Your story explains your numbers

The short version

• Your numbers set the range a buyer will consider. Your story decides where in that range you land, and which buyer you end up with.
• A good story explains the numbers: why they look the way they do and why they will continue.
• It shows what a buyer cannot see in a spreadsheet: your reputation, your people and how you win work.
• It must be true and it must match the records. A story that the numbers do not support hurts more than no story.

What the story does

Two businesses can have nearly identical numbers. A buyer will still prefer one of them. The difference is usually the story: how the business was built, why customers stay, what the team is like and where the business could go next.

Numbers tell a buyer what happened. The story tells them why, and whether it will keep happening.

What belongs in it

• How the business started and grew, in a few paragraphs.
• What you do better than anyone nearby, and how you know.
• Why customers choose you and stay. Retention, referrals, reviews and long relationships.
• Your people. Who they are, how long they have stayed, what they can do without you.
• The hard years, and how the business came through them.
• What a new owner could do next. The growth you saw but did not pursue.

Explain the numbers

Your story should account for every trend a buyer will notice:

• A dip in one year: what happened, and what changed after.
• A jump in another: whether it will repeat.
• A change in margins: the reason.

Unexplained changes invite questions. Explained ones build trust.

The story has limits

A story cannot lift a price above what the earnings support. Buyers and their lenders will still hold your price against the benchmarks in Step 3. What a strong story does is help a buyer believe your earnings will last, which supports a price at the stronger end of your range.

Every claim must match the records in your data room. A buyer will check.