The Evisceration Process — How to Know What Your Business Is Really Worth Before a Buyer Tells You

Most businesses never sell. The ones that do are almost always undervalued — not because the business wasn't good enough, but because the owner never built it to be bought.Brett Banchek started Fenwick Partners after trying to buy a business and realizing the same thing every serious buyer eventually realizes: the gap between what a business is worth and what it sells for isn't a negotiation problem. It's a structural problem. Revenue too concentrated in one customer. A key salesperson holding half the relationships. An owner whose institutional knowledge lives nowhere but their own head. These aren't fatal flaws — they're fixable. But only if you start early enough, and only if you're willing to go through what Brett calls the evisceration process first.This conversation covers what buyers are actually looking at, why culture is one of the most underrated valuation drivers in a small business, and why the "just go to the beach for six months and see what happens" approach to key man risk almost always ends badly.If this is the conversation you've been needing to have, start here. thinkvoen.comFenwick Partners resources:Assessment — https://exit.fenwickpartners.co/Contact Brett BanchekLinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/brettbanchek/https://www.fenwickpartners.co/#heroMore on what buyers are actually looking for — and how to start building toward it — on Substack. TOPIC AND GUEST SUGGESTIONS:Submit hereThis episode was produced by Cat Fincun and VOEN Consulting. It was edited by Angelina Gurrola.