How Ready Is Your Business for Sale? EPI’s Attractiveness & Readiness Scorecards Explained

1. Business Attractiveness (how the market sees your company)
2. Exit Readiness (how ready you and your business are to make a clean transition)

• Financial Strength & Predictability
  Profitability, margins, and clean financial reporting. Buyers love a track record they can trust.
• Growth & Market Opportunity
  Your position in the market, scalability, and the attractiveness of your industry.
• Risk / Dependence Profile
  How dependent are you on one customer, one supplier, or—let’s be honest—yourself as the owner?
• Intangibles & Structural Assets
  Culture, systems, processes, IP, and relationships that give your business durability.

• Personal Readiness
  Are you mentally and emotionally prepared to exit? Do you know who you are without your title?
• Financial Readiness
  Have you worked with advisors to build a wealth plan, tax plan, and estate plan so you can thrive after the sale?
• Business Readiness
  Can the business operate without you? Is leadership strong? Are systems documented? Do you have continuity planning in place?

1. Get the baseline. Run both assessments to measure where you stand.
2. Spot the gaps. Maybe your financials are clean, but customer concentration is killing your attractiveness score. Or maybe you’re emotionally tied to the business, which tanks your readiness.
3. Create the roadmap. Pick the top three levers to move in the next 12 months. Re-test, and watch your score (and valuation multiple) climb.

• Our revenue growth has been consistent (not wildly volatile) for the past 3 years.
• Our margins (gross, EBITDA, net) are stable and in line with industry norms.
• Our financial statements are audited, clean, well-organized, and easily interpretable.
• We have minimal “surprises” or one-time adjustments in earnings.
• Cash flow is strong, predictable, and not overly tied to working capital fluctuations.

• Our market (niche, sector, geography) is growing or has strong forward momentum.
• We have defensible differentiation (brand, technology, IP, specialization).
• We have a clear scalable distribution strategy (channels, partners, digital, etc.).
• The size of our addressable market is large enough to support meaningful future expansion.
• 1We have multiple growth levers (new products, geographies, upsells) we can deploy.

• No single customer represents more than ~10–15% of revenue.
• No single supplier or vendor risk threatens our operations.
• The business is not overly dependent on the owner (or a few key people).
• We have contingency planning / redundancy for critical systems, people, or vendors.
• Customer churn is low; retention is high and increasing.
• Our contract terms, recurring agreements, or subscriptions reduce revenue volatility.

• Key processes and systems are documented, standardized, and automated where possible.
• We have intellectual property, proprietary systems, or unique assets that competitors would struggle to replicate.
• We invest in leadership, training, and development to build bench strength.
• Our culture, values, and brand reputation are strong and contribute to customer / employee loyalty.
• The business can operate (for a period) with minimal owner involvement.
• We have strong relationships, referral networks, and social capital in our industry.
• Our organizational structure supports flexibility, innovation, and accountability.
• We have a governance structure (advisory board, metrics review, oversight).
• We actively monitor and manage external threats (competition, regulatory, technological) and have adaptation plans.

• Aggregate Score / Averages: Compute average per category and overall.
• Low scores (1–2): Critical risk zones—these are value kill zones you must remediate.
• Mid scores (3): Opportunity zones—improvement in these areas produces disproportionate value jumps.
• High scores (4–5): Strengths to protect and leverage in positioning the business to buyers.

• Prioritize 2–3 levers to move in the next 6–12 months
• Tie those levers to KPIs and initiatives

• Reassess after each execution cycle to show progress

Disclaimers / caveats:

• This is a mock version built from public insights and exit-planning theory, not the official EPI index.
• The real EPI Business Attractiveness Index might weight questions differently, have more nuanced phrasing, or include proprietary dimensions.
• Use this internally to build trust, surface gaps, and motivate action—and then steer clients to the official EPI assessment for validation or benchmarking.

• I have a clear vision for my life and identity after selling or exiting the business.
• I feel emotionally prepared to step away from daily operations.
• My family is aligned with my exit goals and timing.
• I have hobbies, interests, or passions beyond my business that I plan to pursue.
• I am comfortable delegating key decisions to others.
• I could walk away from the business tomorrow without regret.

• I know the amount of money I need post-exit to maintain my desired lifestyle.
• I have worked with a financial advisor to create a wealth/retirement plan.
• Tax implications of a potential exit have been reviewed and optimized.
• I have proper estate planning (wills, trusts, succession documents).
• My personal financial assets are diversified beyond the business.
• I know my “Freedom Point”—the sale value that fully funds my life goals.

• The business can run successfully without my daily involvement.
• A capable leadership team is in place with clear succession plans.
• Operational processes are documented and repeatable.
• Our culture and values are strong enough to endure leadership transition.
• Key customer and supplier relationships are not solely dependent on me.
• We have continuity and risk management plans for major disruptions.
• Our governance (board, advisors, or leadership meetings) supports independent oversight.
• The business is attractive to buyers in its current state (systems, talent, financials).
• We have rehearsed or simulated a transition plan in the last 24 months.
• I understand potential deal structures (earn-outs, equity rollover, partial sale) and how they impact me.

• Aggregate Score / Averages: Compute average per category and overall.
• Low scores (1–2): High-risk areas that could derail an exit—even if the business looks attractive.
• Mid scores (3): Development zones—opportunities to shore up readiness over 6–12 months.
• High scores (4–5): Indicators of strong alignment between personal, financial, and business readiness.

Disclaimers / caveats:

• This is a mock version created from public EPI insights and exit-planning best practices, not the official Exit Readiness Index.
• The official EPI tool may phrase, weight, or score questions differently.
• Use this as a self-reflection and coaching tool to surface blind spots, then point clients to the official EPI assessment for validation.