The first step in the Exit Ratio 360 is not financial. It is not operational. It is personal. Before you evaluate your business across 360 dimensions, you have to answer one honest question: are you ready to sell? READY isn’t about judging you — it’s built to protect you from wasting your time if you are not actually ready. In the Exit Ratio 360™, READY has zero points — it is a decision system, not a scoring system. Scott’s book is available on Amazon. 🎧 Listen on Spotify
What is the READY framework in the Exit Ratio 360?
The READY framework is the entry point of the Exit Ratio 360 evaluation. It assesses whether the business owner is genuinely prepared to pursue a sale across five dimensions: Revenue fit, Equity and control, Appetite for the truth, Driver motivation, and Year horizon. It is the personal and organizational readiness check that precedes the full business evaluation — and it has zero points because it is a decision, not a score.
What is the READY framework in the Exit Ratio 360?
The READY framework is the entry point of the Exit Ratio 360 evaluation. It assesses whether the business owner is genuinely prepared to pursue a sale across five dimensions: Revenue fit, Equity and control, Appetite for the truth, Driver motivation, and Year horizon. It has zero points because it is a decision system, not a scoring system.
What the READY Framework Actually Measures
READY stands for five dimensions. R is Revenue fit — does your business do between $10M and $250M in annual revenue? E is Equity and control — who owns the business, who makes the decision? A is Appetite for the truth — can you hear what is broken? D is Driver — why now, why today? Y is Year horizon — how many years before your target exit are you starting this process? The driver dimension is where a lot of the real conversation lives. If your driver is vague, it is not a driver.
What is the driver dimension in the READY framework?
The driver dimension asks: why now, why today? Common triggers are birthdays around 40, 45, 50, or 55; seeing friends retire; health events. If your driver is vague, it is not really a driver. An owner with a good business and a weak driver ends up with delays, misses, and a window of opportunity that passes.
Why Starting with READY Matters
If you are not genuinely ready — if you have not made the commitment, if your identity is still fully fused with the business — the rest of the evaluation will not produce the results it should. The decisions you make when you have fully committed are completely different from when you are just considering it. Here is what nobody tells you: all the steps you take to prepare your business to sell are largely the same steps you take to grow the business. See also: LAUNCH Framework.
Why does READY have zero points in the Exit Ratio 360?
READY has zero points because it is a decision system, not a scoring system. It is the front door — either you pass through it or you do not. If you have not made the genuine commitment to prepare your business for sale, no amount of scoring on the remaining 360 points will produce meaningful results.
Full Episode Transcript
Aloha and welcome to episode number 30 — READY, the first step in the Exit Ratio 360. It is the front door to help you determine: am I ready to sell my business? READY isn’t about judging you. It’s built to protect you from wasting your time if you’re not ready. In the book, READY has zero points. It’s not a point-based system, it’s a decision-based system.
READY stands for five concepts. The first is R — Revenue fit. Do you fit the revenue profile? I typically work with companies between $10M and $250M. Second is E — Equity and control. Who owns the business, who makes the decision, who pulls the trigger? Third is A — Appetite for truth. Can you hear what’s broken? Fourth is D — Driver. Why now? Why today? Fifth is Y — Year horizon. Do you have five, four, three, or two years to prepare?
I’ve had people call me at six months saying they want to exit. We should have had this conversation started at least two years ago. Here’s what nobody ever tells you: all the steps that you take to prepare your business are largely the same steps you take to grow the business. Whether you want to sell or not — put the same framework in place. If you’re really after the maximum multiple and the retirement you deserve — let’s go down the path. Aloha and Mahalo.
Related: LAUNCH Framework | 5-4-3-2 Framework | Exit Ratio 360™ | Exit Ratio 360™ on Amazon
About Scott Sylvan Bell
Scott Sylvan Bell is a mid-market exit strategy consultant and the creator of the Exit Ratio 360™. His book is available on Amazon.