Business Exit Planning
Your business exit plan should connect what you want next with what your business can support financially. Whether you’re considering a sale, a family transfer, or a transition to employees, understanding your company’s value and your financial needs helps you compare your options.
Starting before you’re ready to leave gives you time to address financial reporting issues, prepare future leaders, and reduce the company’s dependence on you. Those improvements can strengthen the business today while preparing it for new ownership.
Establish your starting point
Exit planning starts with clarity. We establish a baseline valuation of your business or respond to an event, such as an unsolicited offer, a shareholder buyout, or a succession discussion. We also discuss your financial goals and preferred timeline to understand what you need from a transition.
We then assess three critical gaps that help guide the planning process:
- Wealth gap: The difference between your current resources, including your business interest, and what you need to achieve your long-term financial goals.
- Profitability gap: The difference between your company’s current profitability and what leading businesses in your industry achieve.
- Value gap: The difference between your company’s current value and its potential value through improved profitability and reduced business risk.
Identifying these gaps helps us prioritize practical steps to prepare your business for a transition.
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Strengthen business value and exit readiness
“What gets measured gets improved.”
If gaps exist, we help you address them. Our team focuses on improvements that can strengthen earnings and reduce risk, such as broadening your customer base, developing your management team, and improving financial reporting. These changes can strengthen your business today while making it better prepared for new ownership.
Coordinate your advisory team
Successful exit planning requires a coordinated approach. We serve as the hub of your advisory team, working with wealth managers, tax professionals, attorneys, and bankers so that decisions about your business support your personal and financial goals.
Together, we consider how ownership arrangements, financing, taxes, and payment timing could affect what you receive from a business sale. This coordination helps identify conflicting assumptions and address questions before you commit to a transition.
Exit planning services
- Business value assessment and valuation benchmarking
- Exit readiness assessments (value, financial, and personal readiness)
- Identification and prioritization of value drivers
- Quality of earnings and financial normalization
- Cash flow and transferability analysis
- Succession planning (internal transfers, management buyouts, family transitions)
- ESOP education and preliminary suitability analysis (ESOP 101 discussions)
- Transaction advisory support through the ESOP process in coordination with trustees and ESOP counsel
- Third-party sale preparation and pre-LOI planning
- Key employee incentive and retention planning
- Post-transaction financial planning in coordination with the client’s advisory team
- Coordination with M&A advisors, attorneys, and wealth managers throughout the process
“Going through the process of selling our business, we were prepared because of their level of attention. All along, we had someone on the phone like a friend.”
Exit Planning Insights
5 Valuation Killers That Lower Your Business Multiples (And How to Fix Them)
Summary: Valuation is driven by risk: Two businesses with identical earnings can sell for vastly different prices depending…
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The Business Valuation Gap: Why Buyers and Sellers Disagree on Value
Summary: Valuation relies on judgment calls about add-backs, working capital, real estate, and risk premiums. That’s how two…
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Selling a Business With SBA Financing: What the New SOP 50 10 8.1 Rules Mean for Buyers and Sellers
Summary: SBA’s SOP 50 10 8.1, effective October 1, 2026, tightens several rules for business acquisition loans, including…
Read articleThe specialists behind the work.
Business Exit Planning FAQs
When should I start planning my business exit?
Start before you’re ready to leave, or before a buyer approaches you. Early planning gives you time to improve financial reporting, develop future leaders, and resolve ownership issues. If you’re considering a sale, preparing your business for due diligence 18 to 24 months beforehand can help you address problems before buyers scrutinize them. More substantial changes may take longer.
Do I need an exit plan if I’m not ready to sell?
Yes. Exit planning helps you understand your options without committing to a sale. You might eventually transfer ownership to family, sell to employees, or pursue an outside buyer. Understanding your business’s value and your financial needs gives you a basis for comparing those paths. It also helps you identify improvements you can make while you continue running the company.
How do I know whether selling my business will fund my retirement?
Compare your expected net sale proceeds and assets outside the business with what you’ll need to support your retirement goals. The purchase price alone doesn’t tell you how much you’ll have available. Taxes, debt repayment, transaction expenses, and payment terms can affect how much you receive and when. Your wealth advisor and exit planning team can assess whether the expected proceeds support your plans or whether you need to build additional value before exiting.
What can I do to make my business less dependent on me?
Begin transferring responsibilities and customer relationships to other leaders while you’re still involved. Preparing a business for an ownership transition includes documenting key processes, cross-training employees, and giving your management team experience making decisions without you. If you personally generate most new business or manage critical operations, a buyer may question whether earnings will continue after you leave.
Can I sell my business to my employees?
Yes. Selling your business to key employees or your management team can preserve familiar leadership. The planning process should assess whether the employees are ready to own the business and whether its cash flow can support the purchase. Financing arrangements and payment timing also need to support your financial needs.
What should I address before transferring a family business?
First, confirm who wants to own and lead the business. Working in the company doesn’t necessarily mean a family member wants to take it over. Planning a family business transition requires discussing each owner’s financial needs, preferred timing, and expectations for future involvement. Have legal counsel review shareholder agreements, ownership records, and buy-sell arrangements to prevent outdated documents or informal promises from disrupting the transition.
What if I’ve already received an offer to buy my business?
An offer can be a starting point for evaluating your options. Review the buyer’s assumptions about earnings, working capital, and which assets are included, as these are common reasons buyers and sellers disagree on business value. Consider the proposed payment terms and your expected proceeds alongside the headline price. An independent assessment can help you understand whether the offer reflects your business’s value and supports your goals.