When an owner asks me "what's my business worth," I usually answer with a different question: how much of it do you actually want to sell? Because in the lower-middle market, those two numbers are linked. The percentage you sell determines who controls what, how hands-on your buyer becomes, and — more than most owners expect — the multiple itself.

Traditional private equity treats every deal as a bespoke negotiation, which usually means the buyer's spreadsheet wins. We built NeoNox's tiered model to make the menu public instead. Here's the whole menu, with the trade-offs stated plainly.

Two questions decide your tier

  1. How much of your net worth needs to come out of the business? Not "what would be nice" — what does your family's next decade actually require?
  2. What do you want your Tuesday to look like in two years? Running the company? Advising it? Watching it from a lake?

Every tier is just a coordinate on those two axes: liquidity on one, involvement on the other.

Tier 1 — sell 10–20%: the rehearsal

You take chips off the table; nothing else changes. Your buyer gets a board observer seat and quarterly reviews, you keep every decision. Right for owners who love the work but hate the concentration risk. The trade: the smallest check, and you're still carrying the operation alone.

Tier 2 — sell 21–40%: the growth partner

Meaningful liquidity plus a partner in the room — one board seat, monthly reviews, and back-office help on projects you choose. You remain CEO and majority owner. Right for founders who see the next mountain and want capital and infrastructure to climb it. The trade: you now have a partner with a real vote on major decisions — mergers, big capex, C-suite changes.

Tier 3 — sell 41–60%: shared control

The midpoint, and the tier most owners circle back to after thinking it over. Significant cash at close, a meaningful stake retained, board control passing to your partner, and a 100-day plan to professionalize operations — reporting, pricing, systems. Right for owners who know the business has outgrown its infrastructure and want help fixing it while keeping real upside. The trade: strategy is now genuinely shared. If being overruled once a quarter sounds intolerable, stay in Tier 2.

Tier 4 — sell 61–80%: the weight comes off

Substantial proceeds, and the operational weight — accounting, HR, IT, compliance — moves to the buyer's back office. You choose your role: COO, advisor, or a gradual exit. Right for succession situations and for owners who are simply tired in a way a vacation doesn't fix. The trade: it's not your company anymore in the daily sense, and multiples here run lower than minority tiers — the buyer is taking on the execution risk you're handing off.

Tier 5 — sell 81–100%: the clean handoff

Full liquidity, an orderly transition on your timeline, and — with the right buyer — a company that still looks like yours in five years. Optional seller financing or an earn-out can raise total proceeds if you believe in the trajectory. Right for retirement, health, or a genuine next chapter. The trade: you're trusting someone else with the name on the door. Choose the buyer for who they are, not for the last 5% of price.

The honest math

Small-business multiples in our world run roughly 2–4× EBITDA as a base rate, and the band isn't arbitrary: size risk, key-person risk, and customer concentration are priced in. Your industry moves the band itself — recurring-revenue and licensed businesses often trade above it, project-based and capital-heavy work below. What moves you toward the top of the band is boring and buildable — a second line of leadership, no customer above 20% of revenue, clean normalized financials, and a growth trend that doesn't need explaining. What moves the number beyond the band is structure: if you want a higher headline price, expect tighter terms — an earn-out, seller financing, stronger governance. We call it "your price, my rules — or my price, your rules." Every buyer prices this way; few will say it out loud.

Start with the coordinate, not the multiple

Owners who start with "what's my multiple" end up negotiating against themselves. Owners who start with "how much needs to come out, and what do I want my week to look like" walk into every conversation knowing which tier they're shopping for — and it shows. Our three-minute assessment exists to give you that coordinate before you ever talk to us, or to anyone.