Steward Market Field Guide
Steward Market asks for more than basic transaction information. This guide explains every field sellers, buyers, and ecosystem partners will encounter, what each one means, how to fill it out, and how others will use it to assess fit.
The Steward Market Field Guide
Understanding the core listing and profile fields for sellers, buyers, and ecosystem partners on Steward Market.
Purpose of this guide
Steward Market asks users to share more than basic transaction information. Sellers, buyers, and ecosystem partners are invited to describe intent, values, readiness, stewardship approach, and preferred transition outcomes. This guide explains the core fields users will encounter when creating or reviewing seller listings, buyer profiles, and ecosystem partner profiles.
How to use it
Each entry explains what the field means, how the person completing it should use it, how others may interpret it, and why it matters. A field may be completed by one user type, but it often creates value for all sides of the table.
Note: This guide is educational only. It is not legal, financial, tax, investment, brokerage, or M&A advice.
Seller Listing Fields
Business Headline
What it means: A short, non-identifying description of the business.
How to use it: Describe the business clearly without naming it or making it easy to identify. Focus on industry, model, impact, customer type, or what makes the business distinctive.
Example: Regional coffee roaster and cafe group with inclusive employment model.
How others may interpret it
- Buyers: Buyers use the headline to decide whether the opportunity is worth a closer look. A clear headline helps them quickly assess industry, mission fit, and relevance.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use the headline to understand whether their expertise may be useful, such as employee ownership, lending, legal, readiness, or integration support.
Why it matters: The headline helps buyers and partners understand the opportunity quickly while protecting seller privacy.
Business Snapshot
What it means: A plain-language overview of what the business does, who it serves, and why it matters.
How to use it: Explain the business model, customer base, products or services, market position, and any mission or impact context. Avoid names, exact locations, and identifiable customer or employee details unless you are ready for that information to be visible.
How others may interpret it
- Buyers: Buyers use the snapshot to understand the opportunity beyond basic numbers. They may look for business model clarity, customer demand, growth potential, mission fit, and operational complexity.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use the snapshot to understand what kind of support may be relevant, including valuation, readiness, succession, financing, employee ownership, legal preparation, or integration.
Why it matters: A strong snapshot creates useful context without requiring sensitive information too early.
Industry
What it means: The primary category or sector the business operates in.
How to use it: Choose the closest available category. If the business crosses categories, choose the one that best reflects the main source of revenue or the buyer most likely to understand the opportunity.
How others may interpret it
- Buyers: Buyers use industry to filter for strategic fit, experience fit, and investment thesis. Industry also signals likely risks, margins, regulation, seasonality, and growth patterns.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use industry to determine relevance. Some advisors, lenders, investors, and consultants specialize by sector.
Why it matters: Industry helps the right buyers and partners find relevant opportunities.
Location / Region
What it means: The general geography where the business operates.
How to use it: Share enough location information to help buyers evaluate fit without exposing the business too early. In many cases, region, state, or metro area is enough.
How others may interpret it
- Buyers: Buyers use location to assess operational fit, travel needs, licensing, customer proximity, labor market dynamics, and post-close support needs.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use location to assess jurisdiction, tax, lending, legal, local market, or community considerations.
Why it matters: Location can affect buyer fit, financing, operations, employee continuity, customer relationships, and transition planning.
Revenue Range
What it means: The approximate annual revenue size of the business.
How to use it: Select the range that best reflects current annual revenue. Use a range rather than exact figures unless the platform specifically asks otherwise.
How others may interpret it
- Buyers: Buyers use revenue range to determine whether the business fits their acquisition criteria, operating capacity, and financing strategy.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use revenue range to understand likely transition complexity and whether the opportunity fits their service model.
Why it matters: Revenue helps size the opportunity, but it does not tell the full story. Profitability, cash flow, customer concentration, and growth quality still matter.
EBITDA Range
What it means: The approximate annual earnings of the business before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.
