Business Valuation
You can't plan an exit, a buy-sell agreement, or a succession plan around a number nobody's actually checked.
Most business owners carry a figure in their head for what the business is worth, and most of the time it’s a guess dressed up as confidence. It might be based on what a mate’s business sold for, a multiple someone mentioned at a barbecue, or just what you’d need to retire comfortably. None of that holds up when a bank, a buyer, a business partner, or a family member actually asks you to justify it.
A proper valuation isn’t a formality for when you’re ready to sell. It’s the number everything else gets built on, your exit price, your succession split, your buy-sell agreement, and it needs to survive scrutiny from people who have every reason to challenge it.
We produce valuations that hold up under scrutiny, not desktop estimates pulled from an industry multiple. Every figure is grounded in your actual financials and defensible to a bank, a buyer, or a family member who wants to know exactly how we got there.
Independent Business Valuation
The bank wants a number. Your business partner wants a number. Neither of them will accept 'I reckon.'
A bank assessing finance, a partner buying you out, a court in a family dispute – none of them will work off a figure you’ve pulled together yourself. An independent valuation carries weight precisely because it isn’t produced by someone with a stake in the outcome. We value the business the same way a third party would, using your actual financial position rather than a guess dressed up with confidence.
Business Valuation for Exit and Succession Planning
Every succession plan, every buy-sell agreement, every exit strategy is built on a number. Get the number wrong and everything built on it is wrong too.
An exit plan built on the wrong number sends you to market with unrealistic expectations, which is exactly the gap our work on selling the business is built to close. A succession split built on the wrong number creates resentment that outlasts the handover. A buy-sell agreement built on the wrong number becomes a fight the day someone actually wants to use it. Getting the valuation right first means everything that depends on it, your exit timeline, your family’s split, your partnership terms, is built on solid ground instead of a guess.
Business Valuation Reports
If you can't explain to a bank, a buyer, or a family member how you got to that figure, it's not a valuation, it's a guess with more confidence.
The number is only half the report. What actually matters is being able to walk a bank, a buyer, or a family member through exactly how you got there, what assumptions were made, what would move the figure up or down, and why. A report that can’t survive that conversation isn’t worth having. Ours are built to be defended, not just presented.
Business Valuation in Adelaide
Based in Adelaide, we provide independent business valuations for South Australian business owners as well as businesses nationwide, working alongside the wider range of services we offer. Whether you’re in the CBD, the Adelaide Hills, the Riverland, the Eyre Peninsula, or the South East, the same approach applies: real financials, a defensible method, and a figure that holds up when someone actually questions it. We also work with clients interstate who want an adviser who understands the South Australian market without needing everything explained from scratch.
Our Process
Initial Consultation
We start with a conversation about why you need the number: a sale, a succession plan, a buy-sell agreement, a dispute. What the valuation is for changes how we approach it.
Financial Review
We get into your actual financials, structure and industry position to establish maintainable earnings and the right valuation method for your business, not a generic multiple.
Valuation Report
You get a defensible figure and the reasoning behind it, ready to stand up to a bank, a buyer, or a family member who wants to know exactly how we got there.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is a business valued?
There's no single formula. The right approach depends on the business, its industry, its earnings history, and what the valuation is actually for. We look at factors including maintainable earnings, asset position, industry benchmarks, and risk factors specific to the business, then apply the valuation method that genuinely fits, rather than defaulting to a generic multiple.
What's included in a business valuation report?
A proper report sets out the valuation figure alongside the reasoning behind it: the method used, the assumptions made, the financial data relied on, and the factors that could move the number if circumstances change. It's built to be understood and defended, not just handed over as a final figure.
How does key-person risk affect a business's value?
A business that only runs because one person is in it every day is worth less than one that would keep functioning without them. Buyers, banks and valuers all factor this in. If the business depends heavily on you personally, for relationships, decisions, or day-to-day operations, that dependency gets priced into the valuation as risk.
What does a business valuation cost?
It depends on the size and complexity of the business and what the valuation is for, a valuation for internal planning is a different scope to one prepared for a sale or a legal dispute. Book a call and we'll give you a clear answer for your situation, not a generic range.
Take the Next Step
Get Started With Our Business Advisory Team
If you’re ready for advice that’s genuinely grounded in your numbers, not generic strategy detached from your financial reality, let’s talk.