Thirty-seven briefs. One page. Every one curated for LTG.
Plain English at a CPA-firm register. Every statistic sourced inline. Click any brief below to expand it in place; no navigation, no dead ends. Two are published in full; the remaining thirty-five are previews of articles in editorial production with Sara F. Gonzalez, CPA.
Start with these three.
What is my business actually worth? An owner's primer on business valuation.
A CPA's plain-English guide to what your business is actually worth, the three approaches buyers use, and where most owners get it wrong.
Brief 02 · Core ValuationSDE vs EBITDA: which multiple actually applies to your business.
Brief 13 · Sector HubTrades and home services: HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, landscaping.
Core Valuation
Six briefs on the underlying mechanics every owner-facing valuation rests on. Start with Brief 1 and read in order.
Every credentialed valuation triangulates across three approaches. The weights differ; the framework does not.
In Pepperdine PCM 2025 surveys of credentialed appraisers, the guideline-transactions method (Market approach) carried the largest single-method weight, with Income approach methods close behind. The Asset approach drives value for asset-heavy and holding companies and rarely for operating businesses.Source: Pepperdine Private Capital Markets Report 2025 · AICPA SSVS No. 1
B/01What is my business actually worth? An owner's primer on business valuation.A defensible answer requires three things: a normalized earnings number, a defensible multiple drawn from market evidence, and an honest reading of the company's risk profile.
Apply this analysis to your business in a Strategic Snapshot.
Order $995 →B/02SDE vs EBITDA: which multiple actually applies to your business.Two owners with identical tax returns can walk away from a sale with very different proceeds. The reason almost always sits in the earnings line.
Apply this analysis to your business in a Strategic Snapshot.
Order $995 →B/03The three approaches to value: income, market, asset.Every credentialed valuation uses some weighting of three approaches. Here is how each works and when the IRS demands which.
Order the Strategic Snapshot to preview Brief 03 in full.
Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes June 2026
B/04Indicative valuation vs formal appraisal: when each is enough.A formal appraisal can cost $7,500 to $30,000 and take six weeks. An indicative valuation answers most owner questions for a fraction of the cost.
Order the Strategic Snapshot to preview Brief 04 in full.
Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes June 2026
B/05How buyers, lenders, divorce courts, and the IRS each value your business.The same business can be worth $4M to the IRS, $5.2M to a buyer, $3.5M to a lender, and $4.8M in a divorce.
Order the Strategic Snapshot to preview Brief 05 in full.
Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes July 2026
B/06The Discount for Lack of Marketability (DLOM) and minority interest discounts, explained.A 30% interest is almost never worth 30% of the enterprise. Quantifying the gap is the territory of DLOM and DLOC.
Order the Strategic Snapshot to preview Brief 06 in full.
Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes July 2026
Exit Planning Fundamentals
Six briefs on the sequence every owner moves through before a transition.
Every owner moves through five stages before transition. Skipping any of them costs proceeds at the table.
The Exit Planning Institute's 2023 National State of Owner Readiness Report found 73% of private-company owners plan to transition within ten years, but 80% have no written transition plan. Most are stuck somewhere between Curiosity and Discovery, which is exactly the gap a Strategic Snapshot is built to close.Source: EPI 2023 National State of Owner Readiness Report
B/07The five stages of exit, from "I'd never sell" to closing day.Every owner moves through five recognizable stages. Skipping any of them is the most common reason a sale closes for less than it should have.
Order the Strategic Snapshot to preview Brief 07 in full.
Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes June 2026
B/08Exit readiness: the 24-month, 12-month, and 90-day playbook.Exit readiness is not a feeling; it is a sequence. The calendars used by CPA firms guiding owners to a closing.
Order the Strategic Snapshot to preview Brief 08 in full.
Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes July 2026
B/09Built to sell vs built to last: the choice every owner makes implicitly.Every operating decision pushes your business toward transferability or away from it. Most owners make the choice without realizing it.
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Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes August 2026
B/10The freedom point: when does your business throw off enough to retire?Most owners discover their freedom point the hard way: at the closing table, when after-tax proceeds turn out to be 60 to 70% of headline price.
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Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes August 2026
B/11Family succession vs third-party sale vs ESOP vs management buyout: a comparison.Each path produces a different price, tax bill, timeline, and legacy outcome.
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Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes September 2026
B/12Owner dependency: the single biggest value killer.Buyers consistently identify owner dependency as the largest discount factor in lower-middle-market deals.
Order the Strategic Snapshot to preview Brief 12 in full.
Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes September 2026
Sector-Specific Valuation
Thirteen sector deep-dives. EBITDA-multiple ranges, the levers that move them, and where your business sits.
Sector matters more than size below $5M EBITDA. Above it, the spread is wider within a sector than between sectors.
Multiple ranges are 2025 medians from sector-specific deal-banker reports. The trades (recurring-revenue) band is highlighted in gold; it spans the widest range because recurring-vs-transactional revenue mix moves the multiple by 2x to 3x within a single sector.Source: GF Data Q1 2025, BVR DealStats 2025, FOCUS July 2025, sector-specific reports
B/13Trades and home services: HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, landscaping.Home services is the most actively consolidated lower-middle-market sector in America.
Order the Strategic Snapshot to preview Brief 13 in full.
Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes June 2026
B/14Dental practices: GP, ortho, oral surgery, and DSO consolidation.Platform deals close at 9 to 11x EBITDA; add-ons at 5 to 8x; single-doctor practices at 70% to 80% of annual collections.
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Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes July 2026
B/15Medical practices: primary care, specialty, MSO consolidation, surgery centers.Primary care 5 to 7x EBITDA; specialty 7 to 9x; surgical 8 to 10x. ASC ownership adds 2 to 3x.
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Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes July 2026
B/16Restaurants and food service: independents, franchise, fast-casual, fine dining.SDE 2.14x to 2.96x. EBITDA 2.80x to 3.65x. Lease term, chef dependency, and prime cost decide where you land.
Order the Strategic Snapshot to preview Brief 16 in full.
Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes August 2026
B/17Auto repair and dealerships.Independent repair 2.0x to 4.5x SDE; multi-shop operators 3.5x to 6.5x EBITDA. The owner-as-tech gap is the biggest lever.
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Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes August 2026
B/18Retail: specialty, e-commerce, multi-location brick-and-mortar.Brick-and-mortar 1.5x to 2.5x SDE. E-commerce 2.0x to 3.5x SDE. Inventory turn and channel mix decide where you land.
Order the Strategic Snapshot to preview Brief 18 in full.
Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes September 2026
B/19Professional services: law firms, RIAs, CPA firms, agencies.CPA firms 3.0x to 5.5x adjusted EBITDA. RIAs reaching mid-teens with institutional buyers. Law firms structured around portability.
Order the Strategic Snapshot to preview Brief 19 in full.
Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes September 2026
B/20Manufacturing and industrial: job shop, contract manufacturing, machine shop.Sub-$2M EBITDA shops 3x to 5x SDE; $5M+ EBITDA 6x to 9x. Certifications move the multiple.
Order the Strategic Snapshot to preview Brief 20 in full.
Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes October 2026
B/21Distribution, logistics, transportation, trucking.Asset-based trucking 6 to 8x EBITDA. Asset-light brokerage trades 0.5x to 2x higher.
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Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes October 2026
B/22Personal services: salons, fitness, pet care, childcare.Dog daycare 4.4x SDE. Veterinary 5 to 16x EBITDA depending on specialty. Recurring revenue and licensing are the two largest levers.
Order the Strategic Snapshot to preview Brief 22 in full.
Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes November 2026
B/23Construction: residential, commercial, specialty trades, GC firms.GCs 2x to 5x EBITDA. Specialty contractors 5x to 8x. Backlog, bonding, and customer mix decide where you land.
Order the Strategic Snapshot to preview Brief 23 in full.
Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes November 2026
B/24Technology and SaaS.Public SaaS 6 to 7x EV/Revenue. Private VC-backed 5.3x ARR. Bootstrapped 4.8x ARR. The Rule of 40 is the multiplier.
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Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes December 2026
B/25B2B services, MSPs, BPO, IT services.High-quality MSPs 4.5x to 8.0x EBITDA. Recurring contracts and customer diversification are the largest movers.
Order the Strategic Snapshot to preview Brief 25 in full.
Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes December 2026
Deal Structures & Tax
Six briefs on how the headline price becomes a number on your closing-day wire.
A $10M headline deal typically nets $4.5M to $5.5M after working-capital pegs, escrows, earnouts, and taxes.
Illustrative bridge for an asset sale of a $10M headline deal in 2025. Working capital peg ~13% of headline; escrow / holdback typically 8% to 12%; earnout component 10% to 15%; combined federal + NC tax ~17% to 20% net of QSBS and basis. The number on your wire is rarely the number in the press release.Source: GF Data Q1 2025 working capital, IBBA Q4 2025 earnout share, NC tax tables
B/26Asset sale vs stock sale: the tax math that decides everything.The choice between asset and stock sale produces a 10% to 15% net-proceeds spread, every time.
