How to Turn Your Business into an Asset Investors Gladly
Pay You a Premium For … and Delivers You Better Income and Lifestyle While You Own it

Thinking about exiting your business? Before you do, it’s crucial you understand the reality of what happens when owners go to market without the right preparation.

My buddy Phil spent years as a business broker, and he was the first to admit it: most brokers are purely transaction focused. They’re like real estate agents — close the deal, collect the commission, move on. What they don’t do is help you grow revenues, increase profits, or lift your EBITDA value (Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation) so that you can achieve a higher multiple when you sell.

And here’s the truth most brokers won’t tell you:

• 95% of businesses don’t last more than 10 years.
• 80% of businesses listed for sale never sell at all, even if they’re profitable and well-established (BizBuySell).
• Of the 20% that do sell, most don’t achieve the seller’s asking price. The average SME multiple is just 2.8x.
• In fact, 80% of businesses never even reach $2mm per year in revenue.

So why does this happen?

It usually comes down to two things:

1. Revenues and profits are too low. If your valuation hasn’t hit the $10mm threshold that attracts Family Offices, Private Bankers, or Private Equity buyers, you’re unlikely to get their attention.
2. The business can’t run without the owner. In this case, you’re not really selling a business; you’re selling a job. And no serious investor pays top dollar for something that requires them to show up every day. They’re looking for passive income, not another full-time role.

The Core Problem

The root cause of this, is thinking and behaving tactically, instead of strategically. The tactics originate with the people you have listened to, who in turn, were taught the same way of thinking by other, tactical people. It’s a bit like inheriting a genetic defect which makes you work too hard and struggle too much.

If you’ve ever wondered why you struggle, that’s probably the reason, and when combined with the constant onslaught of often conflicting messages about which tactic you should use, it can lead to inertia or downright paralysis.

The thing to do is to find what is working now, and do more of that. And forget all the new stuff, until the time is right.

Every year, about 3.5 million businesses go up for sale globally. Only a small fraction actually finds the right buyer at the right price. The real question is: why should anyone choose yours?

And, what are you going to do about changing that?

Remember, 80% of businesses never break the $2mm a year mark.

Alchemising Your $1mm Business into an Investor Magnet

Many business owners only start preparing their business for sale a year or so before their planned exit. The reality is that you should be working on making your business an investable asset, from the very first day you open your doors.

At Business Alchemy, we talk about the ancient pursuit of transformation — turning the ordinary into the extraordinary. For the business owner with a team of maybe five people, generating $1–3 mm in revenue, this pursuit is deeply personal. You’ve built something remarkable. You have momentum. But you also feel the glass ceiling.

You’re profitable, but not dramatically so. You’re growing, but not exponentially. You know your business could be a goldmine, yet inefficiencies, untapped markets, and unrefined processes keep it grounded. Worse still, you are overwhelmed and stressed, not knowing who to listen to.

How would it be if you took stuff off your to do list, and stopped having to put out all those fires in your business, that spill over into your personal life?

This is where modern business alchemy begins. Attracting serious investment — whether from Venture Capitalists seeking rapid growth or a strategic acquirer looking for synergies — is not luck. It’s a deliberate transformation. The goal is to make your company so compelling that investors see not only what it is but what it can become.

Private Equity Funds and Family Offices rarely look at businesses your size. The ticket is too small, the due diligence too heavy. Your mission is to transform your enterprise into one they simply can’t ignore — not just a business, but a compelling investment thesis.

And that’s exactly what we help SMEs do. Business Alchemy is the only company in the Asia Pacific region applying our Private Equity strategies exclusively to small and mid-sized businesses. We don’t work with committees. We work directly with owners.

Exclusivity Matters

We take a partnership approach — sitting on the same side of the table as you. To keep things ethical, we’ll only work with one business per industry in your locality. No conflicts, no competing interests.

Our goal is simple: help you scale until you’re either acquisition-ready or sitting back on a self-sustaining, cash-generating company that runs without you.

