Do you know the value of your company?
For most entrepreneurs it is their largest asset, yet the one whose value they know least. We value the way buyers and investors calculate, and show which levers make the value grow.
A valuation is like taking pulse and temperature: a snapshot of where you stand. Anyone who looks at what drives value quickly sees that more than revenue and profit counts.
Prepare a transaction
Anyone who wants to sell, hand over shares or raise capital should know their own value before the first buyer or investor sits at the table.
Determine where you stand
Where does the company stand today, what drives its value, and where is value left on the table? The basis for structured company development.
Align shareholder expectations
Before a transaction, but also for shared priorities and goals: a transparent valuation brings all shareholders to the same page.
Buyers do not pay for one year's earnings, but for their quality.
How reliably do the earnings repeat, how fast do they grow, and do they hold up without today's owners? That is exactly what decides the multiple and, with it, millions.
Quality of earnings: recurring revenue, stable margin, independence from individual customers and people.
Market position: a unique offering, growth and a niche that competitors cannot easily attack.
Competition in the process: Those who talk to several suitable buyers achieve a different price than with one.
The question of value does not arise only at the sale. Those who know their value levers develop their company in a more structured and healthier way. They make decisions that still pay off in five years.
What determines company value
Whether multiple, DCF or asset value: each method describes value in its own way. We use all those that your company's figures support. Behind them are always the same influencing factors.
Five categories, 26 criteria – each measured against the industry average
We capture the influencing factors systematically in the BASE Check and give them special weight in every method. Zero stands for an average competitor. Those who are at zero everywhere receive the median multiple of their industry. Every strength and every weakness thus becomes a statement about value.
Business environment
Growth, barriers, regulation and balance of power in the industry.
Investor environment
Transactions, valuation level, interest from strategic buyers and investors.
Business Proposition
Problem, unique position, business model and potential through AI.
Business Execution
Track record, sales, product, processes and team.
Finance
Growth, earnings quality, costs, cash and balance sheet.
More about the BASE Check: BASE Check – positioning, valuation and roadmap
Four steps – every valuation the same, every one traceable
Every valuation follows the same calculation path so that every result can be explained and compared.
Understand the market
What do buyers pay in your industry? Comparable transactions give the range of multiples, the anchor of every valuation.
Position the company
The BASE Check assesses 26 criteria, measured against the average competitor. From this follows where in the range your company stands today.
Clarify risks
Some issues cost value regardless of everything else: a dominant customer, dependence on the owner, AI risks, unclear figures. We name them and show how to solve them.
Determine the value
A range as wide as the evidence is uncertain, cross-checked with DCF and other methods so that nothing hangs on a single method.
Not calculated with multiples alone
Each method illuminates value from a different angle and has its limits. We use what your company's figures support and lay the results side by side.
Transaction multiples
DCF – discounted cash flows
Individual comparable transactions
Earnings multiple (P/E)
Asset value
The value lies in the interpretation
Five methods deliver five ranges. What matters is reading them correctly:
- Why is the DCF higher than the market? Is the plan too ambitious, or is the company better than average?
- Which type of buyer pays more, and is that value or already price?
- Where is the reliable lower bound below which nobody should sell?
This assessment is our strength: partners who have built and sold companies themselves, and a calculation path that explains every deviation.
Your value lies within a range – and it can be moved
Using an owner-managed industrial services company with around €3.1m EBITDA as an example. Select levers and see how the position in the range and the value change.
Illustrative example, all figures freely chosen
Increase earnings
Pricing discipline in service, more efficient processes, new revenue, also through AI.
Improve position in the range
More recurring revenue, growth above the market, a visible unique position.
Reduce discounts
A second management tier instead of owner dependence, reporting that a buyer can take over.
In case of a sale: the right buyer, the right time
Strategic buyers competing, a good market window.
A valuation is not a report for the drawer, but the starting point
The valuation becomes a roadmap: each stage shows which lever works, how much value it creates and which options it opens. Each stage pays off on its own. A sale is one possibility, not a prerequisite.
Increase earnings
Margin, efficiency and new revenue, structurally built so that a buyer believes it.
Improve position in the range
Every better score in the BASE Check moves your company up in the range.
Reduce discounts
Resolve dependencies, make figures and governance verifiable before the buyer asks.
The right step, the right time
The next stage of development (growth, acquisition, succession) or a sale: then to the buyer group with the highest range, in the right market window, with competition in the process.
The field is shifting – without an AI strategy you get thrown off course
AI is not a premium you simply add on top. It acts on the factors that determine value, and thus in every method, not only in the multiple.
With the AI Check we measure which stage your company is at and what that means for its value.
As deep as your decision requires
From a quick look at the value to a roadmap for value development. You choose what your situation needs.
Simple analysis
- Research from public sources, databases and your annual accounts
- Valuation based on the transaction multiples of your industry
- Value range with the most important value drivers and discounts
- Workshop with expert panel
- Roadmap for value development
Strategic evaluation
- Everything from the simple analysis
- BASE Check with all 26 criteria
- Workshop with owners, management and an expert panel of our partners
- All viable methods compared
- Roadmap: which levers create how much value and what they cost
AI Impact
- AI Check: which stage your company is at today
- Opportunities: efficiency, new revenue, hard-to-copy data and processes
- Risks: replacement of the offering, uncontrolled use
- Impact on earnings, multiple and value range
Valuation report
- Valuation using all suitable methods
- Normalization of earnings and bridge to the value of the shares
- Written, traceably documented valuation report
- For banks and financing partners
What entrepreneurs want to know about valuation
Why a range and not an exact figure?
Because every buyer calculates differently and not every assumption is equally well supported. An honest range shows where the realistic negotiating corridor lies. The better the evidence, the narrower it becomes.
Which variant suits me?
For a first assessment of where you stand, the simple analysis is usually enough. If you want to develop the value in a targeted way, the strategic evaluation with our expert panel leads to the roadmap. If the main question is what AI means for your business and your value, AI Impact is the right choice. If you need a written result for your bank, we prepare a valuation report. We clarify this together in the intro call.
Why several methods?
Every method has blind spots. Only in comparison does it become clear whether a value is supported by the market, the plan or the assets, and where the discussion with a buyer or investor will start.
Which documents do you need?
Public sources are enough for a first assessment. For a robust valuation, annual accounts for the last three years, a business plan and a conversation with you and your management help.
What is the difference between value and price?
Value is what your company supports on its own strength. Price emerges in the negotiation: with a specific buyer's synergies, competition in the process and the deal structure. We show both separately.
Do I have to want to sell?
No. Many entrepreneurs use the valuation to prepare strategy, succession or financing, or to know which values are still being left on the table.
What is your company worth?
In a non-binding intro call we clarify which valuation fits your situation and which levers are worth pulling.
Book an intro call