Nick Bradley

Most founders build great businesses but leave millions on the table when they exit.

Why? You’ve been optimizing for revenue, not enterprise value.

By the time you’re ready to sell, the issues that destroy multiples are already baked in - and buyers see them immediately.

I install the operational infrastructure and growth systems that prepare founder-led businesses for 8-9 figure exits.

Not “exit prep” in your final six months. This is 12-36 month transformation work.

The 3 Exits Every Founder Must Complete:

1. Exit the Chaos - Build systems so the business runs on infrastructure, not heroics

2. Exit the Operations - Develop leadership so you’re CEO, not operator

3. Exit the Business - Sell for premium multiples

Most founders are still trapped in Exit #1 when they decide to sell.

My Background:

I spent 10 years as a Private Equity CEO and Operating Partner across 27 transactions totaling over $5 billion in exits. I’ve sat on both sides of the table - building businesses and evaluating them for acquisition.

I’m also the author of Exit for Millions, the #1 bestselling book on building businesses for premium exit.

How I Work:

It starts with a Strategic Consult - a half-day intensive where I show you what your business is worth today, what it could be worth tomorrow, what’s limiting your value, and the roadmap to exit for big multiples.

From there, we work together through a structured 1-3 year partnership where I install the operational infrastructure and growth systems that transform your business into an institutional-grade asset ready for premium exit.

Ready to find out what your business is worth?

DM me or email jenna@highvalueexit.com

CEO & Founder, Exit Specialist / Business Scale-Up Mentor

We Help Successful CEOs, Founders, & Entrepreneurs Build High Value, High-Impact, Exitable Businesses.

​Our passion is empowering growth-minded business owners to scale rapidly towards a high-value exit and ultimately, freedom.

That’s why we’ve developed exclusive masterminds, full-service partnerships, and dedicated support to accelerate your impact, and give you back the power and control you deserve.

Our Scale-to-Sale Methodology is the result of 60+ years of combined experience with private equity firms and business transactions, designed specifically for rapid scale toward financial independence.

In working with us, you will gain the focus, direction, and momentum to intentionally and consistently grow your company’s value…

Giving you the leverage and power you need to generate rapid, impressive growth, and with it, the freedom to live your life on your terms.

PE firms aren't geniuses. They just know something you don't.

How to turn $10M into $50M in 3-5 years while you're grinding for 15% growth.

After 12 years in PE, I'm going to give you their playbook.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻:

𝟭. 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵

Not just any growth. Predictable, repeatable, scalable growth through systems.

You know, the boring stuff founders avoid because it's not sexy.

𝟮. 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻

PE firms are ruthless about EBITDA. Cut waste. Optimize pricing.

A 3-point margin improvement on $20M = $600K added to valuation. That's real money, not vanity metrics.

𝟯. 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴

Strategic debt accelerates growth without diluting equity. PE uses leverage intelligently.

Most founders are terrified of debt. PE firms use it like rocket fuel.

𝟰. 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗔𝗰𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀

This is where monster returns happen. I was part of a 12-acquisition roll-up that exited for $2B at 14x.

While you're obsessing over organic growth, someone's building an empire through M&A.

𝟱. 𝗠𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻

Move from 4x to 8x by becoming more attractive than competitors. Better systems. Stronger team. Lower risk.

Same business. Double the exit price.

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀:

Most founders pull one lever: revenue.

PE firms pull all five simultaneously.

That's how they create 5x returns in 36 months while you're grinding for 15% annual growth.

You don't need to sell to PE to use this playbook.

Start pulling all five levers. Systematically.

That's how you build a business buyers fight over.

𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝟱 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀? 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁? 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘄.

#FounderJourney #ExitPlanning #InvestorGradeBusiness #HighValueBusiness #PrivateEquity #BusinessExit

I help founders build investor-grade businesses that achieve 8-9 figure exits | Former Private Equity CEO & Operating Partner | Mentor & Board Advisor | $5B+ in Exits

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Brendan McGurgan

SimpleScaling Ltd. 

At Simple Scaling, it is our vision to build a thriving community of ambitious leaders of SMEs around the world, centred on our unified, globally recognised scaling framework, ScaleX™. 

The specific and different requirements of scaleups require their leaders to have a clear understanding of the mechanisms that drive sustainable scaling. It is this that drives us to inspire, connect and educate ambitious leaders of SMEs to scale with purpose.

