A job does not sell like an asset
The hardest truth in owner-built M&A is this: if the business cannot run without you, you have not built an asset, you have built yourself a job. Buyers know the difference immediately. They ask what happens when you leave, and if the honest answer is that everything slows down, the price reflects it.
The size of the discount
Owner dependency routinely costs a full turn of EBITDA or more. On a business earning $2M, one turn is $2M off the sale price, gone before any other line item is negotiated. Some buyers do not discount at all. They simply decline, because they cannot see a version of the business that works without the person selling it.
The fix takes months, so start early
Reversing owner dependency is the highest-return work an owner can do, and it is not fast. Building a management layer, documenting systems, and moving decisions off your desk takes months, sometimes the better part of a year. That timeline is exactly why preparation should start well before you plan to sell, not after you decide to.