Many entrepreneurs think of one question above all else when getting ready to sell: how can I still increase my profits? Logical, because EBITDA and growth play an important role in valuation.
In practice, however, I see that not growth, but portability often makes the difference between a good deal and an arduous journey.
A real-life story. A DGA with a profitable business, stable customers and nice numbers. Attractive on paper. Yet a potential buyer dropped out at an early stage. Not because of the price, but because of one observation: 'If you're not there tomorrow, the business will shut down.'
Dependency is silent value driver
Many businesses have been successful for years because of the entrepreneur himself. Relationships, decisions, offers and sometimes even execution go through one person. That feels efficient, but in sales it backfires.
For buyers, this is an immediate risk:
- Who maintains key customer relationships?
- Who manages the team?
- Who makes commercial decisions?
The greater that dependency, the higher the risk. And risk almost always translates into:
- lower valuation,
- additional terms (earn-out),
- Or a longer and more complex sales process.
Portability is malleable
The good news: portability is not an accident, but something you can work on in a focused way. In successful sales processes, I often see the same three steps recurring.
1. Make management and decision-making explicit
Is it clear who is responsible for what? Or do decisions run informally through the DGA? Buyers want to see structure: functions, roles and mandates that function even without the entrepreneur.
2. Broaden customer relationships
If the top five customers interact exclusively with the owner, that's a red flag. By actively running relationships through account managers or MT members, the company becomes less person-dependent and therefore more attractive.
3. Capture processes (without bureaucracy).
It's not about thick manuals, it's about insight. How are quotations made? How is quality monitored? How are new employees trained? Fixed processes ensure predictability - and that is exactly what buyers are looking for.
Why it also pays off financially
Entrepreneurs sometimes ask, "But does this really pay off more? The answer is yes, but not always immediately visible in profits.
Businesses that are transferable:
- Get multiple interested buyers more often,
- Have more room to negotiate,
- And have less pricing pressure in later stages of the journey.
In other words, portability not only increases marketability, but also deal quality.
Start earlier than you think
Sales readiness is not a final step, but a process that ideally starts several years before an intended sale. Not because you want to sell tomorrow, but because it increases your options. And options mean direction.
For entrepreneurs thinking about their next phase, therefore, a simple test applies: Could my business run tomorrow without me?The answer to that question often says more about ultimate value than the latest profit figure.