We work ambitiously for our clients bringing innovative thinking, challenge, authenticity and spirit.
Our scaling blueprint has been built for ambitious leaders by ambitious leaders who have scaled businesses to £100m Revenue globally.

Director and Founder

CDE GLOBAL LIMITED

Group Managing Director

Finance Director

Amacis Limited

Group Financial Controller

PricewaterhouseCoopers

Senior Accountant

▶︎ WHAT DO I DO?
I Inspire, Connect and Enable ambitious leaders of SMEs to scale with purpose.

▶︎ MY CLIENTS ISSUES
My clients have ambition to scale but are stuck, fallen out of love with their business, lack the belief in themselves and the know-how to scale.

▶︎ WHO ARE MY CLIENTS?
Founders, CEO’s & leaders of companies (£1m - £100m in revenue with teams of 10 – 500 people). I also coach & mentor CEO's of larger companies (max 4 per year). 

▶︎ HOW I BRING VALUE TO CLIENTS
I co-host a 12 month scaling programme (ScaleX Accelerator). Aligned to our proven 10 Principle ScaleX Framework, we deliver a transformational programme to support personal and business scaling. https://simplescaling.com/scalex-framework.

Co-author of the Amazon best seller, Simple Scaling: 10 Proven Principles To 10x Your Business, a step guide to scaling with purpose, regular keynote speaker and host of the acclaimed ScaleX Insider Podcast.

▶︎ WHAT OTHERS SAY
Gareth Morrison, CEO, Lava Group
It's life-changing. It's going to challenge you in every way and push you to really grow yourself and your team. I have no doubt that the ScaleX™ Accelerator Programme will help any business.

Patrick Woods, Managing Director, Linwoods Health Foods
I would definitely recommend this programme to 2nd generation leaders who are working alongside the founders, first generation or parents. It has been invaluable in helping me to navigate that. 

▶︎ MY BACKGROUND
For my entire career I have had lead roles within scaling businesses. Most recently, during 17 years with CDE Group, 12 as CEO, I helped the company achieve 25x revenue growth and become an industry leader. During my time as CEO the company delivered almost £500m ($750m) cum revenue and £50m ($75m) cum profit, scaled from 15 to almost 700 employees spanning 6 continents and exported to more than 100 countries.
 
In 2020 I co-founded Simple Scaling and co-authored the Amazon Best-Seller, Simple Scaling: 10 Proven Principles to 10x your business cited by Kirkus as comprehensive concrete counsel for business leaders. 

I am a qualified Chartered Accountant and Chartered Director. In 2016, I was awarded the Institute of Directors, UK Young Director and overall, UK Director of the Year. 

Outside of work I enjoy all sports. I hold a 3rd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and have previously competed in triathlon (completing Mallorca 70.3 IM in 2019). In 2021 I graduated as a Wim Hof Method Instructor a method I have come to love and practice daily.
  
▶︎ CONTACT: 
bmcgurgan@simplescaling.com.

What do you do?

In business, it’s a question you’ll be asked over and over again.

For us, it’s Simple.

We free leaders to flourish.

Free them from being choked in the operational weeds - to finally work on the business, not just in it.
Free them to delegate more - to see the true potential of those around them.
Free them from ambiguity and lack of direction - to lead with clarity and purpose.
Free them from the burden of responsibility - to rediscover energy and enthusiasm.
Free them from self-limiting beliefs - to tap into new-found confidence.
Free them from the wrong customers - to focus on those who truly value what they do.
Free them to lead from their unique ability - with vision, passion, and purpose.

We’re privileged to see this transformation every year.

This room alone.
- Multi-million-pound exits
- Re-energised founders
- Newly published authors
- International award winners
- Scale-ups through acquisition
- Seamless generational transitions
- Nationally recognised entrepreneurs

So what room will you be in by 2026?

When someone asks “What do you do?”.….will your answer leave them curious to know more?

ScaleX Accelerator 2026. Enrolling now.

Simple Scaling

The Loneliest Seat in Business

I know this seat well.

It’s the one you worked years to earn and the one nobody really prepares you for - we didn’t go to CEO Scaling school after all!

As the year closes, many founders I speak with push harder, often on fumes, holding it all together, and wondering why it feels so heavy.

