dependent businesses—terms can swing value dramatically.
• Process & technology: efficiency and scalability (robots in manufacturing to simple service workflows).
• Market share: even “small” players can be strategically valuable to larger competitors.

Art + science in practice
Using a highly rated local restaurant as a case study, we show how to score each driver, pick the top three, and convert them into dollars (e.g., different multiples for loyal vs. transient revenue). We also illustrate how lease terms can shift value by hundreds of thousands (or more), and why securing key staff through transition bonuses can protect your price.

Why this matters
Valuation is dynamic and context-specific. The “science” is your evidence (data, contracts, performance); the “art” is how you present and negotiate it. Get both right, and you can justify a higher price with confidence.

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