I help business owners prepare and develop a comprehensive plan for the ultimate transfer of business ownership at a time and in a manner that (1) gives the business the best opportunity to survival and continue to be successful in the hands of its new owners, and (2) provides the owner and family with adequate financial resources to meet the owner’s and family’s income and lifestyle maintenance requirements and addresses any other financial goals and objectives of the owner and family following the transfer.
This process involves two separate but interrelated planning elements.
The first element is Exit Planning. The primary purpose of exit planning is to prepare the owner for the transfer of the business to its new owners and to move on to the next chapter of the owner’s life. Here, the focus is on making certain (1) that the current owner will be psychologically and emotionally ready to step away from the business when the time comes and (2) that the owner has accumulated sufficient financial resources by the time of ownership transfer to make certain that the owner and family have enough wealth to meet their financial security and lifestyle maintenance requirements.
Succession Planning, the second element of the process, is focused on getting the business ready for transfer. Steps in this part of the process typically include a business transfer readiness assessment, a preliminary determination of business value, the design and implementation of strategies to grow and maximize business value and mitigate business risk, determining the identity and relative suitability of potential acquisition candidates, set a “target” transfer date or time horizon for the ownership transfer and such other steps as may be deemed appropriate based on the unique fact and circumstances of each individual business situation.