Brad Ruth, Ohio Business Advisor

05/29/2026

Divorce-driven business sales are emotionally charged, time-sensitive, and often a nightmare for buyers.

Here's the problem: if both spouses own the business 50/50 and one wants to sell while the other doesn't, you've got a stalemate. One spouse holds out for a higher number, the deal stalls, and buyers run for the hills because fighting owners is a major red flag.

Then there's the valuation mess. Attorneys scrutinize every discretionary expense. That $50K in season tickets you claimed as "client entertainment"? Suddenly it's personal use, and your valuation drops by $250K at a 5x multiple.

The solution: strong systems, a management team that doesn't depend on you, and clear documentation of what's business versus personal.

If you're facing a major life change, get your business house in order before the lawyers get involved.

05/29/2026

No written contracts with your customers? That doesn't automatically kill your deal.

I see this all the time in HVAC, plumbing, and restoration work. Buyers get nervous about it, but here's what actually matters: how predictable and recurring is your revenue?

A service company with strong Google reviews, loyal repeat customers, and documented service contracts (especially in commercial) can offset the lack of signed agreements. The real concern isn't the missing paperwork—it's whether your customers are loyal to you or loyal to your company.

That distinction is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars at sale time.

What's your biggest concern when it comes to selling your service business?

05/27/2026

Most sellers wait until a buyer asks for documents to start organizing them.

That's backwards.

Here's what I do: I recommend early due diligence before we even go to market.

Why? Because it gives us time to fix problems before a buyer sees them.

We pull the financials. We analyze the contracts. We look at customer concentration. We check for legal issues. We identify aging equipment.

Then we fix what we can. We explain what we can't. We build a narrative around the rest.

By the time a real buyer comes in, there are no surprises. No red flags. No deal killers hiding in the files.

This approach closes deals faster and at higher valuations.

Start your due diligence now. Don't wait for a buyer to force your hand.

What's one area of your business you're worried a buyer might find during due diligence?

05/26/2026

I had a restaurant owner who built an incredible business. Great food. Loyal customers. Solid margins.

But it was completely dependent on him.

He was in the kitchen every day. He managed the staff. He handled customer complaints. He was the business.

When we looked at selling it, the valuation was half what he expected.

Why? Because a buyer was buying a job, not a business.

A scalable business runs without you. It has systems. It has a team that can execute without the owner's daily involvement. It can grow beyond what one person can do.

That's what buyers pay for. Not your hard work. Not your sacrifice. Your ability to step away.

If your business can't survive without you, it's not worth what you think it is.

Start building systems now. Delegate. Document processes. Train your team. Make yourself optional.

That's when your business becomes truly valuable.

Send a message to learn more

05/21/2026

Enterprise Value vs. What You Think

You think your business is worth $2 million.

Your broker says it's worth $1.2 million.

Who's right?

You are. And you're also wrong.

Here's the difference: what you think your business is worth is based on emotion, sweat equity, and years of sacrifice. That's real. That's valuable to you.

Enterprise value is what a buyer will actually pay. It's based on cash flow, growth trajectory, market conditions, buyer competition, and risk.

These are two completely different numbers.

Most sellers get stuck here. They can't reconcile the gap between what they think they deserve and what the market will pay.

The gap usually comes down to three things:

Your business isn't as scalable as you think. It depends too much on you.

Your financials don't support the valuation. Your EBITDA is lower than you believe.

The market for your type of business is softer than you expected.

The sooner you understand the difference between what you think your business is worth and what it's actually worth, the sooner you can make a real exit plan.

What's the biggest gap between your valuation and what you think the market will pay?

Send a message to learn more

05/19/2026

Your accountant is holding up your deal.

Not intentionally. They're just slammed during tax season.

You ask for updated P&Ls and balance sheets. They say "next week." Next week becomes next month. Your buyer gets impatient. Your deal momentum dies.

Accountants and attorneys are the two biggest deal killers in M&A. Not because they're bad at their jobs. Because they're too good at their jobs and everyone wants them at the same time.

Here's what I tell sellers: Get your accountant involved early. Not when you're ready to sell. When you're thinking about selling.

Give them a heads up. Let them know what's coming. Build the documents before you need them.

Your accountant will thank you. Your buyer will thank you. Your deal will close on time.

05/18/2026

When contracts aren't transferable, most buyers want a stock sale.

But here's the problem: stock sales leave the seller exposed to old liabilities.

With a stock sale, the buyer inherits the contracts as-is. No renegotiation needed. But they also inherit all the past service work, product liability, and legal issues from the company's history.

That's why most buyers won't do a stock sale without serious due diligence. They want to know there are no hidden defects, no past lawsuits, no product liability time bombs waiting to explode.

If the due diligence is clean, a stock sale protects both sides. If there are concerns, the buyer will do an asset sale instead, assume the DBA, and start fresh with a new S-corp.

The key is transparency. If your company's history is clean, a stock sale is faster and cleaner. If there are skeletons, you'll need to address them before any buyer will touch it.

What's your biggest concern about transferring your contracts to a new owner?

05/15/2026

If you can't explain why your revenue jumped or dropped month-to-month, you have a problem.

Not a small one. A big one.

Here's what that tells a buyer:

- Weak financial controls
- Customer concentration risk
- Seasonality you haven't planned for
- Potential earnings manipulation

Translation: Your multiple drops. Your deal risk rises. Your valuation takes a hit.

When I see this, I don't take the business to market. Not yet.

Instead, we do a revenue diagnostic. We break it down by customer, by project, by service line, by geography. We look for seasonality, pricing changes, lost accounts, staffing issues, supply chain delays.

In trades and restaurants, it's usually weather-driven seasonality or project-based work. In manufacturing, it's often customer concentration.

Once we identify the root cause, we recast the financials. We normalize them. We build a narrative for the buyer that explains the swings away.

Then we go to market.

If we can't explain it and fix it, I probably won't take it to market at all.

Do you know exactly why your revenue moves the way it does?

Send a message to learn more

05/14/2026

How do you know if your management team can run the business without you?

Ask yourself one question: Can I take a two-week vacation and be relatively stress-free?

That's it.

If you've taken a two-week vacation and it was a disaster, your team isn't ready. If you came back to a thriving business, they are.

Most owners already know the answer. They've lived it.

This isn't something I test before taking a business to market. You already know who you can trust and who you can't. You know which managers can handle decisions and which ones need your approval on everything.

The buyers will figure it out too. And if your team can't run the business without you, your valuation suffers.

Build a team that makes you optional. That's when your business becomes truly valuable.

05/14/2026

Big congratulations to Alex and Katie Gonzalez on the purchase of A Better Truck Cap and Hitch!

Starting the journey into business ownership is an exciting milestone, and we are thrilled to see you take this next step into entrepreneurship. Your hard work, vision, and commitment have led you to this moment, and we are confident there are great things ahead for you both.

Wishing you continued success as you begin this new chapter and build upon the strong foundation of A Better Truck Cap and Hitch. Welcome to the world of entrepreneurship!

It was an honor to be part of this transaction and help make this opportunity a reality.