The Alchemical Formula: How to Transform Your Business

Here’s how you turn your operation into an investor magnet:

1. Find Hidden Money and Assets

You’re too close to see it, but your business already has cash flow opportunities hiding in plain sight. By plugging leaks in your sales and marketing systems, you unlock extra revenue and stop money from slipping away. You can then scale your market share knowing you’re maximizing your revenue, profits and enterprise value.

2. Forge Your Scalable Story

Investors back future potential, not past performance. That means crafting a data-backed narrative of scalable growth.

• TAM Trap: Define your Total Addressable Market in billion-dollar terms. Don’t just say “local city” — show how you can expand nationally, digitally, or into adjacent markets.
• Engine of Growth: Outline the mechanism behind your future revenue — whether that’s a scalable sales process, proprietary tech, or a marketing loop that compounds results.

3. Systemise Everything

A founder-dependent business isn’t an asset; it’s a liability. Investors buy systems, not heroes.

• Documented Processes: From sales onboarding to customer support, show operational maturity.
• Financial Rigor: Use GAAP accounting (or equivalent). Understand your LTV:CAC ratio. If you can’t prove your economics, investors walk away.

4. Build Intellectual Property (Your Moat of Gold)

A unique product is good; a defensible position is priceless.

• Formalise IP: Protect your brand, methods, or tech with patents, trademarks, or copyrights.
• Data as an Asset: Collect, analyse, and leverage customer and market data. This is often the most valuable, least visible asset you own.

5. Demonstrate Traction

Momentum sells.

• Key Metrics: Highlight MRR, growth rates, retention, and churn.
• Customer Proof: Secure recognisable “logo” clients to de-risk the investment.

6. Assemble Your Guild of Advisors

No one does this alone. Surround yourself with experts who speak investor language.

• A Fractional CFO for investor-grade financials.
• A specialised M&A lawyer for structure and protection.
• A strategic partner (like us) to refine operations, harden financials, and sharpen your narrative.

The Alchemical Process

Attracting serious investment isn’t a single event — it’s a journey. By systemising operations, building defensible IP, crafting a scalable story, and demonstrating traction, you shatter the ceiling. You can move from being a $3mm company to a potential $30mm or more business in waiting.

That’s the goldmine. That’s the quest.

Our Strength is seeing the things which most others can’t, that enable you to scale and grow, while reducing the things you have to do to get the result you want. So, you finally have the money and time freedom you went into business to get.

Ready to Begin Your Transformation?

Here’s my offer: let’s have a conversation. In 30 minutes, I’ll help you identify where the leverage points are in your sales and marketing, uncover what’s working, and point out what you should stop doing immediately.

Why do I do this? Because some of the people I speak with end up becoming clients. And yes — retaining me is expensive. But I’m so confident in the value of this conversation that if you feel I wasted your time, I’ll personally give you $500 for those 30 minutes.

Best case: you leave with clarity and actionable strategies.

Worst case: you get paid $500.

My Criteria

To respect both our time, here’s who I can work with:

1. You have an existing business making money (no start-ups).
2. You sell ethical products (no porn, gambling, or “biz opp” schemes).
3. You’re willing to take action. No Time Wasters allowed.
4. You’re turning over at least $500k.
5. You advertise or are willing to.
6. You already have momentum and goodwill in your market.
7. You’re willing to fill out a short application.

Apply here: business-alchemy.com/call-schedule

Once you apply, you’ll get access to my Power Marketing 101 training (worth US$999), which will help you create a unique message and a client acquisition system. You’ll also get the exact worksheets the 200 + members of the worlds’ largest business growth consultancy network use for theirs and their clients’ businesses.

Or, if you’d like to test us out first, subscribe to our daily scaling strategies: short tips, tutorials, and worksheets to help you scale without stress.

Get them here: business-alchemy.com/SuperSystem-subscribe

Disclaimer: We are not financial advisors. Results are not Guaranteed or typical. Past performance does not guarantee future performance. Investments may go down in value. You are responsible for your own due diligence.  Any figures quoted are for illustration purposes only.