Exit · Free tool

Exit Readiness Scorecard

Ten honest questions. Get a 0–100 readiness score, a breakdown by area, and the three things to fix before you take your franchise to market.

Financials

Your books are clean, current, and would survive a buyer's accountant.

Revenue and EBITDA have been stable or growing for the last 2 years.

Owner personal expenses are separated out and add-backs are documented.

Operations

Documented SOPs mean the unit runs without you in the building.

A trained manager is in place who would stay through a transfer.

Staff turnover is low and key roles are not single points of failure.

Contracts & assets

Your franchise agreement has meaningful runway left (or renews easily).

The lease is transferable, or the landlord is supportive of assignment.

Equipment and fit-out are in good condition — no deferred capex bomb.

Timing & demand

You understand your franchisor's transfer process and approval criteria.

What this calculates

Buyers discount uncertainty, and most of the uncertainty in a small franchise sale is created by the seller long before the sale. Ten questions about documentation, staffing, lease, agreement term, customer concentration and financial record quality produce a score out of 100 and, more usefully, a ranked list of the three weaknesses that will cost you most at the negotiating table.

What you will need

Honest answers. The score is only as good as the candour behind it. Overstating how well your systems are documented produces a flattering number and hides the work that would actually raise your price.

Your agreement and lease dates. Remaining term drives buyer confidence more than almost anything else, and it is the one factor you cannot fix quickly — which is why it is worth knowing early.

How to read the result

Read the three ranked weaknesses, not the score. Most of them are fixable in six to eighteen months, which is why running this well before you intend to sell is worth far more than running it once a buyer is at the table. Owner dependence and thin financial records are the two that most often cost real money, and both take time to remedy — you cannot document three years of clean accounts in a month.

Questions about this tool

When should I run this?

At least a year or two before you intend to sell, and then annually. The findings are mostly things that take time to fix, so discovering them during due diligence means accepting the discount instead of removing it.

Does a high score mean a high price?

It means fewer reasons for a buyer to discount. Price still depends on earnings, on the brand and on who is buying — readiness protects the price your earnings justify rather than raising it beyond them.

What usually costs sellers the most?

Owner dependence and poor records. A business that only works because the owner is in it every day, with accounts a buyer cannot verify, is the hardest kind to sell at a fair multiple.

For reference only; not legal, tax, or investment advice. Results depend entirely on the figures you enter — check them against your own quotes and your franchise agreement before acting on them.