How to use it: Use the best available estimate. If EBITDA is unclear or not yet calculated, do not overstate it. This may be a sign that financial readiness support would be useful.
How others may interpret it
- Buyers: Buyers use EBITDA to assess profitability, valuation range, debt capacity, and whether the business fits their target criteria.
- Ecosystem partners: Capital partners use EBITDA to assess financing fit and debt service capacity. Accountants, QoE providers, and advisors may use it to identify where financial cleanup or diligence support is needed.
Why it matters: EBITDA is commonly used in M&A, but it should be treated as one input, not the whole picture.
Employee Range
What it means: The approximate number of people employed by the business.
How to use it: Select the range that reflects the current team size, including full-time, part-time, or seasonal employees if relevant.
How others may interpret it
- Buyers: Buyers use employee range to understand operational complexity, management needs, payroll exposure, culture, and the responsibility they may inherit after close.
- Ecosystem partners: Employee ownership advisors, HR consultants, integration specialists, lenders, and legal advisors may use this field to assess transition support needs.
Why it matters: Employee count helps users understand people-related complexity and stewardship responsibility.
Asking Price
What it means: The price or price range a seller hopes to receive for the business.
How to use it: If you have a clear expectation, share a realistic range. If you are unsure, say so or use the closest available option. A high asking price can attract attention, but an unrealistic one can slow or damage conversations.
How others may interpret it
- Buyers: Buyers use asking price to assess whether there may be valuation fit. They may compare it to revenue, EBITDA, industry multiples, growth, risk, and structure.
- Ecosystem partners: Valuation professionals, accountants, advisors, and capital partners may use asking price to identify whether valuation support, financing, seller education, or structure design may be needed.
Why it matters: Price matters, but it is only one part of a transition. Structure, buyer fit, seller financing, continuity, and post-close outcomes may matter as much or more.
Preferred Transaction Type
What it means: The kind of ownership transition the seller is open to exploring.
How to use it: Select the options that genuinely fit your goals, such as full sale, partial sale, employee ownership transition, merger, recapitalization, investment, or other structures.
How others may interpret it
- Buyers: Buyers use this field to understand whether the seller's preferred path matches what they can offer. A buyer seeking 100% control may not fit a seller exploring partial liquidity or employee ownership.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use this to identify likely support needs. Employee ownership, recapitalizations, mergers, and full sales each require different support.
Why it matters: Not every seller wants the same kind of ownership transition. This field helps users understand what paths are worth discussing.
Preferred Deal Structure
What it means: How the seller is open to being paid or how the transaction may be organized.
How to use it: Select structures you are genuinely willing to consider, such as cash at close, seller financing, earnout, equity rollover, profit share, or phased transition.
How others may interpret it
- Buyers: Buyers use this field to understand whether there may be flexibility around financing, risk sharing, and total purchase price.
- Ecosystem partners: Capital partners use this field to spot funding opportunities. Legal, tax, and M&A advisors use it to identify where structure, documentation, risk allocation, or education may be needed.
Why it matters: Deal structure affects risk, timing, control, and alignment. A lower price with a better structure may sometimes create a stronger outcome than a higher price with poor fit.
Transaction Readiness
What it means: How prepared the seller feels to have serious transition or buyer conversations.
How to use it: Be honest. You may be ready now, preparing, exploring, or unsure. Not being ready is not a failure. It simply helps others understand how to approach you.
How others may interpret it
- Buyers: Buyers use readiness to decide how to engage. A ready seller may be prepared for diligence. An exploratory seller may need a slower, more educational approach.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use this field to identify where support may be valuable, including financials, valuation, succession planning, readiness, or transition options.
Why it matters: Readiness helps prevent pressure, mismatched outreach, and premature diligence requests.
Target Transaction Timeline
What it means: When the seller may want a transition to happen.
How to use it: Choose the timeline that best reflects your real situation. If timing is flexible, say so. If there is urgency, be thoughtful about how much you disclose publicly.
