The Handover

The handover.Briefed, not blind.

You get a briefed opportunity, not a name and an email. Before anything reaches you, a trained M&A operator has already spent 30+ minutes on the phone with the owner, covering the business, the numbers, the sale, and the risks. Below is what that call actually covers, and a sample of what the write-up looks like.

What we cover on every seller call

The interview, before it's ever yours.

Every opportunity that reaches you has already been through one real conversation. Here's what's covered before it's written up.

01
The business

Operations overview, team composition, and how dependent the business is on the owner day to day.

02
The numbers

Revenue, SDE/EBITDA, the trend over the last few years, and the state of the financial documentation.

03
The sale

Why the owner is actually selling, their timeline, valuation expectations, and whether anyone else is already in the process.

04
Operations and risk

Customer concentration, key-person dependency, lease terms, and any legal issues worth knowing about early.

05
Fit and next step

The buyer profile the owner is actually open to, transition preferences, who the real decision-makers are, and the recommended next step.

A real example

What the write-up looks like.

An anonymized sample from an actual seller call, in the same format every opportunity is handed over in.

Midwest HVAC / Mechanical Contractor
Interview length: 38 minutes · Recommended next step: Intro call
Contact
Owner
Withheld pending intro call
Company
Withheld pending intro call
Location
Suburban Ohio
Industry
HVAC / mechanical contracting
The business
Operating history
22 years
Team
18 employees
Revenue mix
65% commercial service / 35% residential
The numbers
Revenue
$4.2M
SDE
$700K–$800K
Trend
Growing for three consecutive years
Financials
Current and available
The sale
Motivation
Owner burnout
Timeline
6–12 months
Valuation
Open, no fixed number yet
Other process
None — no prior broker contact
Operations and risk
Customer concentration
Largest account is 15% of revenue
Key-person risk
Estimator is a dependency
Lease
4 years remaining
Legal
None disclosed
Fit and next step
Buyer preference
Operator-focused buyer
Deal structure
Open to an earn-out
Exit preference
Prefers to exit within a year
Decision-maker
Sole owner, spouse involved