Map
Start with where you stand. The Marketing Due Diligence Assessment (or the faster $500 Snapshot) shows what a buyer would find and what each gap could cost.
Why marketing matters in exit planning
Most exit planning focuses on the numbers: clean financials, tax structure, the right advisor. Those matter. But a buyer isn't only buying last year's earnings. They're buying their confidence that the earnings will keep coming after you leave.
That confidence comes from marketing they can see:
- Customers who come from repeatable channels, not just your personal relationships
- A brand that belongs to the company, not to you
- A reputation and search presence that hold up when the buyer researches you
- A growth story backed by numbers, not by your say-so
Two businesses with the same revenue can sell for very different prices. Here's how one marketing gap shows up in the price. If the owner runs the marketing, a buyer has to hire someone to replace them, say a $120,000-a-year marketing lead. That comes off EBITDA, and an owner-dependent business often gets a lower multiple too:
- $1M EBITDA at 4x = a $4M business
- $880K EBITDA at 3.5x ≈ a $3.1M business
That's roughly a quarter of the value gone from a single gap. Pre-exit marketing positioning works on the things that close it.
What pre-exit marketing positioning covers
- Positioning a buyer understands. A clear answer to who you serve, what you're known for and why customers choose you. Buyers pay more for a defensible niche than for "we do a bit of everything".
- A brand that transfers. Shifting the brand from you to the company, so the business doesn't look like it walks out the door with the owner.
- Owned demand. Building the channels you own, like search visibility, your Google Business Profile, reviews and an email list, so growth doesn't stop when ad spend stops.
- Proof a buyer can check. Case studies, review volume, and lead and revenue reporting that ties to closed deals.
- The growth story. A clear, numbers-backed account of where growth has come from and where it can go next, ready for your advisor's buyer materials.
- Clean ownership. Making sure the domain, website, ad accounts, Google profile, CRM and email list are in the company's name before anyone asks.
How it works
Pre-exit positioning follows the Ronin Method, scoped to your timeline to a sale.
Build
Fix the foundation first: positioning, brand, website, account ownership and the systems that track every lead.
Grow
Build the owned channels and the proof: search, reviews, case studies and reporting.
Multiply
Turn up what works, so the track record a buyer reviews is as strong as it can be when you list.
When to start
Ideally one to three years before a sale. That's enough time to fix what the assessment finds and build a track record a buyer can see. A buyer will look back at 24 to 36 months of performance, so the sooner the numbers improve, the more of that window they cover.
Starting later still helps. Even six months is enough to clean up account ownership, document how marketing works and get your reporting in order.
Pre-exit marketing vs. marketing due diligence
They're two halves of the same job.
- Marketing due diligence is the diagnosis: what a buyer would find in your marketing today, rated and priced.
- Pre-exit marketing positioning is the treatment: the work that fixes those gaps and builds the value a buyer pays for.
Pricing
Pre-exit positioning is part of a fractional CMO engagement, not a separate product. Engagements run $2,500 to $10,000 a month, priced by scope and the outcomes we agree on, not by hours. If you want to see what needs fixing first, start with the Marketing Due Diligence Assessment.
Who it's for
- Owners of businesses doing $1 million to $10 million a year who plan to sell in the next one to five years
- Owners who still bring in most of the work themselves
- Owners working with, or about to engage, an M&A advisor or broker
Who you'll work with
I'm Justin Smith, founder of Ronin Communications. I run an M&A advisory practice alongside Ronin, so every plan I write starts with one question: what's the end game? Before Ronin, I spent more than 20 years in strategic communications and marketing for the federal government.
"He views marketing through the lens of enterprise value and M&A readiness, not just clicks or impressions. He builds transferable infrastructure that reduces founder dependency and actually compounds a business's valuation multiple."
Clayton Joyner, mastermind peer
Pre-exit marketing FAQ
What is pre-exit marketing?
Marketing work done in the years before a sale to make the business easier to buy and worth more: clear positioning, a brand that belongs to the company, owned channels, and proof a buyer can check.
How does marketing increase business valuation?
Buyers pay more for revenue that's predictable, diversified and not dependent on the owner. Marketing decides where customers come from, whether the pipeline runs without you, and whether the numbers hold up in diligence.
How far ahead of a sale should I start?
One to three years is ideal. Buyers review 24 to 36 months of history, so earlier work shows up in more of it.
How is it priced?
It's part of a fractional CMO engagement, which runs $2,500 to $10,000 a month, priced by scope and outcomes, not hours.
Do you guarantee a higher sale price?
No. I won't promise a sale price or a number of leads. You'll know where you stand, what to fix, and how the work is progressing.
Does this replace my M&A advisor?
No. Your advisor runs the sale. This makes sure the marketing side of the business is as strong as it can be when buyers look.