# Build a Target You Can Test

Source: https://ivankamenken.com/exit-price-ladder · Last updated 31 October 2026

You have a sale target in your head, but your newest work is priced low and your monthly numbers do not tell you whether the target is getting closer. Ivanka Menken uses the Exit Price Ladder inside Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, a 6-month programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, to tie the target to price, gross margin and weeks of payroll covered. You leave with a one-page ladder you test every month.

## A sale target with no monthly test

- You have a sale target but no monthly test for it.
- Newest work is priced low and you cannot see the margin.
- Cash tightness makes every buyer conversation feel urgent.

**THE MOMENT:** There is a number in your head, somewhere in the low eight figures, and a buyer conversation is coming. Meanwhile the newest work is going out at a low price, profit arrives in lumpy jobs, and some weeks the cash feels tight enough that any buyer looks like a rescue. When you look at the monthly numbers, nothing on them tells you whether the target is any closer than it was last quarter.

### THE TARGET, AS IT STANDS

- Target sale price: low eight figures, in your head
- Newest-work price: low, set to win the job
- Gross margin on new work: not tracked
- Weeks of payroll covered: checked when cash feels tight
- Monthly test of the target: none

## Quote the industry multiple

In this case, the owner of a founder-led service business had a target in the low eight figures and a buyer conversation coming. The obvious fix was to quote the multiple from the last industry conversation and work back to a number. It did not help. The monthly numbers did not show what price or margin the business was actually winning, so the multiple was being applied to a profit line nobody trusted.

## The target lived in buyer meetings only

Ivanka noticed the target was discussed in buyer meetings but never in pricing meetings. The same week the founder talked about a low eight-figure sale, the team quoted new work at a price that would never support it. Nobody connected the two. The target and the price list were being run by different parts of the founder’s head.

## A number without a ladder

The diagnosis was that the target was a number without a ladder. Price, gross margin and weeks of payroll covered were not connected to it, so there was no way to tell whether any month moved it.
The reframe: a sale target is not a valuation exercise first. It is a pricing and cash discipline problem you test every month. If the newest work is priced low, the target moves away with every job, however good the buyer conversation feels.

> A sale target is a pricing and cash discipline you test every month.

**The cost of staying stuck:** Staying stuck can leave a low eight-figure target as a wish, because the newest work is priced low and the monthly numbers never test it.

## The tool: Exit Price Ladder

The Exit Price Ladder starts at the target sale price and steps down to the numbers you control this month. Each rung asks one question. Which number is the target? Which price gets you there? What gross margin does the newest work carry? How many weeks of payroll does the cash cover? If a rung does not support the one above it, that is the work.

It is one page with four rungs: the target, the newest-work price, the gross margin on that work, and weeks of payroll covered. Beside each rung, this month’s number and whether it moved the right way. At the bottom, which buyer conversations can start now and which wait for the numbers.

It replaces a target borrowed from an industry conversation, a price list set to win the next job, and a cash check that only happens when the bank balance feels low.

### What goes on the page

1. The target: a sale price in the low eight figures, written down
2. The price: what the newest work is sold for, this month
3. The gross margin: what the newest work leaves after its direct costs
4. Weeks of payroll covered: the cash in the bank against weekly wages
5. The monthly read: which rung moved, and which way
6. The buyer rule: which conversations start now, and which wait

It sits inside Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, next to the Price-Cash-Confidence Chain and the monthly five-number scorecard. Ivanka does not value the business or give financial advice. It is coaching, and there is no separate checkout.

## The target, turned into pricing decisions

In the first session, Ivanka used the Exit Price Ladder to turn the target sale price into pricing and cash decisions. She asked: which number is the target, which price gets you there, what gross margin does the newest work carry, and how many weeks of payroll does the cash cover? The founder wrote the four rungs on one page. Before the next session, they moved the newest-work price and gross margin onto the monthly scorecard.

### The questions

- Which number is the target?
- Which price gets you there?
- What gross margin does the newest work carry?
- How many weeks of payroll does the cash cover?
- Which buyer conversations can start before the numbers move?

### THE FOUR-STEP LOOP

1. The one thing: A low eight-figure target and a buyer meeting coming.
2. The numbers: Newest-work price, its margin, and weeks of payroll.
3. The story: Why the target never reached a pricing meeting.
4. The commitment: Two new lines on the monthly scorecard.

Before the next session, the founder added the newest-work price and its gross margin to the scorecard and checked weeks of payroll covered every week.

