Clarity and leverage for the people who built the business
Exit Lab is a platform built for owners of essential service businesses (HVAC, home care, plumbing, roofing and beyond) who want to understand what they're worth and exit on their own terms.
An operator-led platform
Exit Lab is a platform of Second Chair Advisory LLC. It was built by operators who have run and exited service businesses, not by financiers who learned about the trades from a spreadsheet. That perspective shapes everything: the plain language, the respect for the owner's time, and the refusal to pressure anyone into a decision they're not ready to make.
Most owners spend decades building something valuable and then approach the most important financial event of their lives with almost no preparation. They don't know their number. They don't know what's dragging it down. And they often find out only when a buyer is already at the table, exactly when it's too late to do anything about it.
Our mission
We give owners two things they're usually missing: clarity and leverage. Clarity, in the form of a confidential, data-driven valuation and a clear picture of where they stand. Leverage, in the form of the time and knowledge to fix what's holding back value, on their own timeline, long before any sale.
Exit Lab generates that clarity through free valuation scanners, education-first content, and tools tuned to each individual trade. When an owner wants to take the next step and explore a sale, we can refer them to an affiliated investment bank or a vetted M&A partner firm that works with owners in their space. The timeline, the decision, and the control always stay with the owner.
Every number we publish is sourced and transparent. You can read exactly how we calculate the Exit Score and see the multiples we use for each industry, along with the data behind them.
25
Industries researched and calibrated
Sourced
Multiples from market data, refreshed regularly
100%
Free and confidential to start
Operator
Led, not built from a spreadsheet
Operator-led
We've sat in the owner's seat. We build what we wish we'd had.
Confidential
Your information stays private. No public listings, no fishing expeditions.
Education-first
We lead with value and respect. Pressure isn't our business model.
Owner in control
You decide if, when, and how. We just make sure you're prepared.
Who's behind Exit Lab
Billy Baumann, Founder, Exit Lab
Billy spent years owning and operating in the home services trades before moving into acquisitions, where he sourced and qualified service businesses for private equity. He has seen both sides of the table: the owner who built something real, and the buyer running the numbers on it. He founded Exit Lab so owners could walk into that conversation already knowing their number and their leverage, instead of finding out the hard way.
The brand stays faceless on purpose. It is not about a personality, it is about the work: giving you a clear number, an honest read on what is dragging it down, and a plan to fix it on your own timeline. The name is a nod to the role we believe a good advisor should play, in the second chair, supporting the owner who is in the first.