This week’s episode of Built to Sell Radio features Ujwal Arkalgud, co-founder of MotiveBase. He built the same company twice. In chapter one, he ran a profitable research services firm that threw off cash but was hard to sell. In chapter two, he turned that expertise into a productized subscription and sold it for more than 15x EBITDA – roughly triple the offer he received as a simple service business.
If you’re running a service company that feels capped on valuation, this one will change how you think about chapter two. You’ll discover how to:
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Treat a profitable services firm as your first chapter, not your final destination
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Turn bespoke consulting into a productized offer buyers can underwrite and pay up for
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Bundle “unlimited” expert support to push ACV from modest licenses into six-figure deals
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Decide when to kill a cash-cow services line to build a more valuable, sellable business
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Package your revenue, so acquirers see true recurring value instead of project work
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Build a sales model that works without you in every deal, so private equity will pay a higher multiple
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Use a failed offer as a blueprint to fix what buyers worry about and come back for a much bigger exit
If this episode has you thinking about your own second chapter, you can also grab one of our eBooks on preparing your company for an exit and start sketching what your next version could look like.
Quote of the Week
If you can’t fit your unique business into a little Lego structure that snaps into theirs, you’re not going to get bought.
Deals
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Industrial Oils Unlimited (IOU), a Tulsa-based manufacturer of industrial lubricants and specialty fluids used in manufacturing, energy, food processing, and heavy-duty transportation, has been acquired by HF Sinclair Corporation for $38 million, including about $15 million in working capital. The deal values IOU at roughly 3.5x its expected 2027 EBITDA.
