Value Builder Workbook

The Value Builder Workbook

Score the 15 things buyers price. Find where the money is hiding. Build it back, one move at a time.

A companion to Stations 4 through 7 of Succession Secrets.

By Hunter J. Schneider

How to Use This Workbook

Your business has a price today. Every day, you can make it bigger.

The book teaches you how. This workbook is where you do it.

It follows four stations from the book:

Station in the book What you’ll do in this workbook
4. The Deal Study Write down what businesses like yours sell for
5. Valuation Monitoring Write down your number, and score yourself on the 15 factors buyers price
6. Valuation Maxing Roadmap Find your weakest drivers, price your moves, and pick your first three
7. Value Building Audit every department, run a 90-day sprint, and track your score every month

A few ground rules:

  • Write in it. Pencil is fine.
  • Be honest. A buyer will score you anyway. Better you find the weak spots first.
  • Don’t try to fix everything. Three good moves beat thirty half-done ones.
  • Come back every month to update your scorecard, and every 90 days to plan a new sprint.

The numbers in this workbook are for planning. Real values depend on your industry, your size, your buyer and the market at the time. Confirm anything involving tax, legal or accounting with your CPA and attorney.

My starting line

Today’s date: ____________

My company: ____________

My industry: ____________

Last year’s revenue: ____________

Part 1: Know the Market and Know Your Number

Before you build value, you need two things: what businesses like yours sell for, and what yours is worth today.

Step 1: Your deal study snapshot

Find three to five businesses like yours that have sold. Station 4 of the book shows where to look. Record what you can find.

Deal Industry Revenue Earnings Multiple paid Buyer type Deal structure (cash, note, earnout, rollover) Year
1
2
3
4
5

The highest multiple I found: ____________

The lowest multiple I found: ____________

What did the higher-priced deals have that the lower-priced ones didn’t?

Step 2: Your real earnings

Buyers don’t price your tax return. They price your real earnings, after add-backs.

Add-backs are expenses that run through your business but won’t continue under a new owner, like a one-time legal bill or personal expenses paid by the company.

Two common ways buyers measure earnings:

  • SDE (seller’s discretionary earnings): Profit plus the owner’s pay and perks. Often used for smaller, owner-run businesses.
  • EBITDA: Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, with a market-rate salary for the person running the business. Often used for larger businesses.
Line Amount
Net profit (from your P&L or tax return)
+ Owner’s salary (for SDE) or owner pay above market rate (for EBITDA)
+ Interest
+ Depreciation and amortization
+ Taxes (if applicable)
+ One-time expenses
+ Personal expenses run through the business
+ Other add-backs: ____________
= My real earnings

Have I reviewed these add-backs with my CPA?

Step 3: Your number today

Small businesses often trade at roughly 2 to 5 times SDE, or 3 to 7 times EBITDA. The range is wide, and it depends on your size, your industry and the 15 factors in Part 2. Use your deal study to narrow it.

My real earnings: ____________

The multiple range that fits my size and industry: ____________ to ____________

My value range today: ____________ to ____________

The number I’m writing down as my starting point: ____________

The number I want to sell for: ____________

The gap: ____________

That gap is what the rest of this workbook is for.

Do this today: Write your starting number on the inside cover of this workbook, with today’s date.

Part 2: Your Value Score

Two businesses with the same earnings can sell for very different prices. The difference is the multiple. And the multiple moves up or down based on how risky and how valuable a buyer thinks your business is.

These are the 15 questions buyers ask, grouped into five parts. They match the report card in Station 5 of the book.

Score yourself 1 to 5 on each one. Read “what good looks like” before you score. If you’re between two numbers, pick the lower one. Buyers will.

The People

Factor 1: How long can your business run without you?

What good looks like: You could leave for a month or more, and sales, service and profit would hold steady.

Score What it looks like
1 Things start going wrong within a day or two
2 It can run a few days without me
3 It can run about a week
4 It can run two to four weeks
5 It can run a month or longer, and it already has, without me

My score: ____________

Why I gave myself this score:

Factor 2: Who makes the big decisions?

