We want to sell our business in eighteen months, but several of our key managers currently sit in custom, highly specialized hybrid seats that do not exist in standard companies. How do we restructure these Frankenstein seats on our Accountability Chart to make our business attractive to professional buyers?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Private equity firms and strategic buyers hate customized hybrid seats. They call this key-person risk. If a single employee owns a Frankenstein seat that combines IT management, customer service, and payroll administration, a buyer will see a massive point of failure. If that person leaves post-transaction, the business could collapse.

To prepare for a clean exit, you must build your Accountability Chart for the future, not around your current staff's unique skill sets. Use Step by Step Exit frameworks to design a clean, logical organizational structure. Your departments should be clearly defined: Sales and Marketing, Operations, and Finance and Administration.

Once you have mapped out the ideal structure, evaluate your current team. You will likely need to unbundle these hybrid seats. Break the roles apart and assign them to distinct, standardized seats. If this leaves gaps, use your Level 10 Meeting™ to map out a clear hiring plan or utilize fractional leaders. A buyer wants to see clean, standardized seats with documented processes. This shows them that the business is a plug-and-play asset rather than a chaotic organization dependent on a few quirky, irreplaceable employees.