The $50M Company That Almost Couldn’t Be Sold | Robert E. Jones

A $50 million company with 600 employees almost fell out of its own sale. Not because of revenue, but because every decision still ran through two people.Most owners think exit planning starts when they call an M&A advisor. In this episode of GovCon Unscripted, host Chelsea Roberts talks with Robert E. Jones, CPA and Principal Advisor at Corvata, who has spent 20+ years in government contracting, and says that by then the value of the business is already fixed. The real work happens two to five years earlier, left of the transaction, where structure, discipline, and decision flow still can be changed. In this conversation, Robert breaks down his Enterprise Readiness Operating Model, the seven decision failure modes that stall companies, why owner-dependency scares off buyers, and how tightening operations can move an EBITDA multiple from the low end of a 6 to 9x range to the high end. He also shows how tools most contractors already pay for can cut a 12-hour payroll run to two or three hours. Timestamps:00:00 Does anyone actually plan the exit?01:00 “You will exit your business”: on your terms or not02:00 Left of the transaction: where value is still changeable03:00 The Enterprise Readiness Operating Model (structure, discipline, decision flow)06:00 The seven decision failure modes11:00 Due diligence: documents that “magically appear”13:00 The $50M company that almost couldn’t be sold20:00 Policy vs procedure vs work instructions21:00 Getting off paper: SharePoint, Planner, and the tools you already own25:00 Value growth: profitability, the multiplier, and the multiple29:00 The 10-year math: working backward from the day you want out33:00 The three kinds of optionality this work buys youResources:Follow Robert E. JonesFollow Chelsea RobertsOther resources:Corvata's WebsiteSchedule a consultation 🎧 Listen now on:🔹 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/govcon-unscripted/id1766384482🔹 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NL0kFAvmgECLTJpUZYNHy Like and follow us:🔹 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GovConUnscriptedUS🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/govconunscriptedpodcast/🔹 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/govcon-unscripted/posts/🔹 JOIN OUR #govcon #community: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14618490/#govconunscripted #exitplanning #federalcontracting #enterprisereadiness #govcon