Before you chase the highest bid
Five things worth doing before you talk to a single buyer.
Buyers pay multiples of adjusted EBITDA — owner compensation above market rate, one-time expenses, and related-party rent all move the number when properly added back. This is accounting work worth doing months before you talk to a single buyer.
A single-buyer conversation caps your price at whatever that one buyer is willing to pay. A structured process with multiple bidders — even informally, through a broker — is what actually drives multiples up.
Customer concentration, a thin management bench, messy financials — buyers price these in as risk, and they always find them in diligence. Fixing them in advance, even imperfectly, is cheaper than the discount they'll apply if you don't.
A trailing-twelve-months dip right before you go to market — even a temporary one from a slow season or a lost contract — can cost you a full turn of EBITDA multiple. Time the process to your strongest recent run, not your calendar.
Maximizing price is rarely also the fastest or simplest path. Banker or broker fees, legal costs, and a longer diligence process are the price of a competitive process — budget for it going in.
The paths that fit
Two of TradeAtlas's exit paths tend to deliver the biggest headline price — usually with more strings attached.
Sell to Private Equity
Sell to a PE-backed roll-up platform — the option drawing the most capital into the trades, and the one with the most misunderstood deal terms.
Third-Party / Strategic Sale
Sell to a strategic buyer or competitor, usually through a broker — the broadest market for sub-$1M-EBITDA shops.
Recapitalize or Hold
Take some chips off the table without fully exiting — sell a minority stake, refinance, or simply keep operating with a plan.
What actually moves the multiple
The characteristics buyers pay a premium for, and the ones they discount.
Recurring revenue over one-off jobs
Service contracts, maintenance agreements, and repeat commercial work are valued more highly than project-based or storm-driven revenue, because buyers are paying for predictability, not just this year's top line.
Customer concentration
If one or two customers make up a large share of revenue, that's a real risk buyers price into a lower multiple — diversifying the customer base ahead of a sale is one of the highest-leverage things you can do.
Management depth beyond the owner
A business that depends entirely on you personally — for sales, estimating, key relationships — is worth less than one with a GM, estimator, or ops manager who can run it without you in the room.
Documented systems, not tribal knowledge
Written SOPs, a real CRM, and documented pricing logic signal a business that transfers cleanly. Buyers discount heavily for operations that only exist in the owner's head.
Growth trajectory, not a flat backlog
A business with a growing backlog and expanding service lines commands a premium over one that's been flat or declining — even at the same current EBITDA — because buyers are pricing the trend, not just the trailing number.
Start with the number
Know your starting valuation before you start normalizing EBITDA and building a buyer list.