18 Aug Getting the Business Out of Your Head: The Documentation That Raises Your Multiple
If the answer to every question is go ask the owner, a buyer sees a single point of failure. Getting the business out of your head is one of the highest return moves available in IT services M&A.
Process documentation gets treated as an administrative chore right up until a buyer starts asking how the business actually runs. In Episode 258 of Shoot the Moon, Mike Harvath, Ryan Barnett, and Matt Lockhart take on the practical half of the CEO optional problem. They cover why tech services firms are unusually exposed to founder dependency, the emotional decision that has to come before any documentation work, where to start documenting, how AI has changed what process work costs, and why a documented business is what a buyer’s scale thesis rests on.
Chapters
- 0:00 – Cold open and intro
- 3:10 – Show open
- 4:05 – What CEO optional really means
- 5:45 – Why “ask the owner” reads to a buyer as a single point of failure
- 8:40 – Why this hits IT services harder than other industries
- 13:50 – Recognizing that you are the linchpin
- 14:50 – The emotional decision that comes before documentation
- 18:50 – Beyond the binder: documenting the real process
- 22:50 – Does documentation actually move enterprise value?
- 26:15 – Efficiency, onboarding, and the buyer’s integration playbook
- 27:20 – Building a culture that keeps documentation current
- 30:55 – One process to dig into this month
- 33:25 – Wrap-up
Key Takeaways
- “Ask the owner” is a risk finding. When every decision routes through one person, buyers read it as command and control concentration and discount for it, long before it becomes a deal problem.
- The emotional decision comes first. Committing to let other people grow the business has to happen before any documentation work, which is why the binder otherwise ends up on a shelf.
- Start where the customer is. Document the go to market and sales motion first, then delivery playbooks and lessons learned, then how you hire and grow people.
- AI changed the economics of process work, and it captures the process you actually run rather than the idealized one you think you run.
- A buyer’s thesis is scale, and scale needs a documented business. Repeatable and predictable process is easier to diligence, easier to integrate, and it shows up in the multiple.
- Culture is the maintenance plan. Build adaptability in, and make the people driving innovation responsible for documenting it.
Links & Resources
- Companion article: Getting the business out of your head
- Episode archive: Shoot the Moon series
- Valuation calculator: See what your firm could be worth
- Talk to us: Schedule a confidential conversation
- Listen on: Apple Podcasts or Spotify
About Revenue Rocket
Revenue Rocket is a sell-side and buy-side M&A advisory firm focused exclusively on IT services companies, including MSPs, cybersecurity, cloud, custom application development, and VARs. Whether you are looking to buy, sell, or grow, Revenue Rocket can help you make your next move the right one.