I'm interning at a search fund and deal screening software company this summer, and have been running first-pass valuations on service business listings across NY/NJ/CT. Have screened about 40 deals so far. The line I keep running into is some version of "owner works ten hours a week, managers handle the day-to-day, fully transferable." One example from my screens: roughly $5.7M revenue, $866K SDE, 25 employees with a few team leads. Owner has supposedly stepped back, selling for "other business interests." On paper it sounds good, but I'm trying to understand how to get a clear view of owner involvement. If it really runs without the owner at that SDE, why sell? And if it doesn't, the buyer is either buying a job, or giving up a chunk of that SDE to hire a GM. Things I haven't found a clean way to check before an LOI: - Whether the team leads actually run the work or just execute the owner's bids - How much revenue sits on the owner's personal relationships - Whether "semi-absentee" shows up anywhere real (owner hours, W2 comp, an org chart) or only in the CIM For those of you who've diligenced semi-absentee deals or closed on one, would love to hear how you got comfortable with the owner involvement (or lack there of) in diligence and what it actually looked like post-close?