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Engagements & Fees

How We Work —
and What It Costs.

No mystery, no pressure. Start with a free confidential call. Build value over time inside Owner's Compass. And when you're ready to sell, we work on a success fee — you pay nothing until your company sells. That's the whole relationship.

No Cost, No Obligation

Start with a Conversation

Most owners start here. A free 15-minute confidential call sorts out what fits, what it costs, and whether now is even the right time. No pitch, no pressure — operator to operator.

Free
Free

No cost, no obligation.

Schedule a Confidential Call

What you get

  • 15-minute confidential call
  • A straight answer on where to start
  • Free Exit Guide to take with you
Build Value Before You Sell

Owner's Compass

A low-commitment membership for owners of $500K–$2M firms who want to grow the business, build value steadily, and be ready when the time comes. The simplest way to start — including a clear read on where your business stands today, and a plan for making it worth more.

Membership
Starting at
$497 / month

or $4,970/year (two months free)

Month-to-month. No long-term commitment. Cancel anytime.

Start a Conversation

What's included

  • Directional Opinion of Value — a clear range on where your firm stands today
  • Growth & value-building playbooks — win better contracts, raise margins, reduce customer concentration, build recurring revenue
  • Quarterly security-industry M&A update — where multiples are, who's buying, what's selling
  • Self-serve exit readiness scorecard
  • Resource library access
  • One ad-hoc advisory call per quarter — growth, strategy, or exit questions

AI for Security Companies · +$200/month. Practical guidance to put AI to work in your operation safely — office hours, templates, and acceptable-use help built for a security business. (Hands-on implementation is scoped separately.) More on the AI for Security Companies page →

When you're ready to go to market, your formal, buyer-ready valuation is built as part of the sell-side engagement.

For Owners Ready to Grow

Owner's Growth Plan

A done-with-you program for owners of $1M–$5M firms who want to grow — not someday, now. We install and run the business-development engine that wins more of the right work and builds enterprise value through revenue. Month-to-month — stay as long as it's working.

New · Grow Now
Membership
$1,500 / month

Plus a one-time $5,000 onboarding sprint to stand up your system.

Month-to-month. Cancel anytime.

Start a Conversation

What's included

  • Everything in Owner's Compass
  • Monthly 1:1 growth strategy & pipeline review
  • A built BD engine — target-account list, outreach sequences & CRM pipeline
  • Reusable RFP & bid proposal kit
  • Digital presence & local-search oversight
  • Enterprise & government credentialing support — supplier diversity, SAM.gov, MBE/DBE
  • Monthly KPI dashboard tracking new revenue

Prefer we run the outreach for you? A fully managed (done-for-you) tier — where we own the prospecting and appointment-setting — is available at $2,500–$3,500/mo.

If You Need Work Before You List

Not Quite Ready? We'll Scope the Work.

Some owners need focused prep before going to market — cleaning up financials, reducing customer concentration, fixing licensing transferability, building the story a buyer will pay for. Others want hands-on help executing a growth plan — winning new contracts, building recurring revenue, scaling the team. We scope either to your situation and quote it plainly. No packaged menu, no surprises — just the work your company actually needs to grow and command its best price.

Discuss What You Need
When a Transaction Is in Play

When You're Ready to Sell, We Work on a Success Fee

You pay nothing until your company sells. No retainer. No monthly meter. We run the full process as your advisor — from positioning through close — and earn a success fee aligned to the value of the deal. Most M&A firms can't say that, because they live on retainers. We only win when you do.

The structure is straightforward, in line with lower-middle-market norms, and explained in plain terms in our first conversation — never a surprise, never buried in fine print.

Success-fee-only · aligned to your deal · discussed confidentially
Discuss an Engagement

What full advisory includes

  • Formal, buyer-ready valuation & financial normalization
  • KPI dashboard built around your numbers
  • Buyer universe mapping & peer benchmarking
  • Active, confidential buyer outreach
  • CIM & teaser preparation
  • LOI negotiation support
  • Diligence coordination through close

See the full path on the Sell Your Company page.

Fees, Plainly

What Owners Ask About Cost

How much does it cost to sell a security company?

Nothing to start — your first call is free. Many owners build value over time in Owner's Compass starting at $497/mo. When you sell, we work on a success fee aligned to your deal — you pay nothing until the company sells. Any focused prep work along the way is scoped to your situation and quoted plainly.

Do you charge a retainer or monthly fee to sell my company?

No. Our sell-side advisory is success-fee-only — no retainer, no hourly meter. The only fixed costs are the optional Owner's Compass membership and any per-client prep work, and both are modest and quoted clearly up front.

Will I know what my business is worth before I commit to anything?

Yes. Owner's Compass includes a directional opinion of value so you know where you stand today. Your formal, buyer-ready valuation is built as part of the sell-side engagement, at no separate charge.

I'm years away from selling. Is it too early?

No — that's the ideal time. Owner's Compass (starting at $497/mo) is built exactly for owners who want to build value and stay ready without committing to a full engagement.

I don't want to sell — I want to grow. Is there something for me?

Yes. The Owner's Growth Plan ($1,500/mo) is a done-with-you program that installs and runs your business-development engine — targeting, outreach, bids, and credentialing — so you win more of the right work now. It includes everything in Owner's Compass, so you build enterprise value while you grow. Most owners start with a 90-day onboarding sprint, then continue month-to-month.

Operator to Operator

Not sure where to start? Neither were most of our clients.

A confidential call sorts it out in fifteen minutes — what fits, what it costs, and whether now is even the right time.

Schedule a Confidential Call