INDEPENDENT . NON-COMMISSION . BILINGUAL
Not every business is sellable.We determine the truth - and elevate what's possible.
CNJ Elevate prepares small and middle-market family-owned businesses for ownership transition working with owners before a transaction is possible. Founded in Los Angeles in 2005.
2025
Founded renamed CNJ Elevate in 2026
No Success Fees
Advice not tied to whether a deal happens
Korean & English
Bicultural counsel across both sides
2 Month Minimum
Enough time to reach an honest answer
WHAT WE DO
Preparation and clarity - not transactions.
We do not broker deals, sell securities, or earn commissions. Because our fee does not depend on a transaction closing, we are free to tell an owner the one thing a broker cannot: that the business is not ready or should not be sold at all.
01
Determine feasibility
Can this business be sold as it stands today? We answer that first, in writing, before anyone spends money preparing for a transaction that may never be possible.
02
Reach a valuation you can defend
Most owners have never had a real valuation, and the free ones they are offered come from people who want the listing. We prepare the file a qualified appraiser actually needs, help you choose the right one, and make sure you understand the result-not just receive it.
03
Remediate what blocks it
Owner dependency, undocumented agreements, unclear ownership, financials built for tax minimization rather than valuation. We fix what buyers will price against.
04
Meet the buyer's standard
We track who is actually buying in our clients’ sectors, and what they require. Readiness is defined by the market, not by opinion.
ON VALUATION
We are not your appraiser. We are the reason the appraisal goes well. A valuation is only as good as the records behind it, and most engagements stall because the owner and the appraiser are not speaking the same language – literally, and otherwise. We organize the file before the meter starts running, stay in the room, and make sure both sides actually understand each other. We are not paid by the appraiser and receive no referral fee.
WHY IT MATTERS NOW
The largest ownership transfer in modern American business is underway.
First-generation Korean-American owners who built their businesses in the 1970s and 80s are reaching retirement at the same moment a national succession wave peaks. Most will discover too late that their business, as structured, cannot be sold.
$5T
Small-business value expected to change hands by 2035 McKinsey,
McKinsey, Feb 2026
19.6%
Korean-American business ownership rate – below 20% for the first time
Korean American Economic Survey, 2023
40%
Of U.S. family businesses that successfully pass to a second generation
Cornell SC Johnson
31.4%
Of owners have no succession plan beyond a basic will
Cornell SC Johnson
MARKET INTELLIGENCE
We know what buyers want because we track them.
CNJ Elevate maintains ongoing research on cross-border transaction activity between Korea and the United States across six sectors. We publish it because readiness advice is only credible when it reflects what the market is actually paying for.
START HERE
One conversation. No obligation. No sales pitch.
Tell us where the business stands. We will tell you honestly whether a feasibility engagement makes sense for you including when it does not.