Confidential conversation — 20 minutesLet's talk — 20 min
FIRST STEP

Operational continuity diagnostic

Understanding precisely what still depends on the owner. A fact-based analysis of how the company actually runs, separating what is already autonomous from what still depends on your presence.

The Continuity Diagnostic can run before the transfer process begins, or alongside your advisers’ work. Either way, it gives a rigorous picture of how far the company still depends on the person running it.

The owner and the adviser analyse the company’s operational dependencies on a paper map.
FIELDWORK

What we examine

Fact-based reconstruction of how the business runs

We do not start from theory. We reconstruct how the business actually runs from what already exists: quotes, invoices, client files, orders, schedules, emails and working habits.

Map of critical dependencies

A clear picture of the decisions, client relationships, technical sign-offs and trade-offs that still rest solely with the outgoing owner.

Targeted, discreet interviews

In-depth interviews with the owner and, if you wish, with key members of the team, without disturbing the working atmosphere.

Document analysis used to reconstruct how the company actually runs.

Transfer status and prioritisation

A ranking of what can be transferred quickly, what needs a specific set-up, and what will deliberately stay with the owner until the agreed date.

Who runs things without you?

Projects · Trade-offs · Emergencies: observing how decisions actually flow day to day.

What are your partner or close team still carrying?

Administration · Access · Operational memory: examining the essential roles that are often informal.

DIAGNOSTIC DELIVERABLES

What you receive at the end of the diagnostic

Continuity report

A summary document setting out precisely what runs on its own and what still depends on you.

Handover map

A strategic guide setting out exactly what to transfer, to whom, by what means and on what timetable.

Preliminary evidence matrix

An inventory of verifiable items with which to show a buyer how solid the operational handovers are.

Continuity report, handover map and operational evidence laid out on a desk.
ETHICS & SCOPE

Scope of engagement & professional ethics

The diagnostic is neither a financial valuation of the company nor a legal or tax audit. It is strictly confined to the continuity of the business.

  • No valuation
  • No search for a buyer
  • No brokerage
  • No fee linked to the sale price
  • No legal advice
  • No tax advice
  • No promise of a higher price
“We work alongside your advisers, not in their place.”
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Questions business owners often ask

“We’re not Airbus.”
All the better. The point is not to turn your company into a bureaucracy. We look only for what a buyer needs to be able to understand, take on or check.
“It’s all in my head.”
That is common. An SME still leaves traces: invoices, quotes, emails, client files, orders, schedules, habits, people. We reconstruct from what already exists.
“My team already knows how.”
Possibly. In that case we separate: knowing how · having the authority to decide · being recognised by the client · actually working without you.
“I’ll stay on for six months after the sale.”
Six months can be enough. But only if you know precisely what has to be handed over in those six months.

Confidentiality & analytical rigour

Your company is not a textbook case. Information is handled as confidential business data. No critical conclusion is accepted without human validation.

GET IN TOUCH

Ready to take stock of your situation?

A first twenty-minute conversation is enough to weigh up whether a diagnostic makes sense.

Confidential conversation — 20 minutes