Most small business owners have no idea what their company is worth until a buyer walks in and lowballs them. The problem isn't the buyer. The problem is that the owner was never prepared.
45 Day Exit, operating under the brand Exit45 at 45dayexit.com, is a business exit education platform built by Jim Stauder that aims to fix that gap.
The platform offers a self-paced online course, professional business valuations, and a set of free tools designed to help owners get sale-ready without hiring a full team of advisors before they even know what they need.
Key Takeaways
- The flagship course costs $997, runs 4 hours and 32 minutes across 16 video lessons, and covers everything from financial organization to closing a deal.
- Three valuation tiers are available (Standard, Select, and Premium) ranging from $1,997 to $4,997, each delivered as a PDF with an expert review call.
- Free tools including a Valuation Calculator, an SDE Calculator, and a 90-second Exit Readiness Quiz are available at no cost on the site.
What the Platform Actually Offers
The core product is the Exit Ready Course. At $997 (discounted from a listed $1,599.99), the course is structured around three phases: Foundation, Market Approach, and Negotiate/Finance/Close.
Each phase maps to a concrete set of tasks rather than abstract concepts.
The Foundation phase covers inventory setup, financial packaging, and goal setting. The Market Approach phase moves into identifying buyer profiles, choosing outreach channels, writing messaging, and building offers.
The final phase covers negotiation, financing structures, and post-sale transition.
Total content: 4 hours and 32 minutes, 16 video lessons, 16 quizzes, and a certificate upon completion. The course is rated 4.9 on the platform, though the review pool isn't independently verified.
The Three Valuation Tiers
This is where 45 Day Exit gets more technical.
The valuation service is separate from the course and targets owners who need a formal, documented appraisal, whether for a sale, a shareholder dispute, a buy-sell agreement, or even divorce proceedings.
| Tier | Price | Turnaround | Key Inclusions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | $1,997 | 3–5 business days | Asset, income & market approach, re-casted income statements, cost of capital |
| Select | $2,497 | 5 business days | Forecasted financials, benchmarks, liquidity & risk analysis, investment review |
| Premium | $4,997 | 10 business days | Full cash flow detail, employee productivity analysis, forecasted loan capacity, capital & cash management |
The process works in four steps: purchase, upload 1–5 years of financial data via a secure link, receive an analysis call, and get the final PDF report.
The site states valuations are IRS-compliant and prepared by qualified professionals. The Standard tier is best for owners who need a straightforward appraisal for a sale.
The Premium tier is built for owners who need that report to hold up in a legal or financial dispute.
The Free Tools
Honestly, the free tools are underrated. Three are available without creating an account:
- Valuation Calculator: Estimates business value based on inputs you provide.
- SDE Calculator: Calculates Seller's Discretionary Earnings, the figure most small business buyers use to determine what they're actually buying.
- Exit Readiness Quiz: A 90-second self-assessment that gives a read on how prepared you are to sell right now.
The SDE calculator in particular is worth spending time on. Most owners conflate revenue with value, and SDE corrects that.
It strips out the owner's personal expenses, one-time costs, and non-cash charges to show the real cash flow a buyer would be acquiring.
Running those numbers before engaging any buyer puts the seller in a completely different position.
Who This Is For
The course is listed as beginner level, which is accurate. It's designed for small business owners who have built something worth selling but have never gone through an exit before.
There's no assumed knowledge of M&A terminology or financial modeling.
That said, the content has practical depth. The buyer funnel section, covering avatars, mediums, messaging, and offers, follows a structured outreach logic rather than generic advice.
One testimonial on the course page, from a user identified as Ronald Richards, describes selling a brand in 37 days for $2.1M with 12 offers generated through the buyer funnel methodology.
Another from Floyd Miles describes closing a SaaS business in 42 days for $1.8M and avoiding what he characterized as a $300,000 legal mistake through preparation.
These are on-site testimonials and cannot be externally verified, but the specificity of the numbers is notable compared to typical course review language.
The platform also runs a newsletter authored by Jim Stauder, with a library of numbered issues covering specific sale obstacles. Issue 23 identified 66 obstacles to a successful business sale.
Issues following that began working through synopses of each one. That kind of systematic, numbered breakdown is more useful than motivational content for owners who want to understand exactly where deals fall apart.
Pricing Summary
| Product | Price |
|---|---|
| Exit Ready Course | $997 (lifetime access) |
| Standard Valuation | $1,997 |
| Select Valuation | $2,497 |
| Premium Valuation | $4,997 |
| Free Tools (3) | $0 |
The course pricing is reasonable for the category. Business exit consulting engagements with a broker or M&A advisor typically cost a percentage of the final sale price, often 10–12% for smaller deals, plus upfront retainers.
A $997 course that covers the same conceptual ground and prepares an owner to enter those negotiations more informed is a clear value trade.
The valuation pricing is in line with what small business valuation firms typically charge. A Standard valuation at $1,997 with a 3–5 day turnaround is competitive.
The Premium tier at $4,997 includes detailed cash flow modeling and a 10-business-day timeline, which is appropriate for owners preparing documentation for a more complex deal.
What the Platform Doesn't Cover
A few things worth noting.
The course does not include live coaching or direct access to Jim Stauder. Lifetime access to the recorded content is included, but there's no community forum, cohort, or Q&A session listed in the course materials.
For owners who want real-time feedback during their exit process, that gap matters.
The valuation service also doesn't appear to include brokerage. Exit45 will tell you what your business is worth and how to prepare it for sale, but they won't find the buyer for you.
That's a different service category and it's not what the platform is selling. Owners who are post-valuation and ready to go to market will still need a broker or marketplace.
The affiliate program exists, which means some reviews of this platform will be written by people with a financial incentive to recommend it. This review has no affiliate relationship with 45 Day Exit.
The Content Library
Beyond the course, the site maintains an educational library with articles covering topics like EBITDA multiples by industry, how to value a business, and a glossary of exit-related terms.
The article archive is organized chronologically and attributed to Jim Stauder, giving the content a consistent voice across issues.
The EBITDA multiples page in particular functions as a useful standalone reference for owners trying to benchmark their industry before engaging a buyer.
The newsletter archive, which the site calls "Our Newsletters," runs into the 50s numerically, suggesting consistent publication over at least a year.
That depth of content means owners can come to the site, spend a few hours in the free articles, and come away with a working understanding of what exit planning actually involves before spending a dollar.
Conclusion
45 Day Exit fills a real gap for small business owners who need structured preparation before a sale without paying broker-level fees upfront.
The combination of a low-cost course, professional valuations at transparent pricing, and genuinely useful free tools makes it a reasonable starting point for any owner thinking about an exit in the next 12 to 24 months.