Fact Finder

In order to match the best exit strategy to your specific needs, please fill out this Fact Finder form. It will give us a great place to start once we meet.

    Owner Information

    First Name: Middle Name/Initial: Last Name:

    Email Address (required) :

    Mailing Address

    Street: City: State: Postal Code:

    Age:

    Gender:

    Marital Status:

    Company Information

    Company Name:

    Describe the company's industry or operations:

    Type of Entity:

    Your company is organized under the laws of which state:

    Year in which your company was created or began operations:

    If different than the year above, in what year did you first quire ownership?:

    Involvement In Business

    Average time that you spend working for the company (choose one):

    hours per day hours per week weeks per month

    Ownership

    Do you own 100% of the company, either individually or with your spouse/partner?

    If you answered "No", what percentage of the company do you own (include your spouse or partner if they are an owner):%

    Key Employees

    Number of company employees:

    Does your company have key employees?

    A "key employee" is defined as a person who contributes significant value to your company, cannot be replaced easily, and whose combination of skills, experience, and personality makes him or her uniquely suited to bring value to your company. A key employee is someone who, if he or she left the company, the company's value would suffer for a time period. If an employee is good at his or her job, but could be replaced with someone else given a reasonable training period, he or she may not be a key employee. If an employee is in a position for which there are many candidates available when the position comes open (e.g., internal bookkeeper, office manager, some sales representatives, etc.), he or she may not be a key employee.

    Please provide the following information for each Key Employee:

    Key Employee #1

    Name:

    Job Title:

    Enter the key employee's hire date:

    Key Employee #2

    Name:

    Job Title:

    Enter the key employee's hire date:

    Key Employee #3

    Name:

    Job Title:

    Enter the key employee's hire date:

    Key Employee #4

    Name:

    Job Title:

    Enter the key employee's hire date:

    Key Employee #5

    Name:

    Job Title:

    Enter the key employee's hire date:

    Key Employee #6

    Name:

    Job Title:

    Enter the key employee's hire date:

    Key Employee #7

    Name:

    Job Title:

    Enter the key employee's hire date:

    Key Employee #8

    Name:

    Job Title:

    Enter the key employee's hire date:

    Successor Owner

    Have you identified a successor owner at this time?

    Identify Successor Owner

    (If successor has been selected)

    You wish to transfer the business to (select one):

    Successor owner's name(s):

    Target Departure Date

    How much of your ownership interest do you want to transfer?

    If you answered "some" to the above, what % of ownership interest do you want to retain in the company after the completion of your planned transfer?

    Amount:

    % Range:

    What is the date on which you would like to start the transfer of ownership?

    What is the date on which you would like to complete the transfer of ownership?

    Is it your intention to work for the company indefinitely?

    If you answered "yes" to the above, do you want the ability to leave the company for extended periods of time?

    What is the date on which you wish to begin your departure from the company?

    What is the date on which you wish to complete you departure from the company?

    Company Real Estate

    Is the business real estate located:

    Real Property Ownership

    (If single location)

    Describe the ownership of real property on which the business operates (select one).

    If you share ownership with another individual or entity, indicate the name(s) of the other owner(s) and types of ownership by completing the following sentence:

    "The property on which the business operates is owned by you and..."

    If you selected "other" above, please complete the following sentence:

    "The business real estate is owned by an entity, which is owned:

    If leased, what year does the current leas term expire?

    Company Real Estate

    (For multiple business locations)

    Please list addresses and ownership type (leased, owner-owned, entity-owned, company-owned, other):

    Company Plans

    Does your company have any benefit plans, profit sharing plans, bonus plans, or any other plans in place (such as cash bonus plans, retirement plans, stock ownership plans, NQDC, etc.)?

    Employee Benefit Plans

    If there are any in place

    Type of Plan (Please Describe)

    Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation

    Informal (Discretionary) Cash Bonus

    Formal Cash Bonus Plan

    Stock Appreciation Rights Plan

    Phantom Stock Plan

    Stock Option Plan

    Stock Bonus Plan

    Company Vehicle

    401(k)

    Pension Plan

    Other Retirement Plan

    Group Life Insurance

    Group Disability Insurance

    Other

    Gap Analysis

    Do you want to include a Gap Analysis in this Value Driver Report?

    The "Gap Analysis" represents the results of preliminary estimates of the current value of the business, the target-value of the business the owner is trying to achieve and the difference betwee nthe two (i.e., the "gap").

    Current Business Value

    Current esitmated value of 100% of the business? $

    Target Business Value

    Target value of 100% of the business? $

    Number of years to achieve target business value: years.

    Annual required growth rate for business value to meet target value objective:

    % per year (relative to each previous year)

    $ per year

    Gap Analysis Worksheet


    Provide the following information to support the estimates of current and target business value.