How others may interpret it
- Buyers: Buyers use timeline to understand whether the opportunity fits their acquisition pace, financing process, diligence capacity, and operational bandwidth.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use timeline to assess urgency and sequencing. A near-term timeline may require transaction support. A longer timeline may allow readiness work or ownership model exploration.
Why it matters: Timeline affects buyer fit, financing, diligence, valuation, and seller preparation.
Founder / Leadership Transition Plan
What it means: How the founder or current leadership expects to remain involved after a transaction, if at all.
How to use it: Describe whether leadership wants a clean break, phased exit, advisory role, ongoing operating role, or flexible transition.
How others may interpret it
- Buyers: Buyers use this field to understand continuity, knowledge transfer, leadership risk, seller motivation, and post-close operating needs.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use this field to identify support needs around transition planning, employment or consulting agreements, communication plans, leadership succession, governance, and integration.
Why it matters: Founder involvement affects continuity, employee confidence, customer relationships, knowledge transfer, and buyer risk.
Origin and Purpose
What it means: The story of why the business exists and what it was built to do.
How to use it: Share the deeper context behind the business. What problem were you trying to solve? What mission, community, customer need, or personal conviction shaped the company?
How others may interpret it
- Buyers: Buyers use this to understand what should not be casually erased after ownership changes.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use this to identify values, legacy concerns, community commitments, and transition priorities.
Why it matters: This field helps translate the business from a financial asset into a company with history, identity, and purpose.
Culture and People
What it means: How the team works, what employees value, and what makes the company's internal culture meaningful.
How to use it: Describe the workplace, leadership style, employee relationships, team strengths, and any people-centered practices that matter.
How others may interpret it
- Buyers: Buyers use this to understand what they are inheriting and what needs care after close.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use this to identify needs around retention, communication, integration, leadership, employee ownership, or culture diligence.
Why it matters: Culture affects retention, trust, performance, integration, and post-close success. This is not fluff. This is load-bearing.
Hopes and Vision
What it means: What the seller hopes will happen to the business after they step back.
How to use it: Describe the future you would be proud to see. This may include growth, preservation, employee opportunity, local continuity, expanded impact, or a new chapter under the right owner.
How others may interpret it
- Buyers: Buyers use this field to understand what future they are being invited to carry forward.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use this to guide structure, buyer screening, transition planning, financing, governance, and post-close support.
Why it matters: This field helps define success beyond closing.
What You Seek in a Steward
What it means: The qualities, commitments, and capabilities the seller wants in a future owner or partner.
How to use it: Be specific. Name what matters most: employee care, mission alignment, operating experience, patient capital, local presence, employee ownership, brand preservation, growth capability, or community commitment.
How others may interpret it
- Buyers: Buyers use this field to understand what it will take to earn trust beyond price.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use this field to assess buyer fit, prepare seller questions, and identify the right transition or ownership model.
Why it matters: This field makes the seller's priorities visible before negotiations narrow the conversation.
Non-Negotiables
What it means: The boundaries or conditions a seller is not willing to compromise on.
How to use it: Name the things that would make a buyer or deal structure a poor fit. This might include layoffs, relocation, brand changes, mission drift, customer treatment, employee ownership, or other core concerns.
How others may interpret it
- Buyers: Buyers use this to decide whether they can respect the seller's boundaries. Disregarding them will typically end the conversation.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use this to distinguish true deal-breakers from preferences and to design process, structure, or diligence around those boundaries.
Why it matters: Clear boundaries reduce wasted time and prevent late-stage conflict.
Impact Exit Goals
What it means: The broader positive outcomes a seller hopes the transition can support.
How to use it: Describe the impact you hope continues or grows through the transition. This may include employee stability, community benefit, environmental practices, wealth sharing, mission preservation, or ecosystem reinvestment.
How others may interpret it
- Buyers: Buyers use this to understand what success means to the seller beyond closing.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use this to identify support needs around impact measurement, transaction-linked philanthropy, ownership design, employee ownership, or community continuity.
