Is your business worth what you think it is—or are you unknowingly destroying the multiple? What if the difference between a good exit and a great one came down to a few specific, fixable things you’ve been overlooking for years?
In this episode, Mark Hartmann, founder of Hartmann Rhodes M&A Advisors and author of Sweat Equity Payday, joins Patrick Stroth to walk through the practical, step-by-step framework he uses to help lower middle market business owners get their businesses truly ready to sell—and exit on their own terms.
In this episode you’ll discover…
- Why every business owner will exit—the only question is whether it’s vertical or horizontal, and on your terms or someone else’s
- The “kidnap test”: a deceptively simple question that instantly reveals whether your business can survive without you
- How owner dependency, customer concentration, and vendor risk silently destroy your deal multiple
- Why SOPs are a buyer’s best friend—and how you can put them in place faster than you think
- The Value Builder System: how flipping from the seller’s seat to the buyer’s seat changes everything
- Price vs. terms—and why most sellers are asking the wrong question
- What’s driving M&A activity in 2026: delayed retirements, PE roll-ups, and why the white-van home services industry is the hottest acquisition target nobody saw coming
