Most business owners we approach aren’t ready to sell, and that’s completely normal. But something interesting has happened over the past year… Many of those same owners later came back to us not to sell to us but to get structured sell-side support to maximise their valuation and create a competitive buyer environment. So we formalised a Sell-Side Advisory Program designed for founders who want to: ✔ Control the process ✔ Position their business for a premium valuation ✔ Attract strategic (not just financial) buyers ✔ Create competition to drive offers up ✔ Achieve a strategic exit — not a transactional one And we’ve backed it with a performance guarantee: 👉 5 qualified offers within 12 months — or we continue working free. Recent outcomes: Construction firm — 5 offers, 28% above broker appraisal Marketing agency — 5 offers in 10 weeks, sold to UK PE Engineering services — exit in 8 months, 80% cash at completion If you’re thinking about valuation, timing, or positioning even 12–24 months out — I’m happy to share a snapshot of how the process works. Just comment “Checklist” and I’ll send you the 10-point Exit Readiness Checklist. 📘 My book “Built to Sell Well” covers how to prepare early so you exit on your terms: https://mybook.to/builttosellwell

Wishing you all a calm, focused, and productive start to the week. I’ve been working on improving the online side of my business mainly tightening my product presentation, testing new layouts, and making the customer journey smoother. Little adjustments, but they’re already making a difference. If anyone else is building something online this week, I’d love to connect or learn what you’re focusing on too. Here’s to growth and steady wins 🚀

We started sending out 25 letters a day 2 weeks ago, and bumped it to 50/day last week. No responses yet. No followup has been done yet. After 1 month what is the typical number of responses to personalized, handwritten style direct mail to the owner? Does it take multiple repeat mailings and other followups to the same list to get them to finally reach out?

A tiny tweak that took my off-market reply rate from less than 1% to ~10% I was getting terrible reply rates on off-market outreach -- around 1% on a good week. Instead of rewriting long emails, I tried a small change that worked way better than expected: 1. 3-line message 2. 2 gentle follow-ups 3. Focused only on starting a conversation, not closing anything 4. One personal detail That alone pushed replies to ~10%. It’s nothing fancy, but tightening the message + adding a real detail about the owner’s business made a huge difference! If you are curious how this applies to your niche, DM me

PE firms aren’t smarter than you. They just use a playbook most founders never bother to look at. That’s how they turn a $10M company into a $40–50M exit in a few years… while most owners grind year after year for modest growth. After 15 years in PE, here’s the real game: 1. Smart Use of Debt Let’s start with the one founders avoid. PE uses leverage strategically, not recklessly, to amplify growth without giving away equity. Most owners treat debt like a monster under the bed. For PE, it’s simply fuel. 2. Better Margins Before chasing revenue, they fix what’s already there. Tighten ops. Kill waste. Adjust pricing. Even a tiny margin lift on an 8 figure business adds real enterprise value fast. 3. Value Expansion (aka Higher Multiples) Same business but higher exit multiple. How? Improve systems, strengthen leadership, derisk the model. Buyers pay more for a business that feels stable and scalable. 4. Strategic Acquisitions Where the real fireworks happen. Instead of waiting for slow organic growth, PE buys complementary companies and builds a group. That’s how you jump from “nice business” to “dominant platform.” 5. Predictable Revenue Growth Not random spikes: structured, repeatable, system led growth. Founders often avoid this because it feels “boring,” but this is what makes a business valuable, not chaotic. Most founders only focus on one lever … revenue. PE firms pull all five at the same time. That’s why they produce outsized returns in 36 months… and why most entrepreneurs feel like they’re stuck on a treadmill. You don’t need to sell to PE to act like them. You just need to use the same tools.