Valuation
How Does Your Business Compare? Scoring Your Value Drivers
A simple scorecard for rating your company on the drivers buyers price, and how to turn weak scores into a plan before a sale.
By Michael D. Rubin, CEO & Founder · Updated September 2026 · 781 words
The quickest way to see how your business compares is to score it the way a buyer would, driver by driver, against the other companies that buyer could acquire instead. No single score produces a price, but the pattern shows whether you sit near the low or the high end of the range and where effort would pay off.
In MDR & Associates' experience, buyers of profitable companies with $3 million to $100 million in revenue most often pay three to seven times adjusted EBITDA, which is operating profit after owner-specific costs are added back. The drivers below largely decide where in that band a company lands.
A value-driver scorecard
Mark each row honestly. If you cannot decide between two columns, pick the weaker one, because a buyer will.
| Driver | Weaker | Middle | Stronger |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buyer appetite for your type of company | Few buyers look for it | A steady handful | Actively sought by strategic and private equity buyers |
| Revenue trend | Flat or falling | Modest, uneven growth | Consistent growth over three years |
| Earnings consistency | Swings year to year | Stable | Stable and improving margins |
| Customer spread | One or two customers dominate | A few large accounts | Broad base, much of it repeat or contracted |
| Management depth | Owner makes most decisions | One capable manager | A team that runs daily operations |
| Financial statements | Tax returns only | Reviewed by a CPA | Audited or backed by a Quality of Earnings review |
| Market position | Losing ground | Holding share | Recognized leader in its niche or region |
| Legal and compliance | Open disputes | Occasional issues | Clean record for years |
| Industry direction | Shrinking | Steady | Growing demand |
How to read your results
Count the rows where you landed in each column. A company with most marks in the stronger column and none in the weaker one tends to attract several buyers and sit toward the upper part of the range. Mostly middle marks point to the middle of the range, where terms and the quality of the sale process make the biggest difference. Two or more weaker marks usually mean fewer interested buyers, more of the price deferred, and a real case for fixing things before going to market.
Be careful with rows you are proud of. Owners tend to rate their market position and management generously. Ask a manager or your CPA to score the same table and compare the answers; the rows where you disagree are the ones a buyer will probe.
Compare against real alternatives, not averages
A buyer weighing your company is weighing others at the same time. Industry averages are not the comparison that matters; your nearest competitors are. Ask who has the longer customer relationships, the better margins, the deeper bench and the cleaner books. If a buyer could acquire a rival that scores stronger on three or four rows for a similar price, your price has to reflect the difference.
This also works in your favor. Where you clearly beat the competition, say on recurring service contracts or a trained second tier of managers, that strength belongs at the front of the marketing package, with evidence.
Which weak scores cost the most
Some rows affect the multiple slightly. Others change the whole shape of an offer.
- Customer concentration leads buyers to ask for earnouts, payments that depend on keeping those customers after closing.
- Owner dependence leads to longer required transition periods and a lower share of the price paid in cash at closing.
- Thin financial statements lengthen due diligence and invite price cuts after the letter of intent, when you have less leverage.
- A falling revenue trend narrows the buyer pool, since many private equity groups avoid turnarounds.
Turning the scorecard into a plan
Pick the two or three weak rows that buyers in your industry care about most and that you can realistically move in twelve to twenty-four months. Moving a customer-concentration score, for example, might mean signing multi-year agreements with key accounts and building a sales effort aimed at mid-sized customers. Moving management depth means hiring or promoting someone who can run operations, and then actually letting them. Pre-exit consulting is built around exactly this kind of targeted work.
Revisit the scorecard every year. Our answer on the valuation multiple buyers might pay explains in more detail how each driver pushes the multiple up or down.
What we do with a scorecard like this
In a discovery meeting we go through the same drivers with you, using three years of financials, and give you a free, confidential opinion of value as a low-to-high range, with the reasons behind each end. If you need a formal written report, our business valuation service provides one separately. To get a first read without a meeting, request a free valuation snapshot.
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Questions owners ask next
Can a strong score on one driver make up for a weak one?
Partly. Strong growth can offset some customer concentration, and a deep management team can make modest growth more attractive. But a severe weakness, such as one customer supplying most of revenue, usually changes the deal terms whatever the other scores say.
Do I need audited financial statements to sell?
Not always. Many lower-middle-market companies sell with CPA-reviewed statements and tax returns that reconcile. Audits or a sell-side Quality of Earnings review help most when the company is larger or its books are complex. Your CPA and advisor can judge which is worth the cost.