The truth? The higher you climb, the fewer people you can really talk to….who can truly relate.

- Your team looks to you for certainty.
- Investors want confidence.
- Clients expect answers.
- And slowly, isolation sets in not with a crash, but quietly.

I’ve been there. And I’ve seen what happens when leaders finally step into a room with others who get it.

The relief is instant. Energy returns. Perspective widens.

Scaling alone isn’t strength.

It’s survival.

Scaling together that’s where real growth and true joy begin.

ScaleX Accelerator 2026. Enrolling now.

#Leadership #SME #BusinessGrowth #ScaleXAccelerator #EntrepreneurMindset #LeadershipDevelopment #ScalingBusiness

No decisions in the first hour.

Show me your first hour and I’ll predict your revenue. 

Most SME leaders start their day on the back foot. They wake up, check the phone, answer a few messages, clear a few emails, make a few small calls before the day has even started. By the time they reach their desk, they’ve already made a dozen decisions — but none that move the business forward.

This week on ScaleX Insider, Jim Murphy, creator of Inner Excellence, spoke about something I often discuss with leaders on the ScaleX Accelerator Programme: No decisions in the first hour. That’s the goal. That first hour is the clearest time you’ll get all day. It’s when your thinking is sharpest and your energy is highest. Yet most leaders spend it reacting to other people’s priorities rather than setting their own. 

Protect that hour. Keep it clear. 

Decide where your focus should be before the world decides for you. If your business can’t function without you for an hour, it’s not ready to scale. Win the Morning, Win the Day is the guide I’ve written to help leaders protect that energy and focus. It’s the exact routine I follow, laid out step by step. If you’d like a copy, just drop me a message below with 'Win the Morning'. 

#ScaleXInsider #Leadership #ScalingBusiness #FounderLife #SME

In the past for me, it’s the quarter when everything tightens.

Budgets, targets, deadlines all converging with Christmas parties, family commitments, and the mental load of “finishing strong.”

For most SME leaders, Q4 isn’t calm. It’s chaos.

And yet, this is exactly when the best leaders step back, just long enough, to think ahead. For these leaders, while everyone else is firefighting, they’re mapping out 2026.

They’re asking:
1. Where are we wasting energy?
2. What will we stop, start, and scale?
3. What must change if we’re to summit our next mountain?

The truth is, you can’t summit next year’s peak if you crawl into January exhausted and unclear.

It’s why our ScaleX™ Accelerator exists - a 12-month journey that gives you the structure, community, and momentum to scale with purpose (and without burning out).

So before you collapse into Christmas, take an hour to consider the future you actually want to create and who could help you get there.

ScaleX™ Accelerator 2026. Enrolling now.

#ScaleWithPurpose #BusinessGrowth #SMELeadership #StrategicPlanning #Leadership2026 #BusinessStrategy #ScaleUp #GrowthMindset

When Is Being “Scrappy” the Wrong Move?

I’ve been thinking a lot about dignity in leadership not the philosophical kind, but the everyday, practical kind.

Here’s the pattern I see in SMEs:
When things get tight, leaders call it “being scrappy”… but what they’re actually doing is cutting dignity.

Recycling battered old laptops.
Hiring the cheapest person instead of the right person.
Cutting corners on the things that make people feel valued.

That’s not scrappy. That’s cheap.
Scrappy is creative.
Cheap is corrosive.

Anne Mahlum, founder of [solidcore] said something to me recently that stopped me in my tracks. When she founded a running club for homeless men, she bought them brand-new shoes not donated ones.

Why?
“I didn’t want to reinforce that they deserved less.”
That’s the whole game.
When you show people they’re worthy of excellence, they rise.
When you show them they deserve less, they give you less.
Teams feel it. Clients feel it. Partners feel it.

So ask yourself:
Where are you calling it “scrappy” when it’s actually undermining dignity?
Because the cost of cheap leadership is always higher than you think.

More soon.

#Leadership #Culture

I've waited a couple of years to see where AI lands.

In that time, I've been experimenting with it: in part for inspiration, in part for support, and in part for research. Watching. Testing. Seeing what actually works for leaders who have aspirations to scale.

This week's ScaleX Insider episode with Rasmus Hougaard is the conversation I've been waiting to have.