Why it matters: This field helps connect the transaction to the outcomes it may create or protect.
Certifications & Standards
What it means: Third-party certifications, memberships, or standards connected to the business.
How to use it: Select certifications or standards that are current and accurate, such as B Corp, 1% for the Planet, Fair Trade, Organic, Climate Neutral, or other recognized standards.
How others may interpret it
- Buyers: Buyers use certifications to understand credibility, community commitments, and possible continuity expectations.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use certifications to assess fit and identify specialized knowledge that may be needed.
Why it matters: Certifications can support credibility, but they do not replace diligence or alignment.
Values & Commitments
What it means: Self-declared principles that reflect what the business cares about and how it aims to operate.
How to use it: Select values that are meaningful to the business. Avoid choosing everything. The goal is clarity.
How others may interpret it
- Buyers: Buyers use values to understand what may need to be protected after close.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use values to understand the seller's priorities and where support may need to honor mission, people, planet, or community commitments.
Why it matters: These signals help buyers and partners understand what kind of stewardship may matter most.
Ownership Identity
What it means: An optional, self-selected way to share ownership identity or lived experience.
How to use it: Share only what you choose to share. This may include founder identity, ownership background, or community representation if it feels relevant to the business story.
How others may interpret it
- Buyers: Buyers use this as context for understanding the founder and business story, not as a diligence shortcut or tokenizing label.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use this to identify where lived experience, community context, or barriers to capital and ownership may matter.
Why it matters: This can create visibility for founders and owners who have historically been underrepresented in ownership and capital markets.
Buyer Profile Fields
Buyer Headline
What it means: A short description of who the buyer is and what kind of businesses they are looking for.
How to use it: Be clear and specific. Include your buyer type, industry focus, stewardship approach, or acquisition thesis.
Example: Long-term operator seeking mission-driven service businesses with strong teams.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use the headline to decide whether your profile may be relevant and worth reviewing more closely.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use the headline to assess whether their services may support your acquisition strategy or capital needs.
Why it matters: A clear headline helps sellers and partners understand your fit quickly.
Buyer Type
What it means: The category that best describes the buyer.
How to use it: Choose the option that accurately reflects your model, such as individual buyer, strategic buyer, holding company, family office, private equity firm, search fund, employee ownership buyer, cooperative, nonprofit, or capital partner.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use buyer type to understand likely incentives, timeline, capital structure, operating style, and post-close expectations.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use buyer type to anticipate financing, diligence, governance, integration, and legal support needs.
Why it matters: Buyer type helps users understand the model behind the money.
Industries of Interest
What it means: The sectors or categories the buyer is interested in acquiring or investing in.
How to use it: Select industries where you have genuine interest, experience, capital fit, or strategic logic.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use this to decide whether their business fits your search.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use this to determine whether their sector expertise, deal flow, lending focus, or advisory support is relevant.
Why it matters: This reduces irrelevant connection requests and helps the right sellers self-select.
Target Geography
What it means: The regions or locations where the buyer is interested in acquiring.
How to use it: Be clear about whether geography matters. If you can operate remotely or nationally, say so. If local presence is important, say that too.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use target geography to understand whether you can realistically support the business after close.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use geography to identify legal, tax, lending, licensing, or local market considerations.
Why it matters: Geography affects operations, employees, customers, regulation, financing, and post-close support.
Acquisition Criteria
What it means: The practical characteristics a buyer is looking for in a business.
How to use it: Describe your target size, industry, geography, revenue, EBITDA, employee count, ownership model, deal structure, and any must-have or avoid criteria.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use acquisition criteria to understand whether you are a real fit or still in early exploration.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use criteria to identify whether they can support sourcing, financing, diligence, deal structure, or integration.
Why it matters: Clear criteria build credibility and reduce wasted conversations.
Target Revenue Range
What it means: The annual revenue size of businesses the buyer is looking for.
How to use it: Choose a range that matches your strategy, capital, and operating capacity.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use this to determine whether their business fits your search.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use this to understand likely deal complexity and whether your target range fits their capital or advisory model.
