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![](/images/guests/wendy-brookhouse.jpg)Worth OwningEp. 14Wendy Brookhouse

[Wealth](/worth-owning?topic=Wealth)[Knowing your number](/worth-owning?topic=Knowing%20your%20number)[EBITDA normalizations](/worth-owning?topic=EBITDA%20normalizations)

Worth Owning · Episode 14

# Know your number before a buyer names one

Hosted by **Krystyn Harrison** · With **Wendy Brookhouse**, Founder and chief strategist, Black Star WealthMar 2026 · 33 min

0:0033:00

Watch or listen on[Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-most-7-8-figure-businesses-are-not-sellable-with/id1830558138)[Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/4e3XIJNsCFZI1f9CaOg7Aw)[YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u22gWv3Cxi4)

## 90% of owners in her workshops never pictured selling

Overview

Wendy Brookhouse is a certified financial planner and the founder and chief strategist at Black Star Wealth. She also co-owned a software company and sold it after the partners split, with a shareholders agreement that set out how the company would be valued and sold. In her workshops, 90% of the room has never considered that they might sell one day. Her work starts with the number most owners carry in their heads, and whether it holds up.

Wendy breaks down what a buyer sees. An owner doing the social media, the HR and the quoting has inflated profit, because a buyer will have to hire for each role and will take that cost off EBITDA. She once looked at buying a business with $500,000 of profit and found 2 founders working 12 to 14 hour days. Her fix: list every task you do, hand off the work you hate first, and track the value of your business beside revenue and profit.

Then the money side most owners skip. Wendy works back from what your life after work costs on an after-tax basis, including the expenses now running through the business, to the value the company needs to reach. She sees female founders underprice from the first product, and owners who use the capital gains exemption get caught by the alternative minimum tax. Her advice: know your floor, so a ready, willing buyer meets an owner who can say yes.

Chapters

What you’ll learn

01How a shareholders agreement protects you when partners split

02Why doing every job yourself lowers the price a buyer pays

03How to work back from your life after work to a number

04Why knowing your floor changes how you negotiate an offer

Where does your business stand today?

[Get your Optionality Score →](/optionality-score)

## More on the episode

Episode 14Mar 2026 · 33 min

Note: Krystyn, Matt and their guests may hold interests in companies discussed in this episode. Worth Owning is not financial, legal, tax or investment advice, and is for informational purposes only. Do your own research and speak with your own professionals before making any financial decision.

[Where this shows up in your businessKnow what your business needs to be worth?The Exit Partnership helps you set your number and build a business a buyer will pay for.See the Exit Partnership →](/exit-partnership)

![Wendy Brookhouse](/images/guests/wendy-brookhouse.jpg)

Guest

Wendy Brookhouse

Founder and chief strategist, Black Star Wealth

Wendy Brookhouse is a certified financial planner and the founder and chief strategist at Black Star Wealth, where she has spent 20 years working with owners between building and exiting. She co-owned a software company and was part of its sale, and shares her podcast and newsletter on LinkedIn.

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