What good looks like: Your managers make real decisions on spending, hiring, pricing and problems, within clear limits, without waiting for you.

Score What it looks like
1 I make every decision, big and small
2 Others make small decisions; I make everything else
3 Managers make some decisions but check with me often
4 Managers make most decisions; I handle the biggest ones
5 A leadership team makes decisions together; I set direction

My score: ____________

Why:

Factor 3: How long do your workers stay?

What good looks like: Most of your team has been with you for years, and you rarely lose good people.

Score What it looks like
1 We turn over most of the team every year
2 High turnover; few people stay past a year or two
3 Mixed; a solid core, with steady turnover around it
4 Most people stay several years
5 Long-tenured team; we almost never lose people we want to keep

My score: ____________

Why:

Industry and Competitors

Factor 4: How hard is it for someone new to copy you?

What good looks like: You have something competitors can’t easily match: a brand, contracts, licenses, location, know-how, relationships or a process that took years to build.

Score What it looks like
1 Anyone with a truck and a phone could compete tomorrow
2 A little harder to copy, but not much
3 It would take a competitor a year or two to catch up
4 We have advantages that would take years to match
5 We have advantages that are very hard or impossible to copy

My score: ____________

What makes us hard to copy:

Factor 5: Is your industry growing or shrinking?

What good looks like: Demand in your industry and your area is growing, and buyers are actively looking to get into it.

Score What it looks like
1 My industry is shrinking fast
2 My industry is slowly shrinking
3 Flat
4 Growing
5 Growing fast, and buyers are actively looking for businesses like mine

My score: ____________

What I see happening in my industry:

Factor 6: What happens if you raise your prices?

What good looks like: You can raise prices and most customers stay, because they value what you do more than what it costs.

Score What it looks like
1 Any price increase and customers leave for someone cheaper
2 We’d lose a lot of customers
3 We’d lose some customers
4 We’d lose a few, and make up for it in margin
5 Customers barely notice; we raise prices regularly

My score: ____________

When I last raised prices, and what happened:

Where Your Cash Comes From

Factor 7: How much of your sales comes from one big client?

What good looks like: No single customer is a big share of your sales, so losing one wouldn’t hurt the business badly.

Score What it looks like
1 One customer is a huge share of sales
2 One or two customers are a large share
3 A handful of customers make up a big chunk
4 Fairly spread out; our biggest customer is a small share
5 Very spread out; no customer matters much on their own

My biggest customer’s share of sales: ____________ %

My top five customers’ share of sales: ____________ %

My score: ____________

Factor 8: How much of your money comes in on its own every month?

What good looks like: A large share of your revenue is recurring: service agreements, memberships, retainers, subscriptions or contracts that renew.

Score What it looks like
1 None; every sale starts from zero
2 A little repeat business, but nothing under contract
3 Some recurring revenue or strong repeat customers
4 A meaningful share is under contract or membership
5 Most of our revenue is recurring and predictable

The share of my revenue that’s recurring: ____________ %

My score: ____________

Factor 9: Will customers stay if you sell and leave?

What good looks like: Customers are loyal to the company, its brand and its team, not to you personally.

Score What it looks like
1 Most customers buy from me personally and would likely leave
2 Many key customers are tied to me
3 Some are tied to me; most know the team
4 Most customers deal with the team, not me
5 Customers rarely deal with me at all

My score: ____________

Customers most tied to me personally:

How the Business Operates

Factor 10: Does every job have a written set of steps?

What good looks like: Every role has written steps, checklists or videos, so a new person can learn it and the work comes out the same every time.

Score What it looks like
1 Nothing is written down
2 A few things are written, but they’re out of date
3 Our main jobs are written down
4 Most jobs are written down and people use them
5 Every job is written, current, used and stored in one place

My score: ____________

Factor 11: What shape are your tools, equipment and software in?

What good looks like: Equipment is well maintained with records, vehicles and tools don’t need a big replacement soon, and your software is current and connected.

