HeritagePlatform Group

Insights · The M&A Education Hub

The whole truth about selling, keeping, and everything in between.

Twenty-five pieces, written from the buyer’s side of the table, on the seller’s side of the question. We give away the whole playbook, because teaching it is the proof.

◆ How to read this library: everything here is education. No piece asks for your email to finish. Every test published here works on Heritage as cleanly as on anyone else; point them at us first. Your accountant, attorney, and family make every real decision with you.

How owners actually use this library.

Nobody arrives looking for a taxonomy. You arrive with one question, the one this year put in front of you. The library is built as a ladder. Climb as far as you need and stop wherever you like.

Rung one · Arrive

Come in through your question, not our categories.

Six doors below. Pick the one that sounds like this year. Each opens to two to five pieces, ordered from first-read to deepest.

Rung two · Read

Every piece states what it is, what it is not, and who is talking.

Buyer’s-chair mechanics, plain figures, and the honest cons stated near the top. You can read one piece and leave better armed, including against us.

Rung three · Go deeper

Each piece hands you to the next honest question.

“What is it worth” leads to “what raises it.” “Who buys” leads to “what happens to my people.” The doors connect the same way the questions chain in your own head late at night.

The top rung · When you want it applied to yours

The Read

Reading gets you a long way, and your own specifics are where it stops. The Read is a structured conversation with our principals, followed by a written, plain-English view of where your business stands. Sometimes it says keep it, and explains why. You keep the document either way.

Start The Read

This is the only next step the library will ever offer. There is no quiz, no email gate, and no price list.

Never been here before? Start with these three

The flagship

Sell, grow, or hold: the three honest answers to “what’s next,” and how to know yours.

The fork before any transaction. Read this one first.

 The number

How much is my business worth? SDE vs EBITDA, plainly.

The two figures under every valuation conversation.

 Who’s talking

What we’ve actually done, and what we won’t claim.

200+ studied, 20 offers, 3 bought and operated. We state it plainly so you can discount it honestly.

Six doors in. Pick the one that sounds like this year.

Every piece in the library lives behind exactly one of these questions. Open a door; the pieces are ordered from first-read to deepest.

Door one“What happens to this place when I’m done?”4 pieces+
Sell, grow, or hold: the three honest answers to “what’s next”Start hereThe seven ways out of a business you built, and who each one is really for12 minSell for the right reason, or the right price is still the wrong sale9 minThe regret usually isn’t the price. It’s the after.10 min
Where this door leads next: “Who should keep it, and what happens to my people?”
Door two“I don’t want to sell. I want it to run better, grow, and outlast me.”5 pieces+
Growing without selling: what changes when the goal is a business that outlasts youStart hereYour involvement feels like strength. It’s the biggest question in the room.10 minYour systems talk before you do8 minYour business outgrew its brand. The gap costs money, not just looks9 minProcess before technology: where AI actually pays in a business like yours11 min
Where this door leads next: “What is it actually worth?” Growth reads differently once you know what moves the number.
Door three“What is my business actually worth?”4 pieces+
How much is my business worth? SDE vs EBITDA, plainlyStart hereThe multiple isn’t set by your industry. It’s raised or lowered by things you control11 minThe buyer’s checklist you can run on yourself two years early10 minInventory or a home: you can tell which one a buyer thinks your business is before you sign12 min
Where this door leads next: “I have a deal in front of me.” The number only matters once paper appears.
Door four“I’ve decided to sell. How do I not get taken?”3 pieces+
The broker red flags a seller should watch for, seen from the buyer’s chairStart hereThe financials package isn’t where diligence starts. Here’s where it actually starts.10 minThe rule didn’t change your price. It changed who can still write the cheque.9 min
Where this door leads next: “I have a deal in front of me”
Door five“I have an LOI, and something feels off.”3 pieces+
How buyers take millions off the price after the LOI, explained by one that refuses to run itStart hereThe file that decides whether your price survives — the forty answers a buyer will ask for13 minEarnouts, holdbacks and seller notes, explained by someone who structures them13 min
Mid-deal and want a second pair of eyes on yours? That’s exactly what The Read is for.
Door six“Who should keep it, and what happens to my people?”4 pieces+
Family, managers, or an outside buyer: the three successions, honestly comparedStart hereWhat actually happens to your employees after each type of buyer buys11 minWhen to tell your people you’re selling, and why who’s buying changes the answer9 minA promise you can’t enforce is not stewardship. It’s marketing.8 min
Who’s talking, plainly: A buyer that keeps: what Heritage is, all four arms, and the honest cons · What we’ve actually done, and what we won’t claim

Printable one-page tools.

No email, no gate. None produces a valuation — they show you what a buyer will look at.

The add-back test The evidence index The first-hour sweep The eight-driver self-assessment

Coming to these shelves, in order: a written masterclass series on the sell-side process end to end, then owner conversations, then weekly commentary. Articles come first, and nothing ships until it is worth your evening.

When reading stops being enough.

These pieces will hold up at any table. When you want the same honesty applied to your own business, ask for The Read: a conversation with our principals, followed by a written view you keep, whatever you decide.

Start The Read