Why it matters: Revenue range helps users assess size fit quickly.
Target EBITDA Range
What it means: The earnings size of businesses the buyer is looking for.
How to use it: Choose a range that matches your capital readiness, financing plan, and acquisition model.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use this to understand whether you are likely to be a credible buyer for their scale.
- Ecosystem partners: Capital partners use this to assess financing fit. Advisors use it to understand valuation, diligence, and structure needs.
Why it matters: EBITDA range helps connect buyer appetite to realistic financing and deal execution.
Target Employee Range
What it means: The approximate team size the buyer is prepared to acquire or support.
How to use it: Select the employee range that fits your operating capacity and acquisition goals.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use this to assess whether you understand the people responsibility attached to the business.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use this to identify HR, integration, employee ownership, communication, benefits, or leadership support needs.
Why it matters: Employee count affects management complexity, integration planning, culture, and stewardship responsibility.
Capital Readiness
What it means: How clear and credible the buyer's funding plan is.
How to use it: Explain whether capital is committed, internally available, lender-backed, investor-backed, contingent, or still being assembled. Be honest. Unclear or unverified funding is not a plan.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use capital readiness to decide whether the buyer is credible and worth engaging. It helps them avoid spending time with buyers who cannot realistically close.
- Ecosystem partners: Capital partners use this field to identify where they may provide funding, debt, equity, mezzanine capital, guarantees, or financing strategy. Advisors may use it to identify lender prep or investor materials needs.
Why it matters: Capital readiness is useful to every side of the table because it connects interest to execution.
Preferred Transaction Type
What it means: The kinds of ownership transitions the buyer is open to pursuing.
How to use it: Select the transaction types you are prepared to consider, such as full acquisition, majority acquisition, minority investment, merger, employee ownership transition, or recapitalization.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use this to determine whether your approach matches their desired path.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use this to identify likely structure, tax, financing, legal, and governance needs.
Why it matters: Transaction type determines whether buyer and seller goals can realistically meet.
Preferred Deal Structure
What it means: How the buyer is prepared to fund or structure a deal.
How to use it: Select structures you can realistically support, such as cash at close, seller financing, earnout, seller note, equity rollover, profit share, SBA financing, or outside investment.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use this to understand how much flexibility, risk sharing, and creativity the buyer may bring.
- Ecosystem partners: Capital partners use this to spot financing opportunities. Legal, tax, and M&A advisors use it to identify documentation and structure needs.
Why it matters: Structure often determines whether a deal can work, especially when values, risk, and timeline need to stay aligned.
Preferred Hold Period
What it means: How long the buyer expects to own the business.
How to use it: Be honest about whether you plan to hold long-term, build and sell, integrate, transition to employee ownership, or evaluate over time.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use hold period to understand whether the buyer is likely to preserve, build, sell, integrate, or consolidate the business.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use hold period to assess capital structure, governance, integration, employee expectations, and transition planning needs.
Why it matters: Time horizon affects seller trust, employee expectations, reinvestment, and post-close decisions.
Mission and Vision as an Acquirer
What it means: Why the buyer wants to acquire and what they hope ownership will make possible.
How to use it: Explain your motivation beyond growth or return. What are you trying to build, preserve, expand, or change through acquisition?
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use this to understand who they are handing the business to and why.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use this to assess whether financing, structure, governance, and operating strategy align with the stated mission.
Why it matters: This field helps sellers distinguish values-aligned buyers from buyers who adopt mission language only when the audience requires it.
Intent as Stewards
What it means: How the buyer describes the responsibility they are willing to take on after acquiring a business.
How to use it: Describe how you intend to protect or strengthen the business after close. Include employees, culture, customers, mission, community, operations, and long-term value where relevant.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use this to evaluate whether your ownership approach matches their hopes for the company.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use this to guide diligence, governance, financing, transition planning, integration, and communication support.