## A target the founder can test

By month 6, the target sale price sits on a one-page Exit Price Ladder, the newest-work price and gross margin are reviewed every month, and the founder can tell whether the target is getting closer before talking to a buyer.

**BEFORE**

- The target lived in buyer meetings.
- New work was priced to win the job.
- Margin on new work was not tracked.
- Every buyer looked like a rescue.

**BY MONTH 6**

- A one-page ladder from target to this month.
- Newest-work price and margin on the scorecard.
- Weeks of payroll covered, read every week.
- Buyer conversations timed to the numbers.

The programme is the container: 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions, a monthly scorecard, and reviews at month 3 and month 6.

## Test the target before you talk to a buyer

Ivanka Menken built Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring for founders of $500K to $3M businesses that are growing while cash tightens. A sale target is one more reason to get the price and cash right, not a reason to skip it.
This fits if you have a target in mind and the monthly numbers do not tell you whether you are closer. It does not fit if you want a valuation or someone to do the books. The decision in front of you is to write the four rungs down before the next buyer conversation.

> During our sessions Ivanka isn’t just talking theory. She is sharing her own lived experiences.
>
> Business owner

## Who fits, and who does not

### It fits

- You have a sale target, even a rough one.
- Your newest work is priced low.
- Cash tightness makes buyer talk feel urgent.
- You will review the ladder every month.

### It does not fit

- You want a business valuation.
- You want accounting or financial advice.
- You want a done-for-you fix.
- You want to sell next month, whatever the numbers say.

### Investment

**AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, 6 months.** The Exit Price Ladder is part of Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, a 6-month 1:1 programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. It is not sold separately.

Included:

- 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions
- The monthly five-number scorecard
- Reviews at month 3 and month 6
- The Exit Price Ladder for your target

Three founding places in total, shared across all 1:1 mentoring, are available at AUD $1,000/month ex GST, in return for honest monthly feedback and a testimonial, which can be anonymous.

- [Join Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, AUD $1,500/mo, 6 months](https://buy.stripe.com/eVq4gzdKgekN6pcbIcdQQ0t?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=exit-price-ladder)
- [Book a 20-minute intro call](https://theartofservice.zohobookings.com.au/?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=exit-price-ladder#/15606000001356030)
- [See the Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring programme](https://ivankamenken.com/cash-tight-growing-founder)

## Questions about Exit Price Ladder

### What is an exit price ladder?

A one-page ladder from your target sale price down to the numbers you control this month: the newest-work price, its gross margin and weeks of payroll covered. Each rung has to support the one above it. Ivanka Menken builds it with you inside Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, and you review it monthly.

### Does this value my business?

No. The ladder does not value the business, and Ivanka Menken is not a valuer. It tests whether the target you already have is getting closer, using price, margin and cash. A valuer or your accountant handles the valuation. The ladder sits inside Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.

### Is this financial advice?

No. It is coaching. Ivanka Menken helps you connect your target to monthly pricing and cash decisions, and keeps you to the ones you write down. Take the numbers to your accountant or adviser before acting on them. The Exit Price Ladder is part of Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.

### How does it fit Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring?

The ladder sits next to the Price-Cash-Confidence Chain and the monthly five-number scorecard. Its rungs become lines on that scorecard, read every month across 12 fortnightly sessions. Ivanka Menken runs Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring for 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, and the ladder is one of the tools inside it.


## Put the target on the scorecard

If you have a sale target and the monthly numbers do not test it, start with Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring. The Exit Price Ladder is inside it, and the 20-minute intro call is where you can see whether the programme fits.

- [Join Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, AUD $1,500/mo, 6 months](https://buy.stripe.com/eVq4gzdKgekN6pcbIcdQQ0t?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=exit-price-ladder)
- [Book a 20-minute intro call](https://theartofservice.zohobookings.com.au/?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=exit-price-ladder#/15606000001356030)
- [See the Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring programme](https://ivankamenken.com/cash-tight-growing-founder)
- [Read an earn-out through retention](https://ivankamenken.com/retention-earn-out-lens)
- [Ask for a deposit before the data room](https://ivankamenken.com/escrow-deposit-gate)
- [Set a gross margin floor before you quote](https://ivankamenken.com/gross-margin-floor)
- [Weeks of payroll, 13 weeks out](https://ivankamenken.com/13-week-cash-flow-for-founders)

- Every way to work with Ivanka: https://ivankamenken.com/work-with-ivanka