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Built for Business Brokers

When a seller asks what their business is worth, start with more than a multiple.

A broker’s credibility is tested before the listing agreement. You need a way to show the owner what sits beneath the headline number: adjusted earnings, customer concentration, key-person exposure, financial-record quality, and the assumptions a buyer will eventually challenge.

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What AltosIQ contributes

AltosIQ helps business brokers turn an early pricing conversation into a documented discussion of earnings, risk, transferability, and value drivers—before an owner forms an expectation that the market may not support.

The challenge

The issue is not finding a multiple. It is setting a seller up for reality.

Every broker knows the conversation. The owner heard that a similar company sold for a certain multiple. Their tax return contains personal expenses. One customer accounts for a meaningful share of revenue, but the owner considers the relationship safe. If those issues are not named before launch, they return later as a lower buyer indication, a diligence dispute, or a seller who believes the broker lost value.

A deliberate workflow

A broker workflow that earns the mandate

  1. 01

    Establish the financial story

    Capture historical performance and separate recurring earnings from items that need normalization or support.

  2. 02

    Make assumptions visible

    Document the valuation approach, the adjustments considered, and the risk factors that affect how a buyer may view the business.

  3. 03

    Lead the seller conversation

    Show the owner a clear value context—not a promise—and explain which facts strengthen or weaken the story.

  4. 04

    Build the pre-market plan

    Prioritize reporting, add-back support, customer diversification, management depth, or other transferability work before launch.

The result

What the seller leaves with

A clearer answer to “what does a buyer need to believe?”
A documented starting point for price and readiness discussions
A practical list of value drivers that can be improved before market

Return to a baseline instead of an old spreadsheet

When the business improves or the information changes, create a new point-in-time analysis. The conversation can stay grounded in what has actually changed rather than in memory and a prior headline number.

See what a documented analysis includes

Questions advisers ask

Clear answers before a conversation starts.

How do business brokers value a business before listing it?+

They assess historical earnings, normalization items, risk and transferability factors, and an appropriate valuation approach. AltosIQ organizes that work into a documented analysis; it does not promise a sale price.

What should a broker show a seller before taking a listing?+

Show the financial context, the assumptions behind the value discussion, the factors a buyer is likely to question, and the actions that may improve readiness before market.

Can I use AltosIQ as a formal appraisal?+

No. It supports documented valuation analysis and planning conversations. Use an appropriately credentialed appraisal professional where a formal appraisal is required.

Stop letting the first value conversation happen without you.

See how AltosIQ turns the seller’s question into a documented advisory conversation.

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AltosIQ supports documented valuation analysis and planning conversations. It does not replace credentialed appraisal work, legal or tax advice, formal fairness opinions, quality-of-earnings work, or independent investment diligence and decision-making.