Professional Business Valuation
Exit Planning
Merger/Acquisition Support

Exit Planning

Like everything else, business ownership has a lifecycle. The day will come when you will sell or close your business. You may want to transfer your business to a son or daughter, sell to your management team, sell to a trusted employee, sell to an unrelated financial buyer or maybe sell to a competitor, supplier or customer. Planning your exit in advance can help you achieve these goals. Without proper planning you may find that you have no alternative other than closing or liquidating the business you worked so hard to build.

We can help you through the process to ensure the desired outcome. The following are some of the points we will help you address:

What are real your objectives in a sale?

• Continuing family ownership.
• Desire for the business to continue in its current form.
• Reward a trusted employee or group of managers.
• To get into a different type of business.

Is the business ready for sale?

• Are employment agreements in place?
• Are important contracts assignable?
• Have non-operating assets been removed or sold?

Do you know how much the business is worth?

• Beware of rules of thumb. Depending on the structure and operations of your business traditional rules-of-thumb may be misleading.
• Your sale price will be impacted by the availability of financing and the credit markets are constantly changing.

Can you increase the value of your business prior to sale?

• Improve the aging of receivables.
• Liquidate obsolete inventory in advance.
• Reduce costs in advance to increase your income. In a typical scenario, every $1 dollar of reduced costs will come back to you at 3X in a business sale.

The earlier we can get involved, the better your chance of achieving the best possible outcome and price. Unlike many other firms, we typically provide exit planning support at no charge. Just call us for a consultation.