A buyer made an offer. That number is not the number you keep.
A buyer checks eight things before they close. Everything they find comes off the price. Book a 20-minute call before you sign anything, and we will walk through the ones that usually cost the most.
We do not give legal advice on the call.
Where the money goes
A buyer waves a big number to get in the door. Then they go through your books, your trucks, and your paperwork. What they find is what they take back off the price.
Roughly one in three sale processes never close at all. On the ones that do, the findings usually cut the price 5 to 15 percent. Every $100,000 of profit you cannot prove can cost you several times that at closing, because buyers pay a multiple of what you can document. Dollar figures are illustrative and vary by sale.
Your regular lawyer is a good lawyer. They have just never sold a company like yours.
The attorney who set up your LLC and handled your lease is not the one you want across the table from a private equity buyer. This is the one deal that decides your retirement. It is worth getting right.
A generalist lawyer
- Shows up after the offer is signed
- Reacts to whatever the buyer asks for
- Takes the buyer’s first draft as written
- Hands you the file at closing and waves goodbye
CGL, a firm that only does this
- Gets the business ready 1 to 3 years early
- Finds the price killers before a buyer does
- Sends the first draft in your favor
- Stays with you through closing and after
Three things they are about to find
Every business has a few. None of them mean you did anything wrong, and all of them are fixable when you have runway. Your score tells you which ones are yours.
The one you can’t prove
Your business almost certainly earns more than the paperwork shows. If you can’t document it the way a buyer’s accountant needs to see it, you get paid on what you can prove.
Unproven profit is discounted profitThe one tied to you
The relationships, the know-how, the approvals and credentials that sit with the owner. A buyer pays less for a business that walks out the door on your last day.
Lowers the price, or stalls the dealThe one you put off
The agreements, filings and arrangements you have been meaning to tidy up. Small on a Tuesday. Leverage in a buyer’s hands once you are already at the table.
Cheap to fix early, costly lateThe 8 things a buyer checks first
Your Ready-to-Sell Score looks at the same 8 areas a buyer’s team digs into first. These are the ones that move your price, and the ones you can fix on your own clock if you start early.
How the Ready-to-Sell Score works
Answer 11 questions
Plain questions about your shop. No paperwork to dig up. About 3 minutes on your phone.
Get your score, 0 to 100
See exactly where you stand and which areas are out of line, with real dollar impact.
Our M&A team calls you
Someone from our M&A team calls within 24 hours to walk it through. No pitch. No pressure.
On your clock, not the buyer’s
If you want our help, we work through what your score flagged, one to three years before a buyer sees it. Cheap to fix now. Leverage in their hands later.
Real lawyers. They pick up the phone.
Not a call center. Not a junior associate. The partners of the firm.
Noam Cohen
Has closed hundreds of these sales. Talks in plain English about your trucks, your techs, and your license, not legal jargon.
Hannah Genton
Big-firm training, small-firm attention. Built CGL so owners get top counsel without the big-firm runaround or the big-firm bill.
Darren Kerstien
Closed deals of every shape at one of the country’s biggest firms. Has worked the buyer’s side of the table too, so he knows exactly how they think.
In their words
An owner who has been through it
“Working with the CGL team, I felt completely secure and in control during our company’s most complex undertaking to date. CGL understood that selling my business wasn’t just a transaction, but a pivotal moment for me and my family. Their sophisticated representation and clear guidance kept me confident and informed every step of the way.”
Jacob LaffenCo-Founder & CEO, Family Matters in-Home Care
Sell-side work
Owner-run businesses we have sold
A sample of transactions where the seller was an owner-operator and the buyer was usually private equity.
Past transactions, shown for experience only. Every sale is different and no particular result is promised.
Big-firm experience, without big-firm hourly rates
Our hourly rates run about 40% lower than big law, with partners who have closed hundreds of these sales.
Straight answers
Is the Ready-to-Sell Score really free?
Yes. Your score, your results, and the 20-minute call are all free, and your information stays private. If you want CGL’s help preparing for a sale, that is a separate conversation with clear, upfront pricing.
How long does the Ready-to-Sell Score take?
About 3 minutes. It is 11 multiple-choice questions and works on your phone.
What if I am already talking to a buyer?
Get your score today, before you sign anything. Once you sign a buyer’s offer letter, most of your bargaining power is gone.
What if I am not selling for years?
You are exactly who this is for. Owners who walk away with the most money start preparing 12 to 24 months out.
Why is a law firm giving this away?
Some owners who get their score will want CGL’s help fixing what it finds. That is the business model, no tricks.
Know what they will find, before they find it.
See where your business stands today, and what the market will really pay you when it is time.
The Ready-to-Sell Score