Order the Strategic Snapshot to preview Brief 26 in full.
Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes October 2026
B/27Earnouts, seller financing, and equity rollovers: getting paid after you sell.Sellers averaged 76% to 89% cash at close in 2025. The second-bite-of-the-apple math.
Order the Strategic Snapshot to preview Brief 27 in full.
Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes November 2026
B/28QSBS Section 1202 and the $10M / $15M federal tax exclusion (with OBBBA 2025 updates).The OBBBA lifted the cap to $15M, gross-asset threshold to $75M, and created a tiered holding period.
Order the Strategic Snapshot to preview Brief 28 in full.
Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes December 2026
B/29Working capital pegs, escrows, holdbacks, and what reduces your "true" sale price.Headline price vs cash at close. The working-capital target methodology, the 12 to 18-month escrow.
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Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes January 2027
Pre-Exit Value Building
Three briefs on the ten levers that move multiples in the 24 months before going to market.
Recurring revenue and customer concentration carry the largest single-lever impact in 2025 deals.
Synthesized from sector-specific deal data. Multiple expansion ranges are the difference between worst-decile and best-decile posture on each lever, holding the others constant. Real businesses move several levers at once; the compounded effect is larger than the sum of the parts.Source: FOCUS July 2025, CT Acquisitions 2026, GF Data Q1 2025, KGOB practice data
B/30The 10 strategic value levers: financial, market, operational, team, customer.The ten levers we score in every Strategic Snapshot.
Order the Strategic Snapshot to preview Brief 30 in full.
Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes October 2026
B/31Recurring revenue: why subscription businesses sell at 2x to 3x higher multiples.A $4M EBITDA HVAC with 60% recurring trades at 8 to 9x. Same business with 20% recurring trades at 5 to 6x.
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Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes November 2026
B/32Customer concentration: the rule-of-thumb thresholds that cost millions.Any customer above 20% of revenue triggers buyer review. Above 30%, some buyers decline.
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Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes December 2026
M&A Market Conditions
Two briefs on the 2025 to 2026 lower middle-market deal environment.
The fundamentals of the 2025 market: deal volume, median pricing, time to close, and the engagement-failure rate.
Deal volume on the major small-business marketplace rose only 0.4% year-over-year while median price rose 2%; time to close lengthened to 170 days. Pepperdine's appraiser survey found 31% of valuation engagements ended without a transaction, with the valuation gap driving 26% of those failures.Source: Pepperdine PCM 2025, BizBuySell 2025 Year-End Insight Report, IBBA Market Pulse Q4 2025
B/33The 2025 to 2026 lower middle-market deal environment.9,586 transactions on BizBuySell in 2025. Median time to close 170 days. Pepperdine PCM: 31% of engagements ended without a transaction.
Order the Strategic Snapshot to preview Brief 33 in full.
Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes October 2026
B/34Private equity in the lower middle market: SBIC, search funds, ETA, family offices.Stanford GSB search-fund study; SBIC program data; UBS Global Family Office Report.
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Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes November 2026
Post-Exit
Three briefs on what comes after the wire arrives. The literature on regret is more sobering than most owners realize.
Three quarters of owners report profound regret within one year of exit. The three-legged stool says why.
EPI's 2023 survey found 75% of sellers experience profound regret within twelve months of exit and 60% had no formal personal plan for what comes next. The pattern resolves when owners optimize all three legs of the stool (business readiness, financial sufficiency, personal direction) rather than just the first.Source: EPI 2023 National State of Owner Readiness Report
B/35Life after the sale: identity, purpose, and the psychology of liquid wealth.75% of owners experience profound regret within one year. 60% had no formal personal plan for what comes next.
Order the Strategic Snapshot to preview Brief 35 in full.
Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes October 2026
B/36Family wealth: trusts, holding companies, and not blowing up your kids.SLATs, GRATs, IDGTs, DAPTs. The Williams Group finding: 70% of wealth transitions fail by the second generation.
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Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes November 2026
B/37The five-year regret: why about 75% of sellers wish they'd done it differently.The three-legged stool: business, personal, financial. Owners who optimize one leg only end up with regret.
Order the Strategic Snapshot to preview Brief 37 in full.
Order $995 →Full brief in editorial · publishes December 2026
Get the indicative valuation, signed by Sara.
Twenty-five sectors, ten levers, three priority moves, an indicative range, and a tax-efficiency review of your business. Delivered in seven business days, watermarked PDF, one signed CPA letter, one round of written Q&A.
$995 one-time · 14-day refund policy · indicative valuation, not a formal appraisal