The Intelligent Builder
Why Most Contractor Businesses Can't Sell (And What to Fix First)
Nitin Khanna has been selling construction and trade businesses in Canada and the U.S. for 16 years. Before that, he managed over $700M in private equity assets and spent years inside billion-dollar construction firms. He's seen the inside of hundreds of contractor businesses, and his read is consistent: most of them couldn't sell today even if they wanted to. In this episode, Nitin breaks down the three things that kill a contractor's exit, owner dependency, unclean financials, and no systems, and explains exactly how buyers discount for each one. We get into why books optimized for tax purposes become a liability at sale time, how buyers structure deals when the business can't survive without the owner, and what the roofing company that sold for $500K and resold for $1.5M two years later actually did differently. We also cover the two-month disappearance test, the 80% delegation rule, and the return-on-time framework for figuring out what you should stop doing this week. If you're planning to sell someday and haven't started preparing, this episode will show you how far behind you probably are and what to do about it. Guest: Nitin Khanna — Founder and President, N3 Business Advisors Host: Owen Gagne Sponsor: Plutus Agents — Custom systems. Built for your team.