Score What it looks like
1 Old, unreliable, and a buyer would have to replace a lot
2 Getting old; big replacements are coming
3 Fine for now, with some upgrades needed
4 Good shape, with maintenance records
5 Excellent shape, modern software, documented maintenance

My score: ____________

Big replacements coming in the next three years:

Factor 12: Do you have a backup for your key suppliers, software or contractors?

What good looks like: If any one supplier, software tool or contractor disappeared tomorrow, you’d have a backup ready.

Score What it looks like
1 Several things would stop us cold if one vendor disappeared
2 A couple of single points of failure
3 One or two single points of failure
4 Backups for almost everything
5 A tested backup for every key supplier, tool and contractor

My score: ____________

My biggest single point of failure:

Factor 13: Are your records and taxes clean?

What good looks like: Books closed every month, financial statements prepared or reviewed by a CPA, taxes filed on time, and personal expenses kept separate.

Score What it looks like
1 Behind on books or taxes; personal and business mixed
2 Taxes filed, but books are messy
3 Books are mostly clean, closed a few times a year
4 Books closed monthly; clean tax returns
5 Monthly close, CPA-reviewed statements, three or more years of clean records

My score: ____________

Your Plans for Future Growth

Factor 14: Can you handle double the sales?

What good looks like: You have the space, systems, equipment and hiring plan to handle much more work without breaking.

Score What it looks like
1 We’re maxed out now
2 We could handle a little more
3 We could handle a lot more with major investment
4 We could handle a lot more with modest investment
5 We’re built for double, with a plan to get there

My score: ____________

Factor 15: Could your business work in another town?

What good looks like: Your model is proven and written down well enough that a buyer could open it in a new market.

Score What it looks like
1 It only works here, because of me
2 It might work elsewhere, but it’s untested
3 It could work elsewhere with a lot of effort
4 We’ve served other areas or have a clear plan to
5 We’ve already opened a second location or market successfully

My score: ____________

Your Value Score Summary

Copy your scores here.

Part Factor Score (1–5)
The people 1. Runs without you
2. Who decides
3. Team tenure
Industry and competitors 4. Hard to copy
5. Industry growth
6. Pricing power
Where your cash comes from 7. Customer concentration
8. Recurring revenue
9. Customers stay after you go
How the business operates 10. Written steps
11. Tools and equipment
12. Backups
13. Clean records
Future growth 14. Ready for double
15. Works in another town
Total (out of 75)

Score by part

Part Total Out of Average
The people 15
Industry and competitors 15
Where your cash comes from 15
How the business operates 20
Future growth 10

My strongest part: ____________

My weakest part: ____________

This is exactly what Valuexus tracks for you as you go, with every score tied to your live number. On paper, you’ll do it by hand each month in Part 7.

Do this today: Ask one manager you trust to score the business on the same 15 factors, without seeing your answers. Compare.

Part 3: Find Your Weakest Drivers

Here’s the secret from Station 6: the biggest money is usually hiding in your lowest score.

Why? A buyer prices risk. One serious weakness can drag down the whole multiple, even if everything else is strong. Fix that weakness, and the whole business gets re-priced.

Step 1: Rank your factors

List all 15 factors, lowest score first.

Rank Factor Score How much would a buyer worry about this? (Low / Medium / High)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

Step 2: Pick your bottom three

Not every low score is equal. Some are hard to change (your industry’s growth, for example). Others you can move in months (written steps, clean books, recurring revenue).

For each of your five lowest scores, ask: “How much would it matter to a buyer, and how fast can I move it?”

Factor Buyer worry (1–5) How fast I can move it (1 = years, 5 = weeks) Total

My three weakest drivers to work on first:

Step 3: Picture the fix

For each driver, describe what a “5” would look like in your business.

Driver 1: ____________

What a 5 looks like here:

Driver 2: ____________

What a 5 looks like here:

Driver 3: ____________

What a 5 looks like here:

Do this today: Circle your weakest driver. Tell one person on your team you’re going to fix it.

