What is the real competition for knowing what your business is worth?

The real competition is not another tool, it is the status quo: most owners carry a rough number in their head and no plan to change it. 86% of owners have no professional valuation or only a rough estimate, and the cost of that gap stays invisible until a broker names it. The free diagnostic replaces the guess with an estimate and a ranked list of what to fix first.

How is Keystone different from a spreadsheet, an appraisal, or a broker?

Keystone is the only one of them built to read how much the business runs on you and track it month by month. A spreadsheet reflects your own guess, an appraisal is a one-time document, and a broker arrives when it is too late to change the number. Keystone estimates your sale price against ten years of closed transactions and ranks the fixes, free in four minutes.

An empty service-business workshop at dusk, the bench and tools waiting.

The alternatives

IT ALL STILLRUNS THROUGH YOU

A spreadsheet, a free calculator, a one-time appraisal, a broker, a fractional COO: each answers a different question, and every one of them leaves the same thing in place. The business still runs through you, and next year still looks like this one.

See what to hand off first

Four minutes, no card. Free, and everything you see is yours to keep.

The real competitor

Your biggest competitor is the version of this year that looks exactly like last year.

Not another tool. The status quo: a rough number in your head, a week that runs 60 hours, and no plan to change either. 86% of owners have no real valuation, and the cost of that gap stays invisible until a buyer prices it. Everything below does one honest job well, and none of them does this one.

10 years of BizBuySell Insight Reports (40 quarterly reports, 2016 to 2026)

1.6M+ SBA 7(a) loan records behind the confidence read

1.65x → 3.5x owner-dependent vs owner-light multiple on identical earnings

Ways to get the number

The valuation spreadsheet Spreadsheets It does the arithmetic. It cannot supply the one number that decides the price, or get you a day off. See the difference The status quo Doing nothing The status quo is the real competitor. It costs nothing today and six figures quietly. See the difference Free online calculators Online calculators An instant number you cannot act on. It misses the one driver that sets the price. See the difference The CPA appraisal A one-time appraisal A certified number for a deal, once. It will not tell you what to fix, or track it. See the difference

The help you would hire

The fractional COO A fractional COO Senior help that does the work for you. It will not show you which fix pays most. See the difference The business broker A business broker The right partner for the sale. They arrive after the number is already set. See the difference Exit-planning firms Exit-planning firms The right team for a big, complex sale. The value is built years before they arrive. See the difference

Looking for what your business is worth by trade? See valuation by trade. Want the free tools? The tools hub. Getting ready to sell? Start here.

The alternatives: common questions

What is the real competition for knowing what your business is worth?: The real competition is not another tool, it is the status quo: most owners carry a rough number in their head and no plan to change it. 86% of owners have no professional valuation or only a rough estimate, and the cost of that gap stays invisible until a broker names it. The free diagnostic replaces the guess with an estimate and a ranked list of what to fix first.
How is Keystone different from a spreadsheet, an appraisal, or a broker?: Keystone is the only one of them built to read how much the business runs on you and track it month by month. A spreadsheet reflects your own guess, an appraisal is a one-time document, and a broker arrives when it is too late to change the number. Keystone estimates your sale price against ten years of closed transactions and ranks the fixes, free in four minutes.

Free in four minutes

Stop comparing tools. Find the first thing keeping you in the business.

Three scores, an estimated sale price, and the ranked list of what is discounting your value. On identical earnings, owner-dependence alone is the 1.65x-to-3.5x swing.

See what to hand off first

Free in 4 minutes, no credit card. Add your email to see your scores and estimated sale price.