Understand the asset you own and the choices it gives you.
Before you decide to keep, grow or sell your business, understand what you own. It can provide income, build wealth and give you work you enjoy. It can also absorb your time and keep most of your wealth tied to one investment.
Ownership Goals establishes what you want from Time, Cash Flow and Wealth. Expand Knowledge examines what the business could contribute and what different ownership choices would cost.
Three lenses, three different questions
| Lens | The question it answers | What you establish |
|---|---|---|
| M4: Owner’s Value | What are the expected cash and remaining interest worth today if I keep it? | A supported discounted cash-flow valuation, downside and comparison with your goals. |
| M5: Market Value | What could the market value the business at? | Supported earnings and multiple, a traceable equity calculation and a future scenario tested against your wealth requirement. |
| M6: Transaction Value | What would a particular sale actually give me? | Net closing cash, later claims, retained ownership and Keep It / Sell It comparisons at two dates. |
These are different views of the same asset. Do not add them together as three separate sources of wealth. Salary pays for operating work; it is not an additional ownership return. A valuation is not a promise of sale proceeds.
A price needs an explanation
Two hypothetical offers can have the same $5 million equity price while one pays everything at closing and the other includes a $2 million seller note. The headline matches; the timing and risk do not. A larger company can also be worth more while demanding more of your time and paying you less along the way.
Use the same goals throughout the comparison. A forecast below the amount you need calls for a decision about the plan, timing or other assets. Quietly changing the goal to match the forecast hides the question.
Bring the existing work together
Start with your original Scorecard and the financial records, model or valuation report you already have. Owner’s Value examines expected cash and risk. Market Value tests earnings, the multiple, debt, eligible cash and ownership claims. Transaction Value follows those same values through explicit deal terms.
The Market Value and Sale Proceeds Comparison brings the market and transaction work together on two pages. Page 1 follows current and future values into net proceeds. Page 2 compares keeping and selling against Time, Cash Flow and Wealth at those same dates. Keep today’s DCF separately identified. Work through the comparison.
Use supporting worksheets where they answer a missing question. Suitable existing models and professional reports count. Each milestone explains the full completion requirements and its 0–3 rubric. You choose the saved score after examining the evidence; a confident answer or a completed packet alone does not establish installation.
Test the assumptions before relying on the result
Challenge a consequential assumption: less cash available to ownership, a lower supported multiple, a delayed payment or a longer transition. Explain what changes for your goals. Then complete an actual owner review, choose the next action or supported continuation, and name who will do what by when.
This work does not require you to sell, buy a particular service or achieve the future goals now. It requires a supported comparison you can use. Advisors can help establish assumptions; you retain the ownership decision.
Keep the three lenses in use
Review material inputs quarterly, refresh the full picture annually and revisit changes before relying on a valuation or new offer. Keep earlier assumptions and decisions so you can explain what moved. The first owner review can happen before the formal meeting rhythm is installed.
Module 3: Owner’s Playbook brings these goals, numbers and decisions into The Plan, The Numbers, Your Leadership Team and The Rhythm. The later financial, revenue, operating and leadership modules build the capabilities that support the plan.
Choose your next step
Put the work in context. The Ownership Assessment helps you examine the capabilities behind your plan, find evidence still to review and choose useful work. It does not turn your self-score into a valuation.
Work through the decisions with support. The 90-Day Boardroom Blueprint connects your goals, financial foundation and decisions in your first usable Owner’s Playbook. You can explore support directly; completing the Assessment is not a prerequisite.