Multiples Don’t Matter: How Financial Advisors Can Manage Owner’s Expectations

When business owners plan their exit, they often become fixated on a single dollar figure — usually tied to a valuation multiple. However, market volatility, economic downturns, and industry disruptions can drastically shift valuation multiples — perhaps when it matters most. 

As a Financial Advisor with your Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA^®) designation, your role is to educate business owners on their current value, pinpoint the gap between where they are and where they need to be to reach their personal and financial goals and assemble an all-star team of experts to help them get there. This goes beyond focusing on a high multiple; it is about ensuring both the owner and the business are fully prepared for an exit, regardless of what the market looks like. By doing so, you position the business to present its strongest case to buyers and help the owner confidently step away on their own terms.  

The key? Business Attractiveness and Exit Readiness. 

In this article, we will break down why valuation multiples alone aren’t enough, how to shift your client’s focus to controllable value drivers, and how business specialized tools offer a structured path to a profitable exit for your clients – and AUM for your portfolio. 

The Problem with Valuation Multiples 

Market-driven multiples fluctuate due to factors outside of an owner’s control, such as: 

• Economic downturns (e.g., 2008 financial crisis, COVID-19)
• Industry trends (e.g., shifts in consumer behavior, regulatory changes)
• M&A activity (e.g., supply and demand of businesses in the market) 

Example: The COVID-19 Market Shock 

• Restaurants that were valued using 2017 multiples saw their exit plans collapse in 2020. Lockdowns decimated demand, and the restaurant industry’s multiples fell drastically. 

• Veterinary clinics, on the other hand, surged in value as pet adoptions skyrocketed. Businesses that had built strong customer relationships and scalable operations captured premium valuations. 

Key lesson for advisors: Business owners must focus on what they can control — positioning their company at the highest end of its potential multiple range. 

Unlike traditional valuation models, which can be volatile due to economic cycles, regulatory changes, or industry-specific disruptions (as described above), Business Attractiveness and Exit Readiness assessments conducted through an exit planning system that is seamlessly aligned with the Value Acceleration Methodology™ helps business owners understand their place in the market and how to improve their standing, so they are always working toward obtainable goals. 

For instance, if a business’s valuation multiple falls between 3x and 7x EBITDA at a specific point in time, the key question isn’t just what the market dictates — it is: 

• Where does the business rank between best-in-class and worst-in-class?
• What strategic improvements can push it toward becoming best-in-class? 

This is where an industry-leading exit planning software system can provide real value to your practice. When evaluating an exit planning software, be sure to look for a solution that features: 

1. Comprehensive Exit Planning Framework: Choose a platform that aligns with established exit planning frameworks (e.g., Value Acceleration Methodology, EPI, and CEPA principles).
2. Comprehensive Business Assessments: The software should provide in-depth evaluations of a business’s strengths, weaknesses, and value drivers, helping advisors pinpoint areas for improvement.
3. Access to Current Valuation Multiples: As noted above, valuation multiples can shift over time. Having direct access to industry-specific multiple data makes providing updated valuations and reports easy as the market changes.
4. Business Growth and Value Enhancement Strategy Integration: As noted, we need an exit planning tool that includes valuation estimates and provides strategic insights into increasing a company’s overall value. 

A prime example of such a proven and reliable solution is Maus Exit Planning Software. It checks all of these boxes and is the most widely used exit planning platform in the world. In fact, Scott Snider trusted Maus for his own exit planning practice, and the company played a foundational role in the creation of the Value Acceleration Methodology™(VAM). Maus also contributed significantly to the body of knowledge that today’s exit planning community relies upon.

Choosing an exit planning platform that meets these criteria will enable your practice to run Business Attractiveness and Exit Readiness Assessments on your clients at scale.  

How Business Attractiveness and Exit Readiness Assessments Work 

The Attractiveness Index includes 25 questions across four key categories to measure how appealing a company is to potential buyers. 

Understanding the Business Attractiveness Score: 

• 50% or below → “Discounted” businesses with red-flag concerns.
• 58%-72% → Above-average attractiveness.
• 72%+ → “Best-in-class” businesses that command premium valuations. 

Yet, even a high Attractiveness Score does not mean a business is ready for sale. A business owner’s personal, financial, and operational readiness must also align. This is why Exit Readiness — a separate assessment with over 20 questions across personal, financial, and business categories is also necessary. As Christopher Snider says in Walking to Destiny,  

“Readiness is just as important as attractiveness. I could argue that it is even more important because it also includes personal and financial readiness.” 

