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1 · Owner Dependence · weighs heaviest
If you disappeared for 30 days, what happens?
2 · Financial Records
Do your tax returns support the earnings you'd claim to a buyer?
3 · Recurring Revenue
How much of next year's revenue is already predictable?
4 · Customer Concentration
Your largest customer is what share of revenue?
5 · Revenue Trend
Last three years, revenue has been…
6 · Team Depth
Is there a manager or key employee who could run day-to-day?
7 · Lease & Location
Where does your lease stand for a buyer?
8 · Transition Readiness
Could you commit to a 3–12 month transition with the buyer?
Every week we talk to NJ owners who ask "what's my business worth?" The honest answer: it depends less on your revenue than on how transferable that revenue is. Two businesses with identical $400K owner earnings can sell a full turn of SDE apart — $200K–$600K of price difference — because one survives buyer diligence and bank underwriting cleanly and the other doesn't.
A sellability score is a pre-listing diagnostic of that transferability. It looks at your business the way the three gatekeepers of every closed deal look at it: the buyer (will this income keep showing up after the owner leaves?), the SBA lender (do the tax returns support the debt service?), and the landlord (does the location transfer?). If all three say yes, you have a sellable business. Where one says no, you have your to-do list.
The first question every serious buyer asks: "what happens when you leave?" If the customer relationships, the estimates, the licenses, and the daily decisions all live in your head, the buyer isn't purchasing a business — they're purchasing a job with a down payment. Document processes, push decisions to a lead employee, and take a real vacation before you list. Buyers notice businesses that ran while the owner was in Florida.
The single biggest multiple-killer in NJ deals. Unreported cash helps you in April and destroys you at the closing table: a buyer can only finance — and a lender can only underwrite — earnings that appear on tax returns. If your returns understate true earnings, the discount you took on taxes gets paid back at 2.5–4× when you sell. Clean books for two full tax years before listing is the highest-ROI move in this entire list.
Maintenance contracts, service agreements, retainers, route territories — anything that makes next year's revenue predictable moves your multiple. HVAC companies with 1,500+ maintenance agreements and laundromats with card-system data sell at premiums for the same reason: the income is provable and repeatable.
One customer over 20% of revenue is a diligence flag; over 35% is a re-trade waiting to happen, and often an earnout demand. Diversify before listing if you can; if you can't, expect structure (earnout or holdback) rather than a lower headline price.
Buyers buy the future and lenders underwrite the past. Three years of steady or growing revenue is the story both want. A down year isn't fatal — but it needs a clean explanation and a recovery on the books before you go to market.
A capable manager who'll stay post-sale is worth real money — they de-risk the transition and widen your buyer pool to include semi-absentee buyers, who often pay more. Key-employee retention (stay bonuses, early conversations handled confidentially) is part of exit planning, not an afterthought.
For location-dependent businesses — restaurants, laundromats, retail, gyms — the lease IS the business. SBA lenders want lease term (including options) to match or exceed the loan term, typically 10 years. A month-to-month lease can make an otherwise excellent business unfinanceable. Negotiate assignability and options before the landlord knows you're selling.
Sellers who can offer real transition support — 3 to 12 months depending on deal size and complexity — close at better prices with fewer contingencies. Healthcare and license-dependent businesses (pharmacy, liquor, auto body DRP) need the longest runways. "I need to be gone in 30 days" shrinks your buyer pool to cash buyers, who price accordingly.
| Score | What it means | Typical path |
|---|---|---|
| 80–100 | Market ready — premium buyer pool | List with confidence; multiple at the top of your industry range; SBA-financeable; semi-absentee buyers in play |
| 60–79 | Sellable now, with positioning | List after broker-led packaging; fix the 1–2 weak factors during marketing; solid multiple |
| 40–59 | Conditionally sellable | 6–12 months of targeted prep typically adds more to price than a year of profits; sellable today only at a discount |
| Under 40 | Not yet — but fixable | Exit-plan now, list later; most sub-40 businesses are 12–24 months from a real exit with the right priorities |
Directional diagnostic, not an appraisal. Your real range comes from your financials, your industry's current buyer pool, and comparable closed deals — that's what the free valuation below is for.
What is a business sellability score?
A structured rating of how attractive your business is to buyers and lenders before you list. It measures the factors that determine whether a deal closes and at what multiple: owner dependence, financial records, recurring revenue, customer concentration, revenue trend, team depth, lease security, and transition readiness. A low score doesn't mean you can't sell — it tells you exactly what to fix first.
What makes a business sellable in NJ?
Clean books a lender can underwrite, a business that runs without the owner doing everything, revenue that repeats, no single customer over 15–20% of revenue, a transferable lease, and a seller who can support a transition. Because most NJ Main Street deals under $5M are SBA 7(a) financed, the bank's checklist is effectively part of your buyer pool.
How accurate is a self-assessed score?
It's a directional diagnostic — accurate at identifying which deal-killing factors will surface in diligence, not at pricing your business. The market test is a broker-led valuation using your real financials and comparable closed transactions. Use the score to find weak spots; use the free valuation to get your number.
How do I improve my score before listing?
In payback order: clean up the books so returns support your earnings claim; reduce owner dependence with documented processes and a real second-in-command; lock a transferable 5+ year lease; diversify any customer over 20%; convert one-time work to contracts where your industry allows. Most owners can move their score meaningfully in 6–12 months.
Does a higher score mean a higher multiple?
Yes — these are the same levers that move multiples. In NJ Main Street deals, clean books + low owner dependence + recurring revenue routinely prices 0.5–1.5× SDE higher than the same revenue without them. On $400K of SDE that's $200K–$600K of sale price. High-score businesses also close faster and get re-traded less.
No obligation. No upfront fee. A real valuation range from a working NJ broker within 1 business day.