06/15/2026
At the recent Dayton Business Journal Manufacturing Forum, Kate Vriner of Sunbelt was asked what most often stalls a deal or erodes value.
“Customer concentration is the big one. If 40% of your revenue walks out the door with a single account, every buyer sees risk.
After that, it tends to be messy financials, deferred maintenance on equipment, and an owner who is still the single point of failure for sales, relationships, and know-how.
A ready business looks different: clean books a buyer can trust, a team that can run the floor and manage customer relationships without the owner overseeing every detail, and equipment that is documented and maintained.
Here is the encouraging part: the businesses that stall are usually not bad businesses. They are good businesses that were never properly prepared. And almost all of it is fixable with enough runway.
That is exactly why we encourage owners to start early.”