Partner with Forhemit to transition $3M–$15M mid-market businesses to employee ownership— and turn one-off appraisals into mandated, annual engagements for the next decade.
As a business appraiser, you know the grind of the traditional M&A lifecycle. You spend weeks digging deep, building complex models, defending your conclusions— and then you are back to zero.
Once the business is sold to private equity or a strategic buyer, your job is done. The deep institutional knowledge you just built is essentially thrown away.
You are forced back onto the treadmill, hunting for the next founder, the next broker, or the next deal just to keep your revenue flowing.
You are trading your high-level expertise for one-time transactions, never building the predictable, recurring revenue that makes a practice truly valuable.
Forhemit is a California public benefit corporation that partners with founders to transition $3M–$15M businesses into 100% Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs)—with long-term stewardship, not a quick flip.
For an evaluation specialist, the ESOP model is the holy grail of valuation work. Why? Because it is a regulatory requirement. Under ERISA and Department of Labor (DOL) regulations, an ESOP trust must update the value of its privately held shares every single year.
When you value a Forhemit portfolio company, you aren't just pricing a transaction—you are onboarding a client for life.
We view our valuation partners not as vendors, but as critical, long-term infrastructure. Here is how working within the Forhemit ecosystem shifts your practice from a transactional model to a recurring revenue engine:
We bring you a qualified, vetted $3M–$15M target company. You perform the initial, comprehensive valuation required to establish the transaction FMV for the independent ESOP Trustee.
Next year, the ESOP needs its annual update. Because you have already built the complex financial models, you are the logical, frictionless choice for the Trustee to hire again.
As Forhemit scales its portfolio, so does your baseline revenue. We do the deal sourcing; you reap the long-term compliance rewards.
Valuation specialists often dread annual updates when the target company has messy books, high turnover, or erratic leadership. Forhemit eliminates this friction.
Our portfolio companies maintain perpetually audited, clean financials. When it's time for your annual update, you aren't chasing a distracted CFO for three weeks. The data is clean, standardized, and ready.
Because our companies are 100% employee-owned, they boast significantly lower turnover and higher engagement than traditional PE-backed firms. You are valuing stable, resilient assets.
We understand the regulatory environment. We know you work for the independent Trustee, not for us. We provide transparent, unvarnished access to management, ensuring your independence is never compromised.
Before we close a deal, our Chief Resilience Officer implements our proprietary Continuity of Operations (COOP) framework. We treat mid-market businesses like critical infrastructure—because to your valuation practice, they are.
We specialize in the $3M–$15M EBITDA mid-market segment. This is the sweet spot where ESOP structures are most effective, and where the regulatory requirement for annual valuations creates the strongest recurring revenue opportunity for appraisal firms.
Immediately. Unlike traditional M&A where each engagement is one-and-done, ESOP valuations are mandated annually by ERISA and DOL regulations. Value just three Forhemit acquisitions this year, and you start next year with $45,000 in guaranteed annual recurring revenue already booked.
Before we close any deal, our Chief Resilience Officer implements our proprietary COOP framework. This means perpetually audited, clean financials in a 24-hour data room. You're not chasing distracted CFOs for weeks—you're working with standardized, defensible data from day one.
Absolutely. We understand and respect the regulatory environment. You work for the independent ESOP Trustee, not for us. We provide transparent, unvarnished access to management, ensuring your independence is never compromised. Our role is to make your job easier, not to influence your conclusions.
For initial transaction valuations, you earn standard market rates for comprehensive FMV opinions—typically $35K–$60K depending on complexity. Annual updates are high-margin work at roughly 30-40% of the initial fee, requiring far less time since the models are already built. This creates a predictable, annuity-like revenue stream.
Start with a 20-minute introductory call. We'll discuss our current deal pipeline, our timeline for upcoming initial appraisals in the $3M–$15M range, and how you can become the valuation partner of choice. We review your credentials, discuss our mutual expectations, and establish the framework for a long-term partnership.
If you are tired of the feast-or-famine cycle of traditional M&A and want to build a predictable, high-margin practice based on regulatory compliance, you need to be working in the ESOP space.
We are currently building our network of preferred, independent valuation specialists for our upcoming deal pipeline in the $3M–$15M EBITDA range.
Or contact us directly:
appraisers@forhemit.com