The number the price
conversation starts from
A consulting practice for owners and buyers: understand what the business is worth before negotiations begin and before someone names a price to you. If you are buying — understand what exactly you are being sold. This is analysis and an explanation of the mechanics, not a statutory appraisal report — the difference is explained below, and it matters.
Business value
Express value analysis
A working range for the value of a company or a stake — for decisions and negotiations.
- A range, not a single number
- Income-based maths, cross-checked with multiples and net assets where data allows
- An explanation of where every figure comes from
Financial model
How specific decisions show up in the value — before you make them.
- Scenarios: growth, stagnation, decline
- Sensitivity to key assumptions
- What adds the most value
Preparing for a sale
What the buyer will look at and what is worth fixing in advance.
- Weak spots that will knock the price down
- The data package for the buyer
- Bargaining logic and price justification
Second opinion on someone else's numbers
When the price was named by the other side and you need to know what stands behind it.
- How well the assumptions match your situation
- Where a figure looks inflated or understated — economically
- Arguments for the negotiation
Negotiation support
At the table on your side of the price conversation — with numbers, not hunches.
- Position and bargaining limits prepared in advance
- Taking apart the other side's arguments
- Recording what was agreed
Preparing for a statutory appraisal
Where the law requires a formal appraisal report — I help you get through it cleanly.
- Collecting and checking the data
- Framing the assignment for the appraiser
- Walking through the finished report with you: what it says and how to use it
Before you pay —
know what for
The seller shows the business at its best, and that is normal. The buyer's job is to see the same picture without the stage lighting: what the revenue rests on, what leaves together with the previous owner, and what number remains when the one-offs end.
What you are actually buying
What stands behind the revenue: where the money comes from and how stable that construction is.
- Revenue structure and dependence on two or three key clients
- What rests personally on the owner and leaves with them
- Contracts that do not transfer to the new owner automatically
Verifying the seller's numbers
How well the management story matches the accounts and the contracts.
- Normalising profit: one-off income and expenses
- Debt load and off-balance obligations
- Discrepancies worth asking about before signing
Price and deal terms
What turns into a discount and what into a contract condition.
- How the findings change the number you were quoted
- What justifies a discount
- The economics of instalments and earn-outs — your lawyers put the wording into the contract
Services in this area are consulting: calculations, analysis and a walk-through of the assumptions for your management decisions and negotiations.
A statutory appraisal report under Russian Law No. 135-FZ may only be issued by a licensed appraiser — a member of a self-regulated organisation holding a qualification certificate. Where the law requires such a report — mortgage and pledge of state property, in-kind contributions to charter capital, share buyouts in JSCs, transactions with state and municipal property, challenging cadastral value, certain insolvency matters — I bring in a certified appraiser and manage the work on your side. Expert review of appraisal reports under Art. 17.1 of Law No. 135-FZ is performed only by SRO experts — I do not provide that service.
The pre-acquisition review in this format is financial and managerial: numbers, model, revenue stability. Legal and tax due diligence — title, licences, litigation and tax risks, the legal consequences of the deal — is run by lawyers and auditors; I work with them as one team and consolidate the findings into a single picture for the price decision.
How the work goes
- STEP 01
The task
Which company or stake, and why the number is needed: a sale, a purchase, a partner’s exit, a dispute or an internal decision.
- STEP 02
Data
Financial statements, management data, key contracts. I request the list once and in full.
- STEP 03
Calculation
A value range, a model and the assumptions, with an explanation of where each number comes from.
- STEP 04
Review and negotiation
A meeting on the results. If you decide so, I take part in the price discussion on your side.
- Express valuation analysis
- Pre-acquisition business review
- Deal support on the buyer’s or seller’s side
I do not issue official valuation reports under Law No. 135-FZ: when one is required, I bring in a certified appraiser.
What people come with
- A partner is leaving the businessA fair price for the stake and arguments both sides will accept.
- A buyer has been quoted a priceCheck what stands behind it and where the number is inflated.
- The owner is thinking of selling in a year or twoWhat will raise the value and what to put in order in advance.
- The other side brought its own calculationA second opinion: which assumptions drive the number and where to push back.
These are typical requests, not descriptions of specific cases: client information is never disclosed.
Frequently asked questions
How is your calculation different from a valuation report?
A valuation report under Federal Law No. 135-FZ of 29.07.1998 on valuation activity is issued by an appraiser who is a member of a self-regulatory organisation, and it is needed where the law requires it. My calculation is advisory: for negotiations and management decisions. If a report is mandatory, I bring in a certified appraiser and manage the work on your side.
What data is needed?
Three years of financial statements, management reports, revenue by client, debt load and key contracts. For a pre-acquisition review, whatever the seller is prepared to disclose within the deal.
Why is value a range rather than one number?
Price depends on assumptions: growth, risk, deal terms. A range shows the bargaining limits more honestly and reveals which assumption moves the number most.
How long does an express analysis take?
It depends on the quality of the data. I name the timing once I see the inputs, and I keep to it.
Do you do legal due diligence?
No. My review is financial and managerial. Legal and tax due diligence is done by lawyers and auditors; I work with them as one team and bring the findings together for the price decision.
Send the basics — what the company is and why you need the number. I will reply with what I can calculate and what data it takes.
Send the basicsThe other five tasks
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Financial diagnostics and a recovery plan when liabilities outrun cash flow.
02 / 06Mediation
Dispute resolution with a neutral intermediary — before court or alongside it. Faster and cheaper than litigation.
04 / 06Career strategy
For executives at a turning point: profile diagnostics and workable scenarios for the next step.
05 / 06Recruitment
From line staff to engineers and mid-level managers. Volume flow, targeted search, project teams.
06 / 06Training
Seminars and corporate programmes: money, negotiations, disputes, business value and hiring — on your cases.
Describe the task
in your own words
Write what is going on: you need a person, negotiations have stalled, you are weighing a move or a sale of the business, the cash flow does not add up. I will reply within one working day: what I can help with, how long it takes and the rough order of the price — or tell you straight if the task is not mine.
Follow. I write about the work, case breakdowns and what is going on around. Subscribe if you want to follow — for business, email or phone works better.
I reply myselfRequests come to me personally, with no managers or call centre in between.