Find the right successor.
With verified numbers, confidential until both sides agree, and guided until the handover is signed.
Rather talk first? 15 minutes with Tom Hoppen, master carpenter. Arrange a callback
We check revenue and earnings against the financial statement before anything goes live. How we check
Bavaria
Carpentry & interior workshop
| Employees | 10–19 |
|---|---|
| In business | 30+ years |
| Owner earnings | €250,000 – €500,000 |
| Indicative value | €500,000 – €1M |
Name, city and documents only after mutual interest and an NDA.
- Free until the handover; 2% only on success
- Anonymous until both sides want to meet
- No tracking cookies
- Methodology fully published
The problem
Profitable businesses close because nobody takes over.
- US businesses face an ownership transition by 2035
- ~6 million1
- of US owners are early in planning or have no plan
- 70%2
Germany: closures now outnumber successions
SMEs whose owners plan to step back, by planned outcome
- Succession planned
- Closure planned or considered
Source: KfW Research, January 9, 2026.
Extrapolation to 3.87 million SMEs, assuming owners follow through on their plans.
The bottleneck is the match: 69% of German SMEs name finding a successor as an obstacle.3
I'm a master carpenter. I know how many years go into a business. Erbelo is here to make sure they keep going.
The solution
One guided path for both sides.
01
Value
Free, explained valuation and how ready your business is to hand over.
02
Match
Verified figures, verified successors and a personal introduction instead of a click.
03
Hand over
Seven steps in one shared deal room, from NDA to closing.
For successors: verified numbers instead of an owner's say-so, and a personal introduction instead of cold outreach. Find businesses
How it worksVerified, not just listed
Erbelo checks before two sides ever meet, then guides them all the way to closing.
What Erbelo does differently
Figures
Typical listing site: Owner's own numbers
Erbelo: Checked against the financial statement before going live
Buyers
Typical listing site: Contact form
Erbelo: Personal introduction; financing and qualification visibly verified
Value
Typical listing site: Asking price or "on request"
Erbelo: Explained valuation with every step shown
After first contact
Typical listing site: Email and phone from there
Erbelo: Handover room with 7 steps: NDA, documents, financing
Cost to owners
Typical listing site: Varies by site
Erbelo: Free until the handover; 2% only on success
| Topic | Typical listing site | Erbelo |
|---|---|---|
| Figures | Owner's own numbers | Checked against the financial statement before going live |
| Buyers | Contact form | Personal introduction; financing and qualification visibly verified |
| Value | Asking price or "on request" | Explained valuation with every step shown |
| After first contact | Email and phone from there | Handover room with 7 steps: NDA, documents, financing |
| Cost to owners | Varies by site | Free until the handover; 2% only on success |
Confidential by design
Information is disclosed in stages, only when both sides agree.
What is visible, and when
Industry, state, classes for size, revenue, earnings and value
- Public
- Visible
- Both want to meet
- Visible
- After NDA
- Visible
Exact figures and founding year
- Public
- Not visible
- Both want to meet
- Visible
- After NDA
- Visible
Buyer's name (to the owner)
- Public
- Not visible
- Both want to meet
- Visible
- After NDA
- Visible
Business name, city, owner's name
- Public
- Not visible
- Both want to meet
- Not visible
- After NDA
- Visible
Financial documents
- Public
- Not visible
- Both want to meet
- Not visible
- After NDA
- Visible
| Information | Public | Both want to meet | After NDA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Industry, state, classes for size, revenue, earnings and value | Visible | Visible | Visible |
| Exact figures and founding year | Not visible | Visible | Visible |
| Buyer's name (to the owner) | Not visible | Visible | Visible |
| Business name, city, owner's name | Not visible | Not visible | Visible |
| Financial documents | Not visible | Not visible | Visible |
Transparent by default
Every number comes from a published formula.
- Valuation
- Owner earnings × (industry multiple ± 5 factors), at least liquidation value
- Readiness
- 7 factors, 100 points
- Matching
- 5 factors, 100 points, 2 dealbreakers
Indicative estimates, not a valuation under IDW S1.
Full methodologyYour life's work deserves a next chapter.
A free, confidential valuation in about 5 minutes, no sign-up. Whether you publish is up to you afterwards.
Sources
Sources (3)
- 1About six million SMBs facing ownership transitions by 2035, up to $5 trillion in enterprise value. McKinsey Institute for Economic Mobility, “The Great Ownership Transfer: A new era of business stewardship (K. Yearwood, S. Stewart III, N. Marks, N. Noel)”, February 26, 2026. www.mckinsey.com/institute-for-economic-mobility/our-insights/the-grea… ↩
- 270% in early-stage planning or without a formal succession plan; 8% fully prepared. JPMorgan Chase, “Local Snapshot: Most Small Business Owners Aren't Prepared for Succession, New Chase Survey Finds”, May 4, 2026. media.chase.com/news/local-snapshot-succession-survey ↩
- 369% of SMEs see finding a suitable successor as an obstacle. KfW Research, “Nachfolge-Monitoring Mittelstand 2025: Pläne für Geschäftsaufgaben wachsen erneut – Kaufpreisvorstellungen deutlich gestiegen (Fokus Volkswirtschaft Nr. 526, Dr. Michael Schwartz)”, January 9, 2026. www.kfw.de/PDF/Download-Center/Konzernthemen/Research/PDF-Dokumente-Fo… ↩