Some business owners believe that once they understand the basic Exit Planning process, they can develop and implement their Exit Plans by themselves. They feel that the idea of bringing in a team of professional advisors is both time-consuming and expensive. After all, they’ve built a successful business, why can’t they do an Exit Plan [...]
Business continuity and buy-sell agreements go hand-in-hand. For many advisors a buy-sell agreement is business continuity planning. Indeed, buy-sell agreements are a staple of business continuity planning, but they are only one part of that planning. Today we’ll look beyond buy-sell agreements and discuss the planning omissions that can be fatal to the continuity of [...]
The Importance of Establishing Goals “To will is to select a goal, determine a course of action that will bring one to that goal, and then hold to that action ‘til the goal is reached. The key is action.” –Michael Hanson Philosophers, business owners, and successful people from all walks of life appreciate the importance [...]
Many business owners instinctively gravitate toward transferring ownership to their children. However, they must be mindful of the common, sometimes devastating, problems that go along with a transfer to children. While disagreement in third-party sales and sales to management can affect owners' business lives, those same disagreements can have wide-ranging effects on the personal lives [...]
There is no more important concept in Exit Planning than that of transferable value. Transferable value is how much your business is worth to buyers without you. The characteristics that buyers demand to pay top dollar for your business we refer to as Value Drivers. As the owner, if you are vital to any one [...]
Avoiding the Rolling 5-Year Exit Plan After Miles told Sally that he wanted to do something to make sure that he could leave his business on his terms, Sally asked him an important question. “Have you decided precisely when you want to exit your business?” Miles sheepishly slid his BEI Value Driver Analysis across the table [...]
Common Assumptions: Most owners base their estimates of their businesses’ value on prices they’ve heard quoted for similar businesses. Additionally, many owners tend to overvalue their businesses, which prevents them from growing value and often leads to a rocky exit at best. Building business value often takes years, so it’s important for owners to understand [...]
Sticking With What You Know: Benefits for Business Owners As we’ve discussed throughout this series, The BEI Seven Step Exit Planning Process™ is a proven process for several types of ownership transfers, including sales to outside third parties and transfers to management. Some of the benefits for owners who use the Process to transfer ownership [...]
