In a sale, no one at the table is truly on the owner's side. That is where we sit, a team of professionals who have sold businesses before and whose only agenda is your outcome, with guidance completely detached from whether the deal closes.
Private application, reviewed personally by Rob. No obligation, and an honest answer either way.
Most owners only sell once. The advisors around you do this constantly, and almost all of them have an incentive that is not simply your best outcome.
A success fee means they earn when the deal happens. A closed deal, even a mediocre one, pays better than the honest answer of "not yet."
Long-term client relationships are the business. There is little reason to push you toward the exit that may end the engagement.
A flat retainer, plainly stated. No success fee, no deal dependency. The only thing we are optimizing for is the decision that is genuinely best for you.
“Can I not just use my banker or attorney?” You can, and many owners do. The difference is who they are paid to serve. An owner-side advisor on a flat fee is the only seat at the table with no reason to want anything other than your best outcome.
It is how Rob explains the work, and how millions of dollars in value get protected instead of chipped away.
Get your house in order, know your number, and remove the land mines that quietly destroy deals and valuations: revenue concentration, outdated contracts, and a business that leans too heavily on you.
Assemble the right team, create genuine competitive tension, and avoid the traps professional buyers use to chip away at your price. This is where millions are won or lost, and where a co-pilot on your side of the table pays for itself many times over.
Prepare for life after the sale, so you do not just sell your business, you step into a better and more purposeful next chapter. Wealth and family office planning, plus the personal side most advisors skip entirely.
Even if you are one to three years out, this is exactly when the readiness work pays off. Starting early is what protects your number later, and there is never any obligation to move faster than you want to.
Rob is not a consultant who studied M&A. He is a serial entrepreneur who has lived it. Over more than 30 years he founded, scaled, and sold a series of industrial and infrastructure businesses, including Portable Solutions Group, which he grew into a global platform serving customers on six continents before selling it to private equity in 2024.
He is the named inventor on 40 patents across 36 countries, and he built all of it not from a skyscraper in Manhattan but from Ironton, Ohio. He has now sat on the sell-side of the table eight times, sits on a private equity board, hosts a podcast featuring other owners, and wrote the book on preparing a business for a premium exit. That hard-won experience is exactly what he brings to your corner when it is your turn.
“In the first few months, our EBITDA improved by nearly $300,000 annually. The advice that I have received from Owner’s Co-Pilot has made the business much more pleasurable to own and operate.”
“I was surprised by how much I had to learn when it came to selling this business that I knew so well. Robert Slagel was a trusted advisor and helped me watch for pitfalls through this complicated M&A process.”
“Anyone who is considering an exit or transaction of their business would greatly benefit from engaging Rob. He will provide guidance with style and grace.”
“For an owner preparing for a future exit, or simply trying to build a stronger and more scalable company, Robert offers practical guidance from someone who has actually built, grown, and sold businesses himself.”
“Too many owners spend decades building a business but too little time preparing to leave it. Robert has lived that journey firsthand.”
“Rob knows how to create sustainable, transferable value in any company, young or old.”
Rob's book on selling well, the framework owners use to prepare early. [ Cover + link to be added ]
Full conversations with owners who have been through the sale. [ Artwork + link to be added ]
An early conversation costs you nothing, and it is where your final number gets protected instead of eroded at the close.
Two minutes. No obligation.
A flat monthly retainer plus hourly. No success fee, no commission, no percentage of the sale unless you specifically choose that at the very end. It is the whole reason the advice can be genuinely neutral.
We focus on owners running businesses at roughly $5M or more in annual revenue. If you are a bit earlier, the application will still point you to resources worth having now.
That is honestly the best time to talk. The readiness work starts one to three years before a sale, and preparing early is what protects your final number when the time comes.
Completely. Nothing you share goes anywhere, and the conversation is private whether or not we end up working together.
Rob reviews every application personally. If it looks like a fit, you will get an invite to a discovery call on his calendar. If it is not, you will get an honest answer rather than a pitch.
Yes. The transition phase covers wealth and family office planning, plus the personal side of figuring out what comes next, so the whole change is handled thoughtfully.
Rob works with a small number of owners at a time, so the first step is a short application rather than a hard sell. If it is a fit, you will get a discovery call on his calendar. If it is not, you will get an honest answer.
Rob reviews every application personally. If it is a fit, you will hear from us shortly with a time to talk.