The Role of Intangible Capitals in Exit Planning 

At the heart of Business Attractiveness and Exit Readiness lie the Four Intangible Capitals. These are non-financial assets that make up 80% of a company’s total value. Strengthening these areas is crucial to pushing a company toward the best-in-class multiple: 

• Human Capital 
  Strong leadership, structured succession plans, and engaged employees help businesses operate without heavy owner dependence. As Scott Snider emphasizes here: "I don’t care how good your product or processes are — if you don’t have the right people, you’re screwed.” 

• Customer Capital 
  A diverse, loyal customer base and recurring revenue models make companies more resilient and appealing to buyers. 

• Structural Capital 
  Documented processes, solid financial reporting, and scalable operations raise operational efficiency and reduce risk. As Christopher Snider states in Walking to Destiny: “Your knowledge needs to be documented and transferable, such that someone else can learn from you and apply it.” 

• Social Capital 
  Positive culture, brand reputation, and external networks ensure business continuity during transitions. As Aaron Stine, CEO of Maus, explains: “Knowing your ‘Why’ makes for strong social capital. Once you understand that, it becomes straightforward to build a culture around this purpose.” 

Strengthening these areas pushes a company into best-in-class territory — regardless of market conditions.  

How Advisors Can Guide Clients Toward Best-in-Class Business Value and Position Themselves to Manage the Assets from the Sale 

Many financial advisors only engage business owners after a liquidity event, which means they must compete for AUM after the sale when the owner is shopping for wealth management options. 

By incorporating exit planning early, as we’ve discussed, financial advisors become key players in: 

• Estate and succession planning (helping owners structure their wealth for generational transfer).
• Tax optimization (guiding business owners on tax-efficient exit strategies).
• Investment planning pre-sale (helping position personal wealth before the business transitions). 

By utilizing exit planning services to get involved early (before an exit), you will have a proven track record – managing their personal assets, insurance needs, and other financial responsibilities before the sale. Your relationship will be established long before the liquidity event, positioning you as their trusted advisor who will receive the assets generated from the exit to manage.  

Leading up to the exit, your role is to shift clients’ attention from short-term valuations to their long-term assessment scores. Utilizing a leading exit planning software enables this process to be automated, removing the burden of busywork while: 

• Assessing a client’s Business Attractiveness & Exit Readiness.
• Benchmarking their current valuation against best-in-class industry multiples.
• Developing action plans to increase intangible capital and improve scalability.
• Navigate the Prepare Gate of the Value Acceleration Methodology. 

By guiding business owners through Attractiveness & Readiness Assessments by way of an automated platform like Maus, they are setup with tailored action items to improve the value of their business to ensure they capture the highest possible valuation multiple when it’s time to exit — no matter where the market stands. 

Conclusion: The Power of a Value-First Exit Strategy 

Exit planning isn’t solely about numbers — it’s about shaping a business that can thrive without its owner and command a premium when it’s time to sell. By directing your clients’ attention toward Attractiveness and Readiness scores — rather than fluctuating multiples — you empower them to develop a best-in-class enterprise. In turn, this positions your practice to retain high-net-worth clients post-sale, capture generational wealth transfers, grow multi-generational AUM, and benefit from referrals across powerful family networks. 

With Maus Software, the leading exit-planning platform for financial advisors, you can confidently guide clients toward superior business value, trusting the system to handle structural components behind the scenes. Maus is widely adopted by premier wealth management and financial services firms. As Christopher Snider notes in Walking to Destiny: “The financial services industry is the furthest along in providing exit planning services… Many of the largest financial services firms in the world recognize the CEPA credential only and actively promote it within their organizations.” 

Are you ready to stand out as the go-to advisor for high-net-worth business owners? Exit planning is a proven strategy for deepening client relationships and expanding your practice. 

Don’t get left behind, schedule a personalized demonstration to see how Maus can help you grow AUM while unlocking your clients’ true business value, today. 

Additional Resources:

• For more information about the Certified Exit Planning Advisor designation, check out the  CEPA Credentialing Program.
• For more information about done-for-you digital marketing for FA CEPAs, check out Attract+ by Maus Software.
• For more information about using software to automate your exit planning practice, schedule a call with a Maus CEPA Specialist. 

*EPI believes exit planning is for all advisors, not just FA's.