# The Value-Driver Scorecard

Eight drivers set what a buyer will pay. This is the honest self-read of where your business sits on each one. A buyer runs this read on you in the first hour of a conversation, so run it on yourself first, while you still have time to move the lines.

There is no score to add here and no valuation to compute. You mark where you sit on each driver, write the one move that would raise it, and circle the weakest. The pattern is the point, and the actual sale-price number comes free from the Keystone diagnostic at the end. This page is the map, not the number.

## How to use this (about 10 minutes)

- For each of the eight drivers, read the two edges: what a buyer marks down, and what a buyer pays up for.
- Mark where you honestly sit right now: **weak**, **building**, or **strong**. Answer as the business is, not as you mean it to be.
- Write the one move that would raise that driver in the next ninety days.
- Do not add the marks into a score, and do not multiply anything. There is no valuation on this page by design.
- At the end, circle your single weakest driver. That circle is your next ninety days.

## Worked example (what a finished line looks like)

**1. Owner dependence** (the biggest one)

- A buyer marks it down when: the business stalls if you are gone a week.
- A buyer pays up when: it ran fine while you were away fourteen days.
- Where I sit today:   **weak**  /  building  /  strong
- The one move (next 90 days): *Run the one-week interruption log, then hand off the top three decisions (pricing under $500, scheduling swaps, standard refunds) to the lead tech with a written rule for each.*

That is the whole method: read the two edges, mark yourself, name one move. Now do all eight for your own business.

## Your read

**1. Owner dependence** (the biggest one)

- A buyer marks it down when: the business stalls if you are gone a week.
- A buyer pays up when: it ran fine while you were away fourteen days.
- Where I sit today:   weak  /  building  /  strong
- The one move (next 90 days): ______________________________________________

**2. Recurring, repeatable revenue**

- A buyer marks it down when: every month starts back at zero.
- A buyer pays up when: a real share of revenue is under agreements that renew.
- Where I sit today:   weak  /  building  /  strong
- The one move (next 90 days): ______________________________________________

**3. Margin quality**

- A buyer marks it down when: margins swing job to job, thin or unknown.
- A buyer pays up when: gross margins are steady and healthy and you can prove them.
- Where I sit today:   weak  /  building  /  strong
- The one move (next 90 days): ______________________________________________

**4. Customer concentration (the Switzerland structure)**

- A buyer marks it down when: one customer, employee, or supplier is over 30% and irreplaceable.
- A buyer pays up when: no single customer, employee, or supplier is over about 20%.
- Where I sit today:   weak  /  building  /  strong
- The one move (next 90 days): ______________________________________________

**5. Documented, transferable systems**

- A buyer marks it down when: the process lives in your head.
- A buyer pays up when: five core procedures exist that a new owner could run.
- Where I sit today:   weak  /  building  /  strong
- The one move (next 90 days): ______________________________________________

**6. Clean financials**

- A buyer marks it down when: books are late, mixed with personal, or do not tie to the tax return.
- A buyer pays up when: three years of clean statements tie out and a stranger can read them.
- Where I sit today:   weak  /  building  /  strong
- The one move (next 90 days): ______________________________________________

**7. The growth trend**

- A buyer marks it down when: one spike, or flat and unexplained.
- A buyer pays up when: three years of steady, explainable growth, near 8 to 10% a year.
- Where I sit today:   weak  /  building  /  strong
- The one move (next 90 days): ______________________________________________

**8. A real team**

- A buyer marks it down when: you are the only decision-maker.
- A buyer pays up when: a manager runs the day without you.
- Where I sit today:   weak  /  building  /  strong
- The one move (next 90 days): ______________________________________________

## What to do with your read

Count nothing. Look at the shape instead. Most owners find three or four drivers sitting firmly on **weak**, and those three or four are the whole project, not all eight at once.

Circle the single weakest one and start there this quarter. It is almost always owner dependence, which is good news, because owner dependence is the driver that moves the most, from near the bottom of the range toward the top, and it is the same work that gets you your week back. Do that one move, re-read this page in ninety days, and watch the marks climb.

Then get the actual number, which this page will not give you on purpose. **Get your three scores and an estimated sale price, free, at [app.trykeystone.io](https://app.trykeystone.io).** Eighteen questions, about four minutes, and it weighs all eight of these drivers together and names the one constraint holding your number down.

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*This scorecard is a self-read, not a valuation, and not accounting, tax, or legal advice. It makes no promise about your results. For an actual sale, work with a licensed business broker, a CPA, and an attorney who know your books.*
