Selling an Analytics Business

Most Analytics and market-research firms are valued as a multiple of the cash flow a new owner can realistically take home, after backing out one-time expenses and owner-specific perks. Price usually moves with renewal strength on trackers and ongoing programs, how replaceable the founder is in selling and presenting, and whether data rights are clean. You can start with Rejigg’s free valuation calculator, then pressure-test the number against your renewal mix and team depth.

No. Brokers often charge 5–10% of the sale price for a process you can run yourself when you have buyer access, a clean diligence flow, and a way to compare offers. Rejigg gives you pre-vetted buyers, digital NDAs, direct messaging, scheduling, and a built-in data room, and it’s free for sellers. For the step-by-step flow, start with the preparation guide.

Add-backs are expenses that helped you run the business, but likely won’t continue under a new owner, like one-time legal fees, personal travel, or above-market owner pay. In Analytics, buyers will push hard on add-backs that hide real delivery cost, such as “temporary” contractors who are actually part of steady capacity, or founder time that will need a paid director to replace it. List each add-back with a dollar amount and a short proof note, then store backup in a secure place like Rejigg’s data room.

Sometimes. SBA-backed buyers usually need a stable, transferable cash-flow business with clean books and a realistic owner transition plan. In Analytics, they focus on recurring revenue, customer concentration, and whether the founder is required to sell, manage accounts, and deliver the final narrative. They also expect predictable margins and clear documentation. You can model payments and scenarios with the SBA loan calculator before you negotiate.

Most sales take a few months, but the timeline stretches when diligence answers live in people’s heads instead of documents. Analytics deals move faster when you can quickly show what renews, who owns QA and definitions, and where your data comes from with clean rights. If you are still hunting for contracts, rebuilding financials, or moving tools out of personal accounts, expect more back-and-forth. Rejigg’s process tools and data room keep diligence organized once buyers are under NDA.

Expect monthly profit-and-loss statements, payroll and contractor detail, and a simple explanation of any one-time expenses. Analytics buyers also want revenue split by how it is delivered, such as trackers, ongoing support, subscriptions, and one-off studies, because the risk and renewal profiles differ across these offering types. If you use QuickBooks, Rejigg’s QuickBooks integration can pull clean financials into a shareable diligence package without a pile of spreadsheets.

Customer concentration is common in market research, so buyers usually dig into the story behind the percentage. They will ask what happens if a top client pauses for 60–90 days, how fast you can flex contractor and software costs, and whether key roles are dedicated to a single account. They also look at procurement behavior, like annual rebids and vendor re-onboarding. If you can show a realistic cost flex plan and credible lead flow, concentration often becomes a pricing and terms discussion.

Working capital is the cash the business needs to operate day to day, like unpaid client invoices minus bills and payroll you still owe. A working capital adjustment sets a “normal” level at closing, then the price moves up or down depending on what the business actually has that day. In Analytics, working capital can swing with large invoices, annual software renewals, and contractor payouts. It’s worth modeling a normal month before you sign.

An earnout pays you later if the business hits targets after closing. In Analytics, earnouts can get complicated because client budgets can freeze, procurement can force a rebid, and delivery quality depends on key people staying. If you consider one, stick to targets you can measure cleanly, like tracker renewals by named accounts, and define how staffing and delivery cost changes affect the calculation. Rejigg’s deal tracking and offer comparison help you evaluate earnouts next to cash offers.

Non-competes are meant to stop you from turning around and selling the same service to the same buyers right after closing. For Analytics firms, scope matters. A non-compete that matches your real niche, category, or tracker type is usually easier to live with than a blanket ban on “analytics.” You should also clarify whether advisory work, teaching, or investing is allowed. Your lawyer should draft it, but decide up front what you want your post-close work life to look like.

Buyers usually ask for financials, a customer list with revenue by account, SOW templates, key client and vendor contracts, and an org chart that shows who owns delivery. For Analytics, add a data-rights map, panel or sample vendor terms, and a few sanitized deliverables that demonstrate rigor without sharing raw respondent data. Rejigg includes a built-in secure data room so you can control who sees what and when, without emailing attachments around.

Start with proof of capability that does not give away raw access. A redacted deck, a recorded dashboard walkthrough, and a QA checklist usually show how you think without exposing vendor terms, definitions, or proprietary sources. Once a buyer is under NDA and behaving seriously, you can share limited access or a small sample dataset with written constraints. On Rejigg, buyers sign NDAs digitally before they can access sensitive materials in your data room.

Taxes depend heavily on how the sale is structured and what the buyer is actually buying, such as company equity versus selected assets. In Analytics firms, value can sit in contracts, software, datasets, and goodwill, and the way the price is allocated across those items can change your tax bill. Pull your accountant in early, before you accept headline terms, because two offers with the same price can lead to very different net proceeds.

Some clients and vendors treat a sale as a trigger for consent, re-onboarding, procurement review, or even a rebid. That can turn “recurring” revenue into an immediate retention project. The useful prep is a simple contract summary that shows which agreements require notice or approval, who the counterparty is, and what the process looks like in practice. Rejigg’s data room is a clean place to share the summary table and the underlying agreements once a buyer is under NDA.

Buyers worry about the people who carry client trust and protect quality, like the director who signs off on instruments and definitions, the analyst who owns dashboard logic, or the moderator clients ask for by name. Identify those roles early, learn what would keep them post-close, and build a retention plan that matches reality. Also, document how knowledge is shared so one resignation doesn’t break delivery. Rejigg helps by keeping buyer conversations and deal terms organized so retention doesn’t get negotiated in a panic.

Many buyers expect a few months of structured handoff across key accounts, recurring trackers, and any tooling tied to specific people. They typically want introductions to the new day-to-day account leads, support through at least one renewal cycle, and documentation of how QA decisions and definition changes get handled. If the founder currently sells and presents most work, buyers usually ask for a longer transition. You can plan it with the transition planning guide.

Compare offers on the parts that change what you actually take home: cash at close versus paid later, conditions that can delay payment, working capital terms, and any earnout targets. In Analytics deals, also compare what each buyer expects from you after closing, including founder involvement in renewals, readouts, and client retention. Rejigg’s deal tracking and offer comparison show terms side-by-side so you can see economics, timelines, and obligations in one view.