Business Exit
All business owners need an exit plan. At Davis Schilken, PC we focus upon working with business owners to develop and implement an exit plan which allows them to transfer the business to family members, employees or a third party while minimizing their tax liability and maximizing the cash they receive.
What is Exit Planning?
Exit and Succession Planning are terms to refer to the development of a strategy that enables a business owner to maximize value and leave their business on their own terms. At some point, every business owner will leave their business. The average business owner has upwards of 70-80% of their net worth tied up in their business. Even worse, 80% of businesses are not saleable today for what the business owner expects. The transition out of the business will be the most significant financial event of their lives. Preparing your business for sale can be a hectic affair with few options, triggered by an unplanned event and constrained by time. This typically leads to many unpleasant tradeoffs and a result that falls far short of the owner’s objectives. The alternative is a systematic approach initiated 3-10 years in advance and driven entirely by your personal exit objectives.
When Should I start my Exit Planning?
The simple answer is three to ten years before you planned transition from the business. Owners must begin thinking about the Exit Planning process when two streams of thought begin to converge. The first stream is a feeling that you want to do something besides go to work every day – either you would like to be someplace else – doing something else – or you simply no longer get the same kick out of doing what you are doing.
The second stream is the general awareness that you are either approaching financial independence, or making significant strides toward reaching that goal, or can achieve financial independence by selling your business. When these two streams converge, thoughts flow inevitably towards exiting the business. Hopefully, when that happens, your Exit