Part 4: Price Your Moves and Pick Your First Three

A value move is any action that raises what your business is worth. Every move pulls one of two levers.

Lever 1: Raise your earnings. More profit, times your multiple.

Lever 2: Raise your multiple. Less risk for a buyer, times your earnings.

Here’s a hypothetical example. Imagine a business with $500,000 in real earnings, valued at 4 times earnings. That’s $2,000,000.

  • If the owner adds $50,000 in earnings, at the same 4x, value goes up $200,000.
  • If the owner fixes a weak driver and a buyer will now pay 4.5x instead of 4x, value goes up $250,000, without adding a dollar of profit.
  • Do both, and the business is worth $550,000 × 4.5 = $2,475,000.

These numbers are for illustration only. Real multiples vary by industry, size and buyer, and no one can promise how much a single fix will move yours. But the math shows why Station 6 says the multiple lever is often the bigger one.

Step 1: Brainstorm moves

For each of your three weakest drivers, list every move you can think of. Don’t judge yet.

Driver 1: ____________

Possible moves:

Driver 2: ____________

Possible moves:

Driver 3: ____________

Possible moves:

Earnings moves (pricing, cost cuts, better mix, cleaning up add-backs):

Step 2: Put a dollar figure on each move

Use your own numbers from Part 1.

My real earnings (E): ____________

My multiple today (M): ____________

Move Lever (earnings or multiple) Expected change Value added (earnings change × M, or multiple change × E) Cost to do it Time to do it Difficulty (1–5)

These are estimates. Be conservative. If you’re unsure how much a fix would move your multiple, use a small change, like a quarter or half a turn (0.25x or 0.5x).

Step 3: Pick your first three

Choose the three moves with the most value added for the least time and cost. At least one should come from your weakest driver.

# My value move Driver or lever it improves Estimated value added Start date Done by
1
2
3

Total estimated value added by my first three moves: ____________

The one move I’ll start this week: ____________

Do this today: Write your first three moves on a card and put it on your desk.

Part 5: The Department-by-Department Value Audit

Buyers don’t just look at your numbers. They look at how each department runs. Station 7 is about building every department the way the next owner will want to find it.

For each department, check what’s in place. Then score the department 1 to 5 and write the one gap that would cost you the most in a sale.

Marketing

Boxes checked: ________ / 10

Department score (1–5): ____________

The biggest gap a buyer would notice:

One move to close it:

Which of the 15 factors this helps: ____________

Sales

Boxes checked: ________ / 10

Department score (1–5): ____________

The biggest gap a buyer would notice:

One move to close it:

Which of the 15 factors this helps: ____________

Operations

Boxes checked: ________ / 10

Department score (1–5): ____________

The biggest gap a buyer would notice:

One move to close it:

Which of the 15 factors this helps: ____________

Finance

Boxes checked: ________ / 10

Department score (1–5): ____________

The biggest gap a buyer would notice:

One move to close it:

Which of the 15 factors this helps: ____________

People

Boxes checked: ________ / 10

Department score (1–5): ____________

The biggest gap a buyer would notice:

One move to close it:

Which of the 15 factors this helps: ____________

(If you have The Succession Planning Workbook, use it to work on your leadership team, successors and handing off your own role. This audit covers the rest of your people systems.)

Boxes checked: ________ / 10

Department score (1–5): ____________

The biggest gap a buyer would notice:

One move to close it:

Which of the 15 factors this helps: ____________

Legal items vary by state and industry. Review this list with your attorney.

Department Audit Summary

Department Boxes checked (out of 10) Score (1–5) One move to close the biggest gap
Marketing
Sales
Operations
Finance
People
Legal

My weakest department: ____________

Does it connect to one of my three weakest drivers from Part 3?

Do this today: Take the “one move” from your weakest department and add it to your list of possible moves in Part 4.

Part 6: Your 90-Day Value Sprint

A plan only pays when you work it.

The 90-day sprint turns your first three moves into a quarter of steady, focused work. The rhythm from Station 7 is simple: ten minutes a day on one move. Watch your number. Keep going.

Sprint setup

Sprint start date: ____________

Sprint end date: ____________

My number at the start: ____________

My target number at the end: ____________

My three moves for this sprint:

# Move Who owns it What “done” looks like
1
2
3

My daily ten minutes are blocked on my calendar at: ____________

Break each move into steps

Move 1: ____________

Step Owner Due

Move 2: ____________

Step Owner Due

Move 3: ____________

Step Owner Due

The 13-week planner

Write the main focus for each week. Check it off when it’s done.

Week Dates Focus for the week Move # Done
1 [ ]
2 [ ]
3 [ ]
4 [ ]
5 [ ]
6 [ ]
7 [ ]
8 [ ]
9 [ ]
10 [ ]
11 [ ]
12 [ ]
13 [ ]

Weekly check-in

Ask these four questions every week. Five minutes.

  1. What did I finish this week?
  2. What got in the way?
  3. Did anything move my score on any of the 15 factors?
  4. What’s the one most important thing for next week?
Week Finished What got in the way Next week’s one thing
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

Proof as you go

Every win is something a buyer will want to see. File the proof as you finish each step: the new contract, the written process, the clean monthly statement. Station 7 calls this filing it in your Proof Room.

Date What I finished Proof (document, report, file) Where it’s saved

Sprint review (day 90)

My number at the start: ____________

My number now: ____________

Change: ____________

Move Finished? Factor it improved Score before Score after
1
2
3

What worked best:

What I’d do differently:

My three moves for the next sprint:

Do this today: Block ten minutes on your calendar for every workday of the next 90 days.

Part 7: Your Monthly Scorecard Tracker

What gets measured gets moved.

Once a month, re-score yourself on all 15 factors and write down your number. Over a year, you’ll see exactly which moves paid off and where the money is still hiding.

Pick a day each month and stick to it. The first Monday works well.

My monthly scorecard day: ____________

The 15-factor tracker

Write the month at the top of each column. Score each factor 1 to 5.

Factor Mo 1 Mo 2 Mo 3 Mo 4 Mo 5 Mo 6
Month
1. Runs without you
2. Who decides
3. Team tenure
4. Hard to copy
5. Industry growth
6. Pricing power
7. Customer concentration
8. Recurring revenue
9. Customers stay after you go
10. Written steps
11. Tools and equipment
12. Backups
13. Clean records
14. Ready for double
15. Works in another town
Total (out of 75)
Factor Mo 7 Mo 8 Mo 9 Mo 10 Mo 11 Mo 12
Month
1. Runs without you
2. Who decides
3. Team tenure
4. Hard to copy
5. Industry growth
6. Pricing power
7. Customer concentration
8. Recurring revenue
9. Customers stay after you go
10. Written steps
11. Tools and equipment
12. Backups
13. Clean records
14. Ready for double
15. Works in another town
Total (out of 75)

The money tracker

Month Revenue (trailing 12 months) Real earnings (trailing 12 months) Multiple I’m using My number Change from last month

The key-numbers tracker

These numbers feed several of the 15 factors. Track them monthly.

Month Recurring revenue % Biggest customer % of sales Gross margin % Employees who left this month Books closed by (date)

Monthly reflection

Use one line per month.

Month The decision that moved my number most this month (up or down)

Year in review

My number at the start of the year: ____________

My number at the end of the year: ____________

Change: ____________

My Value Score at the start: ________ / 75

My Value Score at the end: ________ / 75

The move that added the most value this year:

The factor I improved most:

The factor that still needs the most work:

My target number for next year: ____________

Keep Building

Here’s what you just did.

You found what businesses like yours sell for. You wrote down your number. You scored yourself the way a buyer will. You found where the money is hiding, priced your moves, and picked your first three. You audited every department, planned a 90-day sprint, and set up a tracker to watch your number climb.

Most owners never do any of this. They find out what their business is worth once, on the day they try to sell it.

You’ll know your number every month. You’ll know what moves it. And when a buyer calls, you’ll be ready.

Keep going until the number is where you want it.

— Hunter

My notes