--- title: Whitepaper The Multiple Is a Scorecard | Free Whitepaper description: What your IT services company is worth is decided long before you sell. The five levers buyers price, the 24-month plan, and a 40-point exit readiness scorecard. --- Free Whitepaper # The Multiple Is a *Scorecard* What the multiple actually measures, and how to move it. The IT services founder's 24-month exit playbook, written from the buyer's side of the table. 🇬🇧 **Whitepaper in English** | 32 pages | PDF ![Jörn Petereit](https://info.itcapital.de/hubfs/J%C3%B6rn%20Petereit%20Portr%C3%A4t.png) Jörn Petereit Managing Partner, IT Capital Partners ![The Multiple Is a Scorecard Whitepaper](https://info.itcapital.de/hubfs/Whitepaper%20The%20Multiple%20Is%20a%20Scorecard%20Cover.png) 32 pages · PDF · Free download 545k German SMEs seeking succession by 2029 6.8–8.5x The DACH small-cap band today +€6.4m 24 months of preparation, illustrative 40 Points on the exit readiness scorecard What's Inside ## Worth is an output, not a question. The founder's view of the two years before a transaction, set against the market data we underwrite as buyers: what the multiple actually measures, and how to move it. 01 ⚖️ ### The Valuation Split, and Why It Exists Small companies and platforms are priced in different worlds. The DACH bands, the distribution behind them, and why private equity pays a median 13.7x while strategics pay 6.3x. Scale is the visible variable; predictability is what buyers pay for. 02 🛠️ ### The Five Levers The four levers buyers have priced for twenty years, recurring revenue, concentration, key-person independence, diligence-ready operations, and the fifth that 2026 added: AI proof, not AI claims. 03 🧮 ### The Math of Preparation An illustrative value bridge: EUR 10.8m today, EUR 12.6m after two years of business as usual, above EUR 17m prepared. The multiple you earn is worth as much as the EBITDA you add. 04 📅 ### The 24-Month Plan Four phases, in sequence: baseline and decide, structural work, evidence, readiness and choice. Buyers do not pay for plans; they pay for two closed financial years that prove the plan worked. 05 ⚠️ ### Where Deals Die Four preparation failures behind most repriced and broken deals: the missed budget, numbers that shift in diligence, the terminable key contract, the undecided founder. All of them optional. 06 🤝 ### Process or Partner Two legitimate routes to a transaction, what each optimises for, and the second exit: sell part now, build the platform together, and sell again at the platform's grade. As its base, or alongside it. ✅ ### Bonus: The Exit Readiness Scorecard Twenty statements, five dimensions, forty points. Score yourself before a buyer does, and read which conversation you are actually ready for: process, partner, or build first. 40 Core Framework ## The Five Levers What buyers actually price, and the bar to clear on each. Every lever is a work programme, not a diligence answer. 01 Contracted Recurring Revenue A majority of revenue contracted; managed services carry the largest gross-profit share. 02 Customer Diversification No client above 20 percent of revenue; the top five together below 50. 03 Key-Person Independence The three-week founder-absence test, passed. Your value rises as you become replaceable. 04 Diligence-Ready Operations Ten-day closes, the contract audit done, a documented delivery standard. 05 AI Proof, Not AI Claims AI measurable in unit economics: cost per ticket, utilisation, the margin bridge. Levers 1 to 4 are the four levers from Buy and Build, seen from the seller's chair. Lever 5 is what 2026 added, and right now it moves valuations faster than any of the others. Who Is This For ## Written for three readers. The founder who will, sooner or later, sit across from a buyer. The adviser who prepares that meeting. And the investor on the other side of the table. One idea runs through every chapter: the multiple is not a market price you receive, it is a scorecard of the risks a buyer has to underwrite, and it is under your control if you start early enough. - Founders of IT services, Systemhaus, and MSP businesses 24+ months from a possible exit - Owners in succession situations weighing process, partner, or a second exit - M&A advisers who want the current DACH market data and the failure patterns - PE investors and family offices underwriting IT services companies - Leadership teams tasked with making a company diligence-ready ### Get your free copy Fill out the form below. The PDF will be sent to your inbox. [Download Now →](https://info.itcapital.de/whitepaper/multiple-scorecard#download) Free Download ## Ready to find out what your multiple is measuring? Get the founder's 24-month exit playbook: the market data we underwrite as buyers, the five levers, the math of preparation, and the scorecard to run with your leadership team. ✓ The five levers buyers price ✓ The illustrative EUR 6.4m value bridge ✓ The 24-month plan, four phases ✓ 40-point exit readiness scorecard 🇬🇧 Whitepaper is written in English. ### Download for free Enter your email and we'll send you the PDF. No spam. We respect your privacy. This paper completes a set of three. Companion papers: Buy and Build in IT Services, the same market from the buyer's chair, and The AI-Native IT Services Company, the maturity ladder behind Lever 5. [All Whitepapers →](https://info.itcapital.de/whitepaper?hsLang=en) ![Jörn Petereit](https://info.itcapital.de/hubfs/J%C3%B6rn%20Petereit.png) ### Jörn Petereit Managing Partner, IT Capital Partners Previously COO of Cloudflight, scaling it from 280 to 1,000 people across four countries to a €400m exit to Partners Group. Former Bitkom board member. Now building tecRacer as IT Capital's first platform investment. He has sat in every chair at this table: the operator's, the seller's, and the buyer's. [Learn more about Jörn](https://info.itcapital.de/joernpetereit?hsLang=en) © 2026 IT Capital Partners GmbH · Ballindamm 3, 20095 Hamburg [itcapital.de](https://www.itcapital.de/) [About Jörn Petereit](https://info.itcapital.de/joernpetereit?hsLang=en) [Imprint](https://www.itcapital.de/imprint/) [Privacy Policy](https://www.iubenda.com/privacy-policy/38105892)