Our Mission
Built for owners and
the advisors who guide them.
To help business owners and their advisors build the strongest company possible, aligned with the owner's goals, whether that means operating and growing it for the long term, passing it to the next generation, or selling it for the greatest possible valuation.
The Problem
Most businesses cannot survive without their owner.
After talking with business brokers and owners across the country, a pattern emerged. Only a small percentage of businesses on the market were truly turnkey. The rest were entirely dependent on the owner for sales, operations, relationships, and decisions. Without the owner, there was no business.
The result was predictable. Owners were burned out, working 60-hour weeks with no end in sight. And when it came time to sell, buyers discounted heavily or walked away entirely. A business that cannot run without its owner is not a business. It is a job.
The tools that existed either showed financial dashboards without operational context, or relied on owner self-reporting without any connection to real data. No one was applying the forensic rigor of Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) due diligence as a daily operational standard. That was the gap.
Why We Built This
The insight came from the market itself.
Valuation Vitals was founded by Jon Richter after 20+ years of growing, acquiring, and selling successful software businesses. When Jon set out to purchase a business of his own, he went through the same due diligence process he had run dozens of times and found the same fragility everywhere he looked.
The idea was straightforward. What if every small business owner and the advisors who guide them had access to the same forensic lens that acquirers use? Not as a one-time report before a sale, but as an ongoing operational benchmark that showed exactly what was fragile, exactly how to fix it, and exactly how each improvement strengthened the business.
The platform serves advisors and owners because their interests are aligned: a stronger business is better to own, better to advise, and better positioned for whatever comes next: growth, succession, or sale.
A business that is ready to sell at any moment is, by definition, a business with documented processes, diversified revenue, and a management layer that does not rely on the owner working 60 hours a week. That business is also a better business to own. That is the insight at the core of Valuation Vitals.
You Are Not Alone
A benchmark, not an audit.
Most owners already know something is fragile. The problem is not awareness. It is that seeing it confirmed feels like judgment. We built Valuation Vitals to feel like a peer benchmark, not an audit.
When your score flags a single point of failure, whether that is owner dependency, revenue concentration, undocumented processes, or any other structural risk, you also see that the majority of businesses at your revenue level share the exact same vulnerability. You then see the specific steps similar businesses took to fix it and the valuation multiple they gained as a result.
The goal is never to grade you. It is to show you where you stand, prove you are not alone, and show you exactly what is on the other side if you take the next step.
The Founder
Built by someone who has been on both sides of the table.
After 20+ years of growing, acquiring, and selling successful software businesses, Jon set out to start a new chapter and purchase a business he could transform with technology. What he found in the market was consistent. Owners were trapped by their own businesses, unable to step away, and unable to sell at the value they deserved.
Valuation Vitals is his answer to that problem for owners and the advisors who serve them. A platform that gives both sides the same M&A-grade lens so they can fix what is fragile, reclaim time, and build a stronger company aligned with the owner's goals.
Our Principles
How we operate.
Forensic honesty
We show you what the data actually says, not what you want to hear. The score reflects reality, and the Resilience Roadmap addresses it directly.
Action over diagnosis
Every flagged risk comes with a specific action plan. We do not just identify problems. We give you the steps to fix them.
Aligned with your goals
Owners define the destination; strength is the common path. Grow, pass it on, or sell. A stronger business serves every goal.
Better together
The same forensic view helps owners and advisors work from one set of facts, so guidance is grounded in data and progress is measurable.
Data privacy
Your financial data is sensitive. We never sell it, never share it, and never use it to train AI models. It exists solely to serve you, and you are always in control of your data.
Get in touch
Questions about the platform, partnership opportunities, or just want to talk through your business situation? We would love to hear from you.