Rasmus is the founder of Potential Project and author of multiple bestsellers on mindful leadership. What makes this episode different is that Rasmus is genuinely circumspect about AI. He understands its risks. He sees how easily it can be misused.

But instead of running away from it, he ran towards it.

The value of AI doesn't come from what it knows, but from how well it understands you.

Train it to understand your thinking. Challenge it to surface alternative perspectives. Use it to lead with greater awareness, wisdom, and compassion.
Applied this way, AI doesn't diminish our humanity, it amplifies what already exists: our capacity to serve others well.

This is where leadership is evolving. Not toward more data, but toward deeper understanding.

For those interested in my AI leadership framework, comment "AI LEADERSHIP" below and I'll send you a copy.

#ScaleXInsider #Leadership #AI #SelfLeadership #SimpleScaling

"If not you, then who?"

That's what came to mind as Anne Mahlum shared her story on the ScaleX Insider podcast.

In 2007: She saw nine homeless men outside a Philadelphia shelter. No business plan. No funding. Just a decision.

She started a running club. Showed up at 6am three times a week. Bought them new shoes—not used ones. Went back for Joe when he fell behind. That one decision became ‘Back On My Feet’, a national movement that's helped thousands rebuild their lives.

But here's what most people miss: Anne left when it was thriving. Not struggling. Thriving.

Why? "If something doesn't work without you, you've failed as a founder." The more valuable you are to your business, the less valuable the business becomes.

So she started [solidcore] with $175,000. Year one: $1M revenue, $700K profit, 5 studios. Ten years later: 150 locations, $100M exit.

In our conversation, she breaks down: → Why dignity matters more than efficiency (new shoes, not used) → How to build unit economics that scale (10 machines, 9 classes, one coach) → What transparency looks like when everything's falling apart (COVID layoffs) → Why money follows purpose, not the other way around.

Three takeaways that I took from the conversation:
- Do things on your own timeline (Anne is 45 and is expecting her first child)
- Who you tell yourself you are is who you'll become
- You need less money than you think

Scaling with purpose is one courageous action that multiplies.
One person who says, "This matters."
One ripple that turns into many.

#ScaleXInsider #SMELeadership

Jim Murphy on the ScaleX Insider Podcast (Out Today) 

When most SME leaders hear phrases like “Inner Excellence” or “selfless is fearless,” it’s easy to tune out. It sounds abstract. Detached from the day-to-day reality of running a business. The thing is, it isn’t. 

It’s the difference between scaling and stalling. 

This week on the ScaleX Insider Podcast, I sit down with Jim Murphy, creator of Inner Excellence and coach to PGA Tour players, Olympians, and business leaders worldwide. Jim’s message cuts right to the heart of what stops founders and CEOs from growing: we hit the edge of our potential, feel the discomfort and pull back. Not because we lack strategy or skill, but because we fear failure, judgment, and losing control. 

Jim explains how the best performers in sport and business do the opposite: they lean into discomfort, detach from the outcome, and focus on mastering themselves first. If you’ve ever felt that you’re holding the business together by sheer force of will, this conversation will change how you think about leadership, pressure, and growth. 

Listen now: Available on all major podcasting platforms 

#Leadership #InnerExcellence #PerformanceUnderPressure #ScalingBusiness #BusinessGrowth #LeadershipDevelopment #SimpleScaling #SME #Podcast #ScaleWithPurpose

Most SME leaders I meet with are drowning in complexity.

More tools. More tactics. More strategies that promise breakthrough results but deliver overwhelm.

The businesses that scale sustainably do one thing differently: They simplify.
In my latest conversation with Bas Wouters CMCT, CPT, CEC (co-founder of the Cialdini Institute), he said something that speaks to the heart of it:

"When you make things easier, it's easier forever. Motivation fluctuates. Ability compounds."

Every point of friction is a point of failure. In marketing. In operations. In scaling.

Here's what most leaders don't realise: you're overcomplicating parts of your business right now.

You think you need another system. Another hire. Another platform.
But what if the problem isn't what you're missing? What if it's what you haven't removed yet?

Better mindset, better vision, better planning, better systems and ruthless simplification. These are the foundations of successful scaling.

Scaling isn't about adding more. It's about removing what doesn't serve.
That's why we created the ScaleX™ Framework and the 10 Principles of Scaling. To help ambitious SME leaders break through all the noise around scaling.

Complex fails. Simple Scales.

