Business Value Review · Fixed fee · For owners of established businesses
Know what your business is worth to a buyer, a bank or an investor, before they tell you.
Most owners only find out what their business is worth when someone else values it. That might be a buyer making an offer, a bank reviewing a loan or an investor setting the terms of a deal. By then, the weak spots are already reflected in the price, the terms or the decision.
The Business Value Review shows you those weak spots first, while you still have time to fix them. It is a fixed-fee review of your business across the five CORES® pillars, plus the AI and data risks that buyers, banks and investors now ask about.
It is for owners of established businesses who are planning to sell in the next one to five years, preparing for investment or a new loan, or simply want to know where they stand.
CORES® is the framework from my book. The five pillars are Cash Flow, Operating Budgets, Records & Registers, Equity & Assets and Structure & Succession.
What the Review covers
Six areas, one written picture of where value is leaking.
Cash Flow
Your cash reserves, how much you rely on debt and overdrafts, and what a buyer would deduct for debt, since an offer price assumes the business comes without debt or spare cash.
Operating Budgets
Whether the business plans ahead, invests in itself and prices its work properly.
Records & Registers
Whether your records would stand up to a buyer's or a bank's due diligence, the inspection they run before money changes hands.
Equity & Assets
How much of your revenue depends on a few customers, which assets matter, and what a buyer is actually acquiring.
Structure & Succession
How much depends on you personally, which loans you have guaranteed yourself, and whether the business can run without you.
AI and data
Which AI tools the business uses, what data goes into them, and whether you can prove it is controlled.
What you receive
A report you can act on, and an hour to go through it.
- A written report setting out where your business stands in each area, in plain language.
- A value-risk score for each area, so you can see at a glance where value is leaking.
- A prioritised action plan: what to fix first, what it is likely to take, and why it matters to a buyer or a bank.
- A walkthrough call of up to 60 minutes to go through the findings and answer your questions.
How it works
Five steps, two to three weeks from your information to your report.
Scoping call (20 minutes, free)
We talk through your business and what you want from the Review, and I confirm whether it is the right fit.
Engagement letter and payment
I send a short engagement letter setting out the scope and fee. Work begins once it is signed and paid.
Information request
You share your recent annual accounts, your latest management figures and a few key documents securely, by email or through a shared folder I set up for you.
The Review
I analyse your business across all six areas. This takes two to three weeks from receiving your information.
Report and walkthrough
You receive the written report, followed by a walkthrough call.
Fee
One fixed fee, agreed before any work begins.
The Review is a fixed fee of €2,950, agreed before any work begins. There are no hourly charges and no surprises. Larger or more complex businesses are quoted at the scoping call, and that fee is fixed before any work begins too.
Founding clients. The first five Reviews are €1,950. The place is confirmed at the scoping call.
Add the AI and asset value review. If your software, data or AI are a large part of what a buyer would be acquiring, add the full AI and asset value review for €1,950 more. Booked on its own it is from €3,450.
What the Review is not
A diagnostic of value and risk, not an audit or a valuation.
The Review is a diagnostic of value and risk. It is not a statutory audit, a formal valuation for legal or tax purposes, tax advice, or a certification of any kind. Where your situation needs one of those, the report will say so.
Questions
Three things owners ask before they book.
Is my information kept confidential?
Yes. Your documents are used only for your Review. I never enter client names or client-identifying data into public AI tools.
Do I need to be planning a sale?
No. Many owners use the Review to understand where they stand, prepare for a bank review, or decide what to work on next year.
What size of business is it for?
Established owner-managed businesses in the UK, Ireland and the US, usually with a few years of trading history and annual accounts.
About me
Built on the CORES® framework from my book.
I'm Searon MacCaughey, the author of Boost Your Business Value, now published in Chinese. I am a chartered accountant who holds a computer science degree, and I've spent more than 25 years working with owner-managed businesses in accounting, AI and the ISO standards businesses are certified against. The Review is built on the CORES® framework from my book.
Start with a 20-minute scoping call.
It is free, and I will tell you honestly whether the Review is the right fit for your business.