For many business owners, their company represents the largest asset on their balance sheet. Yet, most lack a formal, documented exit plan - a critical oversight that can jeopardize both their financial future and the legacy they've built. Today’s blog will discuss a comprehensive overview of business exit planning, highlighting why it matters, when to start, and how to ensure a smooth, value-maximizing transition.
Why Exit Planning Is Essential
Most business owners either have no exit plan or only a vague, undocumented idea of how they’ll leave their business. This lack of planning often leads to failed successions, businesses that don’t survive into the next generation, or sales that fall short of the owner’s financial needs. Exit planning is about maximizing the value of your business, exiting on your terms, and ensuring your largest asset serves your long-term goals.
When to Start Planning
The best time to start exit planning is at least three to five years before your intended exit. Last-minute decisions rarely allow enough time to maximize business value, minimize taxes, and handle estate planning effectively. Begin with the end in mind. Early planning creates flexibility and better outcomes.
Steps to Prepare for an Exit
- Establish Your Goals
- Financial Independence: Ensure you can walk away from your business with enough assets to support your lifestyle.
- Specific Wants and Needs: Define not just what you need, but what you want - considering both personal and business-related expenses.
- Departure Date: Set a target exit date, even if it changes later.
- Chosen Successor: Decide whether you’ll sell to family, key employees, or an external party.
- Values-Based Goals: Consider legacy, employee well-being, family harmony, company culture, and community involvement.
- Assess Your Current Situation
- Asset Gap Analysis: Determine the difference between your current assets (including business value) and what you need for financial independence.
- Business Valuation: Obtain a professional valuation rather than relying on hearsay or “typical” industry multiples.
- Business Structure: Ensure your legal and organizational structure supports a smooth transfer.
- Organizational Readiness: Build a business that isn’t dependent on you; buyers want companies that can thrive without the owner.
- Choosing Your Exit Path
Owners typically have three options when it comes to exiting their business:- Internal Transfer: Sell to family, employees, or through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). This requires time to prepare successors and structure the deal.
- External Sale: Sell to a strategic buyer, private equity, or via merger. Focus on making the business attractive to outsiders and maximizing after-tax proceeds.
- Do Nothing: Simply walk away or let the business wind down - rarely the best way to maximize value.
- Maximizing and Protecting Business Value
- Work On, Not In, the Business: Build systems and teams so the company isn’t reliant on you.
- Value Drivers: Focus on financial health, sales growth, customer diversification, operational efficiency, leadership development, and risk mitigation.
- Business Continuity Planning: Prepare for unexpected events (death, disability, divorce, disagreement, distress) with clear agreements and documentation.
- Personal and Estate Planning: Use strategies to minimize taxes and protect assets during and after the transition. This requires time and careful planning to be effective.
- Implementing Your Exit Plan
- Assemble a Team: Work with advisors experienced in exit planning, including WJ, CPAs, attorneys, etc.
- Monitor and Adjust: Regularly review and update your plan as circumstances change.
How WJ Interests Can Help
WJ Interests offers business advisory services, including certified exit planning expertise. We assist with succession planning, implementation, and coordination with other professionals to ensure a seamless transition. Our approach is to help you develop your exit plan and strategy (which can often take years to implement) and then act as the “quarterback” during the implementation phase of your exit plan, helping you maximize your business value and achieve your personal and financial goals.
Final Thought
Exit planning isn’t just about selling your business - it’s about securing your future, protecting your legacy, and ensuring your hard work pays off for you and those you care about. Start early, get the right team, and plan for both the expected and the unexpected. If you’re ready to begin, reach out to WJ to guide you through the process.
Know someone steering their own business ship? Share this guide and help them chart a smarter course to a successful exit.
PAST PERFORMANCE IS NOT A GUARANTEE OF CURRENT OR FUTURE RESULTS. Examples of historical information included in this presentation do not, nor are they intended to, constitute a promise of similar future results. Specific client portfolio allocations, risks and returns can and may deviate from these examples depending on accounts and types of investments available through each account. Future market views by WJ Interests, LLC may vary significantly from the historical examples presented herein and no one receiving this summary should assume that WJ Interests, LLC will be able to replicate successful views in the future.
