The Value Baseline™
Know what it’s worth. And what it could be.
The value hiding in your business, and the fastest path to more profit, more time, and more options.
Book a discovery call →Backed by the 10x GuaranteeHow it works
From first call to your path to more value. Four weeks.
The Value Baseline is the first step of the full Horizon journey.
Your discovery call
Free, confidential, 30 minutes with a Partner.
What we measure
The five conditions that kill deals
Every one of these develops quietly over years, shows no symptoms in your financials while the business is doing well, and is priced the moment someone looks closely. Caught early they are all fixable. Caught in diligence they cost you the deal or the difference.
1 in 4
Of lower-middle-market deals carry an earnout. Sellers collect about 21 cents on the dollar of them.
Owner dependency
The business runs on you: decisions, relationships, judgment calls. A buyer sees a company that leaves when you do, and prices it as risk.
15%
The share of revenue from a single client that starts to concern most buyers.
Concentration risk
Too much riding on one thing: one client, one product, one channel, one supplier. It feels like a strength until that one thing wobbles, and the whole year wobbles with it.
10%
A price increase of that size can be worth millions in enterprise value at a typical multiple.
Margin erosion
Prices that have not moved in years while costs did. Profit is what gets multiplied, and yours is thinner than the market expects.
47%
Of collapsed deals die on what diligence found, not on financing or the market.
Financial opacity
Books that work for you but will not survive being rebuilt by someone else. This is the one that kills signed deals, after the price was agreed.
70%
Around seven in ten businesses listed for sale never find a buyer.
Undocumented operations
Processes, contracts, and know-how living in people's heads. Every gap becomes a question, and every question becomes a condition.
Starts with a free, confidential 30-minute discovery call.
What you walk away with
Three straight answers about your options.
Northline Mechanical · Value Baseline
$14.6M
What your business could be worth in 3 years. Today, $8.4M.
Horizon Score
58 / 100
Multiple
4.2x → 5.5x
Status
Saleable today
How a buyer sees you
Your highest-value moves
Ranked by value
Who you work with
People who’ve sat on both sides of the table.
We’ve built companies, sold them, and lived what comes after. So we advise on the million-dollar decisions, and on what the business needs to do for your life. No software verdicts.
Builders, not advisors.
We’ve built, scaled and sold companies ourselves. Through your Value Baseline you get all three of us, each looking at your business through a different lens.
From owners who’ve done it
“I only started to think about my business as an asset when I started working with Horizon. Now we have a path to the growth we want.”
Megan RafuseCo-founder and CEO, Shift Collab
Growth Partnership
Megan Rafuse & Jordan Axani
How we’re different
Three things you won’t get elsewhere.
- 01The number firstBefore any advice, we run the checks a buyer’s team would and tell you what it’s worth today. Every priority after that is ranked by what it adds.
- 02Builders, not advisorsWe have built, scaled and sold companies ourselves, and run them for private equity. We sit on your side of the table.
- 03One team, both pathsGrow it or sell it without switching firms. The same Partner who helps you build value can bring in an M&A lead when you’re ready.
Is it for you?
We’re not for everyone. On purpose.
We work with proven builders who are done running a job and ready to own an asset. Half the owners we speak with aren’t ready. We’ll tell you which half you’re in.
Read our manifesto →We’re a fit if you
Own a profitable business with $500K or more in profitWant your time back, and will do the work to become optional in the day-to-dayWant more optionality, whether you sell it or keep itWant to know what it’s worth and build its value, not just its profitWe’re not, if you
Need a formal appraisal for tax or legal reasonsWant a number, not a plan to act onAren’t ready to share full financialsFrom $20,000per company, one owner included
We find $200,000 in value, or your money back.
You keep your results either way.
For owners who share full financials and complete their Value Day. Claim within 30 days of your results.
Read the full guarantee →Questions owners ask first
Straight answers.
How do I know I’m ready?
If your business makes $500K or more in profit and you want to know what it’s worth, and what would make it worth more, you’re likely ready. The discovery call tells you for sure.
Who will know we’re doing this?
Only the people you choose. Files sit in a secure data room, access is limited to approved emails, and everything is deleted 90 days after the work ends.
What if you don’t find $200,000?
You get your money back and keep your results. It applies when you share full financials and complete your Value Day, claimed within 30 days of your results.
What happens after?
You decide. Grow it with us, prepare to sell, or take the plan and run it yourself.
Keep going
Before your Value Baseline.
See it clearly, before anyone else does.
What your business is worth, what would make it worth more, and the next move that matters. It starts with a free, confidential 30-minute call with a Horizon Partner.
The 10x GuaranteeWe find $200,000 in value, or your money back.How the guarantee works →All 160+ value markersWhat we check
The most complete health check for your business.
We score the 160 quality markers a buyer will check, plus six about you. You leave with a valuation, and exactly what's moving it.
+ 142 more markers
18 shown here. Your Value Baseline scores all 160, plus six about you.
The Machine
Decisions That Need You
What we are looking for
Every decision above a certain size still comes to you, in person.
What you're thinking
"I am still involved in every deal."
What a buyer asks
What actually stops if he is not there on Monday?
What it costs at the deal
An earnout instead of cash at close.
Marker 1 of 18 shown here. The Value Baseline covers all 160, the same quality markers a buyer scores you on before they price you.