Construction ESOP
Collective
FREE SCORECARD
ESOP Readiness Scorecard for Construction Companies
Answer 12 questions to see how ready your construction company is for an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). It is built from what contractors, sureties and ESOP advisors look for. You see your score right away, and you add your email only if you want your three priorities.
WHAT IT MEASURES
Four areas that make or break a deal.
Cash flow and scale
Free cash flow, how many employees would be in the plan, how steady earnings have been and how much debt you already carry. The company buys itself with its own future earnings, so this is where most deals are made or lost.
Leadership bench
Who would run the company if you stepped back, how much runway your next leaders have, and whether your board pushes back. Your surety, your bank and the trustee will all ask who runs the company in ten years.
Bonding and risk
Your relationship with your surety and the strength of your working capital. A leveraged ESOP often pushes book equity negative at closing, and these two carry a bonding program through it.
Goals and culture
How long you want to stay involved, what matters most to you in a sale, and how openly you share results with your people. An ESOP works best for owners who value keeping the company and team together.
HOW THE SCORE WORKS
A starting point, not a verdict.
Each answer earns up to 3 points, and your total is shown out of 100: 75 and up is a strong candidate, 50 to 74 is promising with gaps to close, and under 50 means build the foundation first. A few answers can stop a deal on their own: under $1 million a year in free cash flow, fewer than 20 employees in the plan, losses in two or more of the last five years, wanting to be fully out at closing, or needing the highest cash price at closing. Any of those keeps a high score from reading Strong candidate, and you get a note on what to settle first. Only a feasibility study can tell you whether an ESOP works for your company.