#ScaleXInsider #ScalingStrategy #SimpleScaling #LeadershipDevelopment #ScaleXFramework

"If the business can't run without you it's not a business, it's a hostage situation." Anne Mahlum said this to me on the ScaleX Insider podcast, and I've been thinking about it ever since.

Most SME leaders I work with are trapped in this paradox. They've built something that (they think) can't function without them. They're the bottleneck. The single point of failure. And they wear it like a badge of honour.

"No one can do it like I can." "If I don't do it, it won't get done right." "My clients expect me personally."

Anne understood something most founders don't: If your business doesn't work without you, you haven't built a business. You've built a job. She proved this twice.

First with Back on My Feet. She walked away when it was thriving—not struggling—because she knew if it couldn't work without her, she'd failed as a founder.

Then with [solidcore]. She built systems from day one. One coach per class who had to learn every person's name. No front desk to hide behind. Simple, lean, repeatable.

Within a year: $1M revenue, $700K profit, 5 studios. Ten years later: 150 locations, $100M exit.

The difference? She made herself replaceable from the start.

Here's what that actually looks like: → Build processes, not dependencies → Create a playbook anyone can run → Hire people better than you at specific things → Document everything → Let go of control to gain scale

The holy grail of scaling is predictable, repeatable, sustainable revenue.

You can't have that if you're the only one who knows how to make it work. So ask yourself:
If you disappeared tomorrow, would your business survive? If the answer is no, you're not building a business. You're building a prison.

If this resonates and you want to gain freedom to work on your business not in it we’re currently enrolling for both ScaleX Elevate (our online scaling platform) and ScaleX Accelerator. Apply now.

#Leadership #SMEGrowth

https://lnkd.in/e-Kdj6ex

Open video: Systems aren't sexy...but their impact is. | Principle 5: Process on youtube.com

Systems aren't sexy...but their impact is. | Principle 5: Process

Calling all not-for-profit and social enterprise leaders….a fantastic opportunity to scale your impact 🌎

Over the last few years, we’ve witnessed something pretty powerful. 

When a leader of an organisation with a strong purpose to serve others is given the right tools, guidance and environment to scale up, extraordinary things begin to happen.

Communities change.
Opportunities grow.
Purpose multiplies.

Each year, on our 12- month ScaleX Accelerator Programme, we reserve ONE place for an ambitious leader of a purpose-driven, non-profit organisation.  

From today, we’re inviting expressions of interest for that one place on our 2026 Programme.   

If you’re leading a non-profit or a social enterprise with a bold purpose and you’re ready to scale up your organisation and your impact, we’d LOVE to hear from you! 

A few important details:

🔹 Expressions of interest are open now – please help us by sharing with your networks if you can – and will close on Monday 8th December. 
🔹 There is no cost for this one place — all we ask is for your ambition and your full commitment. 
🔹 In person Workshops will take place in Northern Ireland.
🔹 The successful applicant will be notified before Christmas.

If you believe your organisation can really make a difference, we could be the difference!

To apply, simply click on the link below today:. 

https://lnkd.in/epYrYXqU

You're not losing potential customers because your product isn't good enough.

You're losing them because your marketing speaks to the wrong part of their brain.

My latest ScaleX Insider guest, Bas Wouters CMCT, CPT, CEC, scaled a kitchen business to €25 million by understanding one truth: 95% of buying decisions happen in the subconscious, yet most businesses only speak to the rational 5%.

Bas is co-founder of the Cialdini Institute and one of only 12 people worldwide certified to teach Dr. Robert Cialdini's influence principles.
In this conversation, we break down:

- The three-part formula that increased conversions 300% by changing one word.
- Why asking for an email address kills reciprocity (and what to do instead).
- How removing options increased leads 2000% for SEAT Automobiles.
- The "Jenga Principle"—every word you remove saves 15 seconds and compounds results.
- Why B2B buyers use the same subconscious shortcuts as B2C consumers.

Here's what matters for SME leaders:
- You don't need a bigger budget. You need to speak to System 1 thinking.
- You don't need more calls to action. You need one clear prompt per page.

The attached clip shows why making things easier beats motivation every time.

Watch the full episode. Available on all major podcasting platforms.

#ScaleXInsider #BehaviouralPsychology #SMELeadership  #MarketingPsychology #SimpleScaling

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