What to Fix Before You Sell Your Business (with Ryan Ray Sr.) | ReForge 029

In this episode, Matthew Chang and Colin Russ talk with Ryan Ray (Director of Partnerships at Ad Astra Equity Advisors) about why so many small manufacturers are worth far less than their owners expect, and why removing the owner from the business is the work that fixes almost everything else. If you care about manufacturing, capital, automation, and succession, this one is for you. What we cover - Owner dependency and the Thailand test - The twenty percent customer concentration rule - Using SBA lending as a valuation reality check - Linking your tools and cleaning your data before automating anything - Why talking to one buyer costs owners money Chapters 00:00 Cold Open and Guest Intro 04:39 Ray’s Background and Deal Network 08:59 Succession, Valuation, and AI Upside 25:15 Fixing Multiple Killers 27:07 Premium for Clean Automation 32:53 Mixers Slap Fight Wrap Hosts: Matthew Chang and Colin Russ Guest: Ryan Ray, Director of Partnerships at Ad Astra Equity Advisors Find Ryan Ray: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanraysr/ | https://www.adastraequity.com/ | https://x.com/RyanRaySr Find Matthew Chang: https://x.com/MatthewChang | https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewachang/ Find Colin Russ: https://x.com/ThaaatColin | https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinruss/ Find Chang Robotics: https://changrobotics.ai | https://www.linkedin.com/company/changrobotics/ Seven Steps to Reindustrialize America: https://www.thereforgepodcast.com/7steps Resources mentioned The Frackers, the book on the shale revolution Ryan references when describing his survey company's work for Chesapeake Follow ReForge LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-reforge-podcast/ X: https://x.com/thereforgepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thereforgepod/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thereforgepod Website: https://thereforgepodcast.com/ Want to be a guest or partner? If you're building, funding, operating, or shaping the future of U.S. manufacturing, we'd love to hear from you. Email: [email protected] About ReForge ReForge is a podcast featuring conversations with the leaders reindustrializing America. This show exists to prove American reindustrialization is possible, pivotal, and pressing. Hosted by Matthew Chang and Colin Russ. Produced by Chang Robotics.