The Opagio 12
Definition
The Opagio 12 is Opagio's framework of twelve intangible value drivers that determine a company's hidden enterprise value: Brand & Reputation, Customer Capital, Technology & Innovation, Data & Intelligence, Network Effects & Platforms, Human Capital, Organisational Capital, Ecosystem & Partnerships, Content & IP, Regulatory & Compliance, Switching Costs & Lock-In, and Culture & Ways of Working. Because roughly nine-tenths of a modern private company's value sits in intangible assets, and most of it never appears on the balance sheet, a buyer effectively prices a business through these drivers whether they name them or not. The Opagio 12 gives owners and acquirers a single, consistent lens for identifying, assessing and valuing that intangible value — the basis of the Opagio Value Drivers Register™ produced inside Opagio Intangibles.
Complementary Terms
Concepts that frequently appear alongside The Opagio 12 in practice.
The commercial value derived from consumer perception of a brand name. Brand equity is one of the most significant intangible assets for consumer-facing businesses and influences pricing power, customer loyalty, and market share.
The accumulated knowledge, processes, systems, and culture that enable a firm to operate effectively. Organisational capital includes management practices, internal processes, proprietary methodologies, quality systems, and the institutional knowledge that persists beyond individual employees.
The economic value of a workforce's collective experience, skills, knowledge, creativity, and health. Investment in human capital through recruitment, training, development, and retention is a key intangible asset category and a primary driver of productivity growth.
Further Reading
How to Sell Your Business: The Owner's Guide
The full sell-side hub: what buyers value, how to prepare, and how to evidence it.
Read more →Related FAQ
What are the main types of intangible assets?
Opagio groups intangible assets into twelve value drivers — the Opagio 12 framework — spanning brand, customers, technology, content, data, human capital and organisational capital, among others.
Read full answer →What is my business worth to a buyer?
A buyer applies a multiple to your normalised earnings and sets that multiple on the quality of your intangible assets — brand, customers, technology, processes and people — not on last year's profit alone.
Read full answer →How do I reduce founder dependency before selling?
Document the decisions and relationships only you hold, distribute customer contacts across your team, build a management layer, and withdraw from day-to-day operations in stages so the business demonstrably runs without you.
Read full answer →Put this knowledge to work
Use Opagio's free tools to measure and grow the intangible assets that drive your business value.