New Sale Readiness Platform Helps Identify and Address Critical Obstacles That Prevent Successful Sales
CHICAGO, Dec. 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — ExitMinded, LLC, today announced its official launch, introducing a new advisory platform designed to help closely-held and founder-owned middle-market businesses improve both the likelihood of a successful sale and the value ultimately realized in an exit.
There are nearly 15 million privately held businesses in the United States, with a significant portion owned by founders approaching retirement. Yet only an estimated 20–30% of business owners who attempt to sell ultimately find a buyer. * ExitMinded was created to address this gap—providing business owners with the preparation, insight, and resources required to become truly “sale-ready.”
“Most owners underestimate the complexity of selling a business and overestimate how prepared they are,” said Matthew Phillips, Co–Founder and Managing Director of ExitMinded. “Most M&A bankers aren’t interested in working with businesses that are not yet sale-ready. They are incentivized to focus on the companies that offer the best fee potential within the shortest period of time: businesses that are already fully sellable, with little or no transaction risk.”
At the heart of ExitMinded’s service offering is its proprietary Sale Readiness Assessment, that identifies more than 60 unique obstacles that can impair valuation or prevent a transaction altogether. The Assessment encompasses finance and accounting, legal, regulatory, and tax, ownership and governance, operations and facilities, management and personnel, information systems and technology, R&D and customer and vendor relationships, among others. Each identified issue is scored, prioritized, and paired with actionable recommendations.
“Our mission is to level the playing field for businesses that are traditionally overlooked,” said Gian Ricco, Co–Founder and Managing Director. “Owners who start preparing one to five years ahead of a planned exit put themselves in a dramatically better position. When they ultimately go to market, they know what to expect—and they become the businesses advisors and buyers actively pursue.”
In addition to its core Sale Readiness Assessment, ExitMinded offers a suite of complementary services designed to help owners move from diagnosis to solution:
- Sale Readiness Plan Design – Development of a detailed, prioritized, and time–bound roadmap to address identified obstacles
- Sale Readiness Plan Implementation – Support in assembling and managing a team of trusted experts to drive organizational change
- Peer Advisory Groups – Small, curated groups of similarly situated owners working through common sale readiness challenges
ExitMinded founders bring decades of legal, corporate finance, and transaction advisory experience across a diverse range of industries, including manufacturing, business and industrial services, healthcare, and software and technology.
About ExitMinded
The vast majority of middle-market business owners who expect to sell their companies won’t be successful. ExitMinded exists for these businesses, who are typically ignored by experienced M&A professionals. By identifying and providing executable solutions to remedy the obstacles that can dramatically reduce saleability as well as valuation, ExitMinded helps business owners and their businesses become truly “sale-ready.”
For more information, visit www.exit-minded.com.
*2023 State of Owner Readiness (U.S. National Report), Exit Planning Institute; 2023 Market Pulse Report, International Business Brokers Association & M&A Source; 2023 BizBuySell Insight Report (released January 2024); 2024 Private Capital Markets Report (released mid-2024), Pepperdine Private Capital Markets Project (PCMP).
Media Contact:
Branden Cook
618 660 6963
[email protected]
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SOURCE ExitMinded
