What Makes a Business Sellable

In this week’s episode of Poised for Exit, we sit down with Jacob Petersen, a board-certified M&A intermediary who breaks down what really makes a business attractive to buyers.

Jacob shares his journey from accounting to business brokerage and explains how he helps privately held business owners understand and increase the value of their companies.

The conversation explores key valuation concepts like Seller’s Discretionary Earnings (SDE) and EBITDA, with Jacob explaining how each is used and what they reveal about a company’s true cash flow. He also clears up common misconceptions about intangible assets and why strong documentation is essential.

Jacob highlights the importance of clean financials, realistic forecasting, and reducing owner dependency. He shares real-life success stories, including one where a business with minimal hard assets sold for over 2.5 million thanks to strong systems and diverse customers.

If you are a business owner thinking about selling or just want to increase your company’s value, this episode offers practical advice and powerful takeaways to help you build a more sellable business.

Find Jacob here

Connect with Julie Keyes, Keyestrategies LLC
Founder, Consultant, Author, Pod-caster and Instructor

Episode Transcript

(00:07):
Ho for Exit is a show forbusiness owners who want to
achieve a successful exit basedon their own terms.
Your business exit will likelybe the biggest financial
transaction of your life, andfor most.
You'll have one shot at doing itright.
The topics and guests we featureand the stories they share will
provide valuable ideas andstrategies to improve operations
and grow enterprise value so youcan achieve the best possible

(00:31):
exit outcome.
Now here's your hostAward-winning certified exit
planning advisor, Julie Keys.