The one number owners can't delegate

You know the conversation. It goes well and still goes nowhere. The owner agrees, the logic holds, and months later nothing has changed.

Usually it comes down to which number the advice is attached to. Revenue, margin and headcount belong to the managers an owner hired; value is the one they can't hand off, tied to their timeline, their retirement and what the last twenty years built.

So “this improves margin” is a management conversation, while “this makes the business worth more when you sell” is a personal one. And the gap is real: the average company sees offers near 3.5 times pre-tax profit, while the best-prepared companies see closer to double that on the same earnings.

Our eBook Inside the Owner's Mind covers what owners are weighing and how to frame advice around it.

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