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RTO Advisory — "Return To Owner Advisory" — is a fee-based M&A and exit-planning firm based in Greensboro, North Carolina, serving owners of privately held businesses with $1M–$100M in revenue and $1M–$20M in EBITDA across the United States.
Founder Elliott J. Culp built RTO Advisory around a simple thesis: 75% of business owners do not have a formal exit plan, and the unprepared collectively leave an estimated $14 trillion in unrealized value on the table over the coming decade. Most of that gap is preventable with three to five years of disciplined preparation — owners who plan that far ahead capture roughly 30% more value at sale.
The firm focuses on the Six Critical Readiness Gaps: financial reporting quality, tax strategy and entity structure, succession and continuity planning, valuation reality versus market multiples, operational dependence on the owner, and banking, coverage-ratio, and collateral readiness. Each gap, left unaddressed, compresses multiples or kills deals at diligence.
RTO Advisory is fee-based, not commission-driven. Owners pay for advice that is aligned with their outcome — including the advice to wait, to fix the business first, or not to sell at all. The firm does not collect a percentage of transaction value, which removes the incentive to push a deal that is not in the owner's interest.
Services include the Exit Readiness Assessment, Strategic Value Optimization, Transaction Advisory and Management, and Succession Planning. The firm works in English and Spanish.
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Min project size
$25,000+
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Hourly rate
$200 - $300 / hr
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Employees
2 - 9
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Year founded
Founded 2026
Service Lines
- Financial Consulting
- 15%
- Business Continuity Management
- 10%
No Focus Areas have been added yet…
Industries
- Business services
- 30%
- Financial services
- 25%
- Contracting
- 20%
- Legal
- 15%
- Insurance
- 10%
Clients
- Midmarket ($10M - $1B)
- 65%
- Small Business (<$10M)
- 35%
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Our Story
RTO Advisory — "Return To Owner Advisory" — is a fee-based M&A and exit-planning firm based in Greensboro, North Carolina, serving owners of privately held businesses with $1M–$100M in revenue and $1M–$20M in EBITDA across the United States. Founder Elliott J. Culp built RTO Advisory around a simple thesis: 75% of business owners do not have a formal exit plan, and the unprepared collectively leave an estimated $14 trillion in unrealized value on the table over the coming decade. Most of that g
Meet the Team
Elliott CulpFounder
Elliott J. Culp is the founder of RTO Advisory, a fee-based M&A and exit-planning firm in Greensboro, North Carolina. He works with owners of $1M–$100M businesses on transaction structuring, valuation, and succession planning.
What Sets Us Apart
Fee-Based, Not Commission-Driven
We are paid for advice, not for transactions. That removes the success-fee bias that pushes owners toward "any deal" instead of the right deal — including the advice to wait, fix the business first, or not sell at all.Built Around the 3-to-5-Year Window
Owners who plan their exit 3 to 5 years ahead capture roughly 30% more value at sale. Rushed exits suffer 20-40% lower valuations. Our entire engagement model is structured around closing that gap before the buyer ever shows up.The Six Critical Readiness Gaps
Our diagnostic framework benchmarks every business across financial reporting, tax structure, succession, valuation reality, owner-dependence, and banking readiness — the six gaps that compress multiples or kill deals at diligence.
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