    Method of determining current business value:

    Method of determining projected total personal financial needs:

    Method of determining non-business asset/investment value(expected at time of sale of business):

    Contingency Planning


    If you are unable to work due to illness or injury:

    Documentation


    Has the Company paid for or supported any of your family members (who are not Company employees) travel or use of Company-owned vehicles?

    You can produce written documents related to (check all that apply):

    Operations


    Significant aspects of your business operations include (check all that apply):

    Your facilities and the organization of your physical operating space:

    Competition


    Can you identify all of your direct and indirect competitors?

    Your competitors:

    Employees


    Can you think of more than one incident during the past 12 months in which an employee made an error that cost the Company significant money?

    Has any employee error occurred more than once during hte past 12 months (even if the error was made by different employees)?

    Customers


    Does any single customer represent more than 5% of the Company's sales during the past 12 months?

    Would a downturn in any single industry negatively impact a broad cross-section of your customers?

    Are any of your customers currently buying product/services that you sell from other sources (your competitors)?

    How often do you approach existing customers to remind or inform them of additional products or services that you offer?

    Capacity


    The Company has excess capacity in the form of (check all that apply):

    If you sales team could bring in additional sales, how difficult would it be to expand operations to meet the increased demand?

    Premium Products


    Do you offer any high-end or premium products or services?

    Have you been disappointed by sales results for your most valuable product or service offerings?

    Acquisition Opportunities


    Are you aware of any competing or complimentary businesses that are (formally or informally) available for sale?

    If you became aware of a valuable opportunity to acquire a competing or complimentary business that would add significant value to your existing business, are you in a position to make a financial commitment involving either a lump sum payment or payments over time?

    Defining Success


    You will consider your business "successful" (check all that apply)

    If asked, would a significant majority of your employees be able to describe accurately the long-term goals of the Company?

    Can most or all of your employees accurately describe what the Company does?

    Can most or all of your employees accurately describe the Company's unique competitive advantage?

    Customer Feedback


    Customer complaints are addressed (check all that apply):

    Customer suggestions and requests for new products, features or services are (check all that apply):

    Vendors/Suppliers


    Describe the vendors or suppliers who are essential to your ability to provide your most important products or services:

    If one of your primary vendors or suppliers unexpectedly raised its prices, changed its payment requirements, changed its quality standards, or stopped offering the products or services you need, would the Company experience a short-term or long-term negative impact?

    Company Activities


    Do you have an organizational chart for the company?

    The sequence of activities, actions, and responsibilities that must occur within the Company in order to generate revenue:

    If a customer asks the same question of two different employees within the Company:

    Do all front-line employees who interact with customers or prospective customers have written scripts to guide them through the most common conversations or questions?

    How often do you find yourself participating in the activities or responsibilities of an employee you hired to perform that particular task?

    Supervision


    What percentage of your time do you spend responding to customer complaints, following up on employee activities, putting out fires, completing administrative tasks, and/or participating in the close of a sale?

    Do you suspect or know that one or more of your employees is not as productive as he or she should be?

    Employee Motivation


    Does each employee have clear incentives to be as productive as possible and know consequences for a lack of productivity?

    Employee Responsibilities


    Can every employee of the Company accurately describe how he or she can positively or negative impact the success of the business?

    Do you have any employees who play a purely supportive role and do not participate directly or indirectly in the success of the Company?

    Training of new employees is (check all that apply)

    Did every employee hired by the Company in the past 12 months receive the same orientation, training, and observation as every other employee hired for the same position because written training materials and schedules are in place?

    Financial Management


    How often do you review the current status of the Company's key financial indicators?

    You use Company financial information to (check all that apply):

    Does the Company currently or frequently carry what you consider to be a significant debt obligation?

    Do Company debt obligations tie up cash flow that could be used for a more beneficial purpose?

    Your regular, consistent budgeting activities include (check all that apply):

    Investment Opportunity


    If you become aware of a valuable business opportunity that will require a significant financial investment by the Company 12 to 18 months in the future, what is your ability to accurately forecast the Company's potential to make that investment?

    Sales Effectiveness


    Do you know what proportions of your products and services are being purchased by each of your top 20 customers by volume?

    Can you identify the types of customers or the market segments that are most successful for the Company and/or present the greatest potential opportunity for the Company?

    Industry Comparison


    Can you describe the aspects of your business that are considerably stronger than the characteristics of your industry competitors?

    How often do you receive and analyze information and updates related to the performance of companies across your industry?

    Sales Management


    Can you identify an drank your top 5 sales activities in terms of revenue generation?

    Do you communicate with your sales personnel and base their compensation (at least in part) on specific activity level expectations and the resulting sales expectations?

    Do you currently monitor and report on the percentage of your customers who return to buy your products or services within a 12 month period?

    Do any employees have responsibility for retaining customers and a compensation structure that encourages them to successfully retain those customers?