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Free NPMCA course · 10 lessons

Business Finance 202: Build a Business Worth Buying

Free lessons on making a contracting business profitable, bankable and sellable: statements, KPIs, recurring revenue, owner independence, valuation and exit.

Two people in business jackets shake hands

Photo: Bia Limova / Pexels, Pexels License

Lessons

  1. B202.1
    Profitable, bankable, sellable: the same habits

    7-minute read

  2. B202.2
    Read your financial statements like a buyer

    5-minute read

  3. B202.3
    Run on a scorecard: KPIs and budgets

    4-minute read

  4. B202.4
    Recurring revenue and customer mix

    5-minute read

  5. B202.5
    Build it to run without you

    5-minute read

  6. B202.6
    Banking at year three and beyond

    6-minute read

  7. B202.7
    Retirement plans for you and your crew

    6-minute read

  8. B202.8
    Protect what you built: partners, key people and continuity

    5-minute read

  9. B202.9
    What your business is worth and how to raise it

    6-minute read

  10. B202.10
    Exit and succession: selling to a competitor, employee, family, individual buyer or private equity

    7-minute read

Course final

Take the course final

Up to 20 questions from this course's lesson checks, scored when you finish. Pass with 80% to earn the course badge and a certificate of completion. Retakes are unlimited. It needs a free NPMCA account.

Go to the course final →

Course wrap-up

Your capstone Move

Build your Buyer-Ready plan: a few pages you keep with your books and update every winter, pulled together from this course's Moves. Check yourself against this list:

  • A valuation baseline: last year's SDE with proof for every add-back, and a starting range from published multiples (B202.1, B202.9)
  • The 30-Day Owner Absence drill under way: a one-day drill done, the fix list started, and a date set for a longer one (B202.5)
  • A customer-mix plan: your top ten customers' shares, and steps to grow other accounts until no one customer is above about 10%–15% of sales (B202.4)
  • A weekly scorecard running and a yearly bank review on the calendar (B202.3, B202.6)
  • If you have a partner, a signed buy-sell agreement or a meeting booked with counsel (B202.8)
  • A three-year plan: your route, target year, advisers, and three value builders with names and dates (B202.9, B202.10)

What's next

Personal Finance 202: Lead Your Family, if you haven't taken it. Your will, your own retirement and your 10-year money plan should line up with the plan you built for the business in this course.

Listen next

The Cash Flow Contractor and The Home Service Expert for a business that runs without you, and Contractor Success Forum for statements and dashboards.