Why it matters: This field moves the conversation from acquisition appetite to ownership responsibility.
Operating Capability
What it means: The buyer's ability to run or support the business after close.
How to use it: Explain your operating experience, team, advisors, leadership plan, or post-close support model. Be clear where you have experience and where you will rely on others.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use this to assess whether the company will be stable after the transaction closes.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use this to identify whether operating partners, fractional executives, integration consultants, advisors, or board support may be needed.
Why it matters: Capital alone does not run a business. Sellers need confidence that operations will remain stable after close.
Integration Philosophy
What it means: How the buyer plans to combine, preserve, or support the business after acquisition.
How to use it: Explain whether you typically integrate businesses, preserve independence, centralize systems, keep leadership in place, change branding, or take a lighter-touch approach.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use this to understand what may change after close and what may be protected.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use this to identify support needs around systems, communications, culture, HR, governance, and operations.
Why it matters: Integration choices affect employees, customers, culture, brand, systems, and trust.
Stewardship Models Supported
What it means: The ownership or transition models the buyer is open to supporting.
How to use it: Select models you understand or are genuinely willing to explore, such as employee ownership, ESOP, EOT, worker cooperative, long-term hold, mission-aligned acquisition, or purpose trust.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use this to identify buyers who may be open to alternatives beyond a conventional sale.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use this to identify where specialized support may be useful, especially around employee ownership, governance, capital, or legal structure.
Why it matters: This field helps match transition design to buyer capability.
Values & Commitments
What it means: Self-declared principles that reflect what the buyer cares about and how they aim to operate.
How to use it: Choose values that genuinely guide your acquisition and ownership behavior. Do not choose everything.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use values to understand what kind of owner you may become, then test those signals through questions and diligence.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use values to understand where your acquisition strategy may need to align with mission, employees, community, or governance.
Why it matters: Values can improve discovery, but they are starting points, not guarantees.
Certifications & Standards
What it means: Third-party certifications, memberships, or standards connected to the buyer.
How to use it: Select current and accurate certifications or standards.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use certifications as one credibility signal, especially when mission, governance, or community commitments matter.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use certifications to assess fit and understand operating context.
Why it matters: These may support credibility, but they do not replace diligence or trust-building.
Ownership Identity
What it means: An optional, self-selected way to share buyer identity, lived experience, or ownership background.
How to use it: Share only what you choose to share. This may be relevant if your identity, community, or lived experience informs your acquisition goals.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers may use this as context for understanding the buyer's perspective, representation, or connection to the business's community.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners may use this to identify where lived experience, inclusive ownership goals, or capital access barriers may matter.
Why it matters: This can create visibility for buyers who have historically been underrepresented in ownership and capital markets.
Ecosystem Partner Profile Fields
Partner Headline
What it means: A short description of who the partner serves and how they help.
How to use it: Be specific about your role, audience, and transition focus.
Example: Employee ownership advisor helping founders evaluate ESOP and EOT pathways.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use the headline to quickly identify whether your support may help them prepare, evaluate options, or move through a transaction.
- Buyers: Buyers use the headline to identify whether you can support acquisition strategy, financing, diligence, structure, or integration.
Why it matters: The headline helps users understand whether your support may be relevant.
Service Provider Type
What it means: The category of support the partner provides.
How to use it: Select the categories that reflect your real work, such as legal, accounting, tax, lending, valuation, diligence, brokerage, M&A advisory, employee ownership, succession planning, governance, impact strategy, integration, or financing.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use this to find the right kind of support for their stage and needs.
- Buyers: Buyers use this to build the right acquisition support team.
Why it matters: Users often know they need help before they know exactly what kind of help they need.
Business Snapshot / Who You Serve
What it means: A plain-language overview of the partner's work and ideal users.
How to use it: Explain who you help, what problems you solve, and when users should come to you.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use this to understand whether you support founders like them and whether you are appropriate for their stage.
- Buyers: Buyers use this to understand whether you can support their acquisition model, size, sector, or structure.
Why it matters: This helps sellers and buyers find the right support at the right time.
Deal Size Supported
What it means: The size range of businesses or transactions the partner is equipped to support.
How to use it: Select the range that reflects your actual experience and service model.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use this to find partners who understand their scale.
- Buyers: Buyers use this to avoid hiring support that is too big, too small, or misfit for the transaction.
Why it matters: Supporting a $500K transition and a $50M transaction require different experience and resources. Users need fit.
Location / Geographic Scope
What it means: Where the partner works or can support clients.
How to use it: Be clear about whether you work locally, regionally, nationally, remotely, or only in certain jurisdictions.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use this to understand whether your support applies to their location, legal jurisdiction, or local market.
- Buyers: Buyers use this to understand whether you can support acquisition work in their target geography.
Why it matters: Geography can matter for law, tax, lending, regulation, local relationships, and transaction support.
Typical Engagement Point
What it means: The stage when the partner is most helpful.
How to use it: Select when users should engage you, such as early exploration, readiness, valuation, listing preparation, LOI, diligence, financing, closing, transition planning, or post-close integration.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use this to understand when to bring you in and whether they are too early, too late, or right on time.
- Buyers: Buyers use this to understand whether you support strategy, sourcing, diligence, financing, closing, or post-close execution.
Why it matters: Many users bring in support too late. This field helps them know when to reach out.
Role in Ownership Transitions
What it means: How the partner helps before, during, or after a business changes hands.
How to use it: Explain whether you prepare, structure, finance, diligence, advise, document, negotiate, integrate, govern, or support the human side of transition.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use this to understand your function and whether you help with preparation, transaction execution, or post-close concerns.
- Buyers: Buyers use this to see where you fit in their acquisition process.
Why it matters: This helps users understand your actual function in the transition process.
Stewardship Models Supported
What it means: The ownership or transition models the partner understands or supports.
How to use it: Select models you can credibly support, such as ESOPs, EOTs, worker cooperatives, purpose trusts, mission-aligned acquisitions, seller financing, or long-term succession.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use this to find partners who understand the transition pathways they want to explore.
- Buyers: Buyers use this to find support for structures they want to pursue or learn about.
Why it matters: Users looking for alternative ownership pathways need partners who understand the terrain.
Outcomes Optimized For
What it means: The results the partner is especially focused on helping users achieve.
How to use it: Name the outcomes your work supports, such as founder clarity, employee ownership, mission preservation, clean diligence, valuation readiness, responsible financing, smooth integration, community continuity, or long-term governance.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use this to find partners who share or understand their transition priorities.
- Buyers: Buyers use this to find support that matches their acquisition goals and stewardship approach.
Why it matters: Different partners optimize for different outcomes. This field helps users find support aligned with their goals.
Impact Exit Focus
What it means: How the partner's work relates to positive ownership transition outcomes.
How to use it: Describe how your services help protect or advance mission, employees, community, environmental commitments, inclusive ownership, or other impact goals.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use this to understand how your work may support outcomes beyond closing.
- Buyers: Buyers use this to understand whether you can help them execute acquisitions responsibly.
Why it matters: This helps users understand how your work supports the broader purpose of Steward Market.
Values & Commitments
What it means: Self-declared principles that reflect how the partner works and what they prioritize.
How to use it: Select values that are reflected in your practice, client work, or operating philosophy.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use this to decide whether they can trust your approach during a sensitive transition.
- Buyers: Buyers use this to understand whether your approach aligns with their acquisition and stewardship goals.
Why it matters: Users are not only choosing technical expertise. They are choosing people to trust.
Certifications & Standards
What it means: Third-party certifications, memberships, licenses, or standards connected to the partner.
How to use it: Select current and accurate credentials, certifications, or memberships.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use credentials as one trust signal when selecting professional support.
- Buyers: Buyers use credentials to assess whether you have relevant expertise for their acquisition process.
Why it matters: Credentials can support credibility, but users should still evaluate fit, expertise, and approach.
Ownership Identity
What it means: An optional, self-selected way for partners to share identity, lived experience, or ownership background.
How to use it: Share only what you choose to share. This may be relevant if your identity or lived experience informs the communities, founders, or buyers you support.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers may use this to find partners who understand their founder experience, community, or ownership barriers.
- Buyers: Buyers may use this to find partners with relevant lived experience or inclusive ownership expertise.
Why it matters: This can help users find partners who understand particular founder experiences, communities, or ownership barriers.
Core Cross-Platform Concepts
Stewardship Pathways
What it means: The transition or ownership models a user is open to, seeking, or able to support.
How to use it: Select only the pathways that genuinely apply, such as employee ownership, ESOP, EOT, worker cooperative, long-term hold, mission-aligned acquisition, purpose trust, community ownership, or patient capital.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use pathways to signal what kinds of outcomes they may be open to exploring.
- Buyers: Buyers use pathways to show how they are prepared to own, finance, or support a business.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use pathways to show which transition models they understand and can help implement.
Why it matters: Stewardship Pathways help users find each other based on how a transition might be designed, not only who has capital or who is ready to sell.
Values & Commitments
What it means: Self-declared principles that reflect what a user cares about and how they aim to operate.
How to use it: Choose values that are meaningful and defensible. Avoid selecting everything.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use values to show what should be protected or honored through transition.
- Buyers: Buyers use values to signal what kind of owner they intend to become.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use values to show the philosophy and outcomes that guide their work.
Why it matters: These signals help create better-fit conversations, but they should be treated as starting points, not guarantees.
Certifications & Standards
What it means: Third-party certifications, memberships, or standards that support credibility.
How to use it: Select current and accurate certifications only.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers use certifications to provide credibility around operating commitments.
- Buyers: Buyers use certifications to provide credibility around values, governance, or practices.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners use certifications to show relevant credentials, licenses, memberships, or ecosystem participation.
Why it matters: Certifications can help reinforce credibility, but they do not replace diligence, alignment, or trust-building.
Ownership Identity
What it means: An optional, self-selected field where users may share lived experience, founder identity, ownership background, or community representation.
How to use it: Share only what you want to share. This field is optional and should never be treated as required to participate meaningfully.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers may use this to share founder or ownership identity where relevant to the business story.
- Buyers: Buyers may use this to signal lived experience, representation, or identity-related alignment.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners may use this to help users find support grounded in relevant lived experience or community context.
Why it matters: Ownership and capital markets have not been equally accessible to everyone. This field can help create visibility for historically underrepresented owners, buyers, and partners.
Impact Exit
What it means: An optional way for sellers, buyers, or partners to connect a completed transaction to broader ecosystem reinvestment.
How to use it: Use this if you intend to acknowledge a completed transition through a voluntary contribution or other supported pathway connected to the Steward Impact Fund.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers may use Impact Exit to connect their transition to future mission-driven entrepreneurship or ownership pathways.
- Buyers: Buyers may use Impact Exit to show that ownership creates ecosystem value, not only private value.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners may use Impact Exit to connect their transaction-related work to broader field-building.
Why it matters: Impact Exit creates a way for value generated through transitions to help support future mission-driven entrepreneurs, ownership pathways, and stewardship-oriented businesses.
Signal of Intent
What it means: A field, badge, or statement that shows what a user cares about, supports, or hopes to pursue.
How to use it: Treat signals as conversation starters. They are not legal promises, verified claims, or guaranteed outcomes unless clearly stated elsewhere.
How others may interpret it
- Sellers: Sellers should treat buyer and partner signals as useful context, not proof.
- Buyers: Buyers should be ready to explain how their stated values or pathways show up in practice.
- Ecosystem partners: Partners can help users turn intent into structure, documentation, diligence, and better decisions.
Why it matters: Signals make fit easier to identify earlier, but users still need good questions, diligence, documentation, and judgment.
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