Amplify Exit

Turn Your Owner-Dependent Business Into an Exit-Ready Asset

If you're 6 to 36 months from selling, your biggest problem probably isn't revenue.

It's that too much of the business still depends on you.

I help profitable owners doing $1M to $5M in revenue get themselves out of the middle of it, so a buyer stops seeing risk and starts seeing an asset. More money, more of it at closing, fewer strings after.

No pressure and no obligation. If I can't show you a gap worth fixing, I'll say so on the call.

Is this you?

You may be a fit if:

  • You do $1M to $5M in revenue.
  • You're thinking about selling to an outside buyer in the next 6 to 36 months.
  • The business still leans hard on you.
  • The relationships, the decisions and the know-how live in your head.
  • You've never sold a business before.
  • You're worried they will pick you apart on price, or tie the money to things you can't control.
  • What matters to you is what you keep, after tax and after everybody takes their cut.
  • You aren't passing it to family or selling it to your staff.

If that's you, the first step isn't another checklist off the internet. It's finding out where you actually stand today.

Buyers pay for transferability.

A profitable business isn't automatically a sellable one.

Here's what's going through a buyer's head:

  • Does this thing run if the owner walks out?
  • Are the numbers clean, and can I trust them?
  • Can the team handle it?
  • Do the customers stay when he goes?
  • Can I get a bank to lend against this?
  • What breaks the day after closing?

If any of that makes them unsure, they protect themselves by offering less, or they push the risk onto you in the terms, or they go quiet and you never hear back.

The goal isn't to fix everything. It's to fix the handful of things that actually get you more money and better terms.

How it works

One step at a time. You don't commit to the next one until the last one earned it.

  1. 1

    Step one, and it's free

    The Exit Reality Check Call

    Before you spend months getting ready, we get 3 numbers straight:

    1. What your business would likely sell for today.
    2. What you need to walk away and be done. Your freedom number.
    3. The size of the gap between those two.

    Then we look at what would cause a buyer to knock money off. How much sits on you, whether the numbers hold up, how deep the team goes, what's written down, and where the deal itself can hurt you.

    You leave knowing whether there's something here worth going after.

    If I can't show you a believable gap worth fixing, I'll tell you not to hire me. I've said it on calls before and I'll say it again.

    Book Your Exit Reality Check Call
  2. 2

    If there is a gap, we build the plan

    The 3-Day Exit Roadmap Sprint

    If the Reality Check shows something worth going after, the next step is 3 focused days. Together we:

    • Set your baseline valuation
    • Work out your after-tax freedom number
    • Map where the business depends on you, and where a buyer sees risk
    • Put the changes in order, biggest lift first
    • Build the 6 to 18 month plan
    • Name the few things that matter most in the next 90 days

    The roadmap is yours either way, whether we keep working together or not.

    The guarantee

    By the end of Day 3, if you don't believe the roadmap shows a clear, believable path to add at least $100,000 in extra exit value, tell me before we finish and I'll refund your $5,000. You keep the roadmap.

    Ask me about the Exit Roadmap Sprint
  3. 3

    Then the part that actually changes things

    The 6-Month Exit Advisory

    A plan in a drawer never made anybody a dollar. The 6 months is for owners who want someone experienced beside them while they do the work. You get:

    • 2 calls a month
    • I review the key documents and decisions between calls
    • Help getting you out of the middle of the business
    • Support cleaning up the numbers and the operations
    • Getting the business ready for the questions a buyer will ask
    • Ongoing accountability to stay focused on the work that matters

    This is advisory from above the business. I'm not becoming your COO. You still run the company. I help you make better calls and stop you spending your last few years on things a buyer will never pay for.

    The guarantee

    You're covered for the first 60 days. If at any point in that window you don't feel this is clearly worth multiples of what you're paying, you can stop. On a payment plan we cancel everything remaining. If you paid in full, we stop and refund the unused months. You keep the roadmap and everything we have built.

    Apply for the 6-Month Exit Advisory
  4. 4

    When the deal is live

    Ongoing Exit and Deal Advisory

    For a few select clients who are approaching a sale, or already inside one. I stay on through:

    • Indications of interest
    • Letters of intent
    • Due diligence
    • Deal structure
    • Buyer negotiations
    • Closing

    The point isn't to get it sold. The point is to protect what you spent decades building, right up to the wire.

    Talk to me about deal advisory

Why work with me

Joe Lau

I've started multiple companies, sold 3 of them to third-party buyers, and looked at over 100 businesses from the buyer's side of the table.

I've watched owners get taken apart on price because they were the system, or because the numbers were messy, or because the terms quietly put all the risk back on them.

I've also seen the other version, where a business is built to run without the person who started it.

That's the perspective and experience I bring to your exit. I am on your side.

Frequently asked questions

Am I too late if I want to sell in the next 6 to 36 months?

Probably not. The real question is what can actually be improved in the time you have, and that's what the call is for.

What if the business still depends on me?

That's the first thing we look at. It isn't fatal on its own. Ignoring it's what gets expensive.

Do you come in and run it?

No. This is done-with-you. You still run the business.

Do I have to commit to something long?

No. Start with the Exit Reality Check Call. We decide the next step after I understand your situation, not before.

Do you help with selling to family or to my staff?

No. This is for owners selling to an outside buyer.

Find out what your exit is actually worth.

You don't have to pick a package today.

You need to find out whether there's a real gap between where the business is now and where it needs to be.

If there's nothing worth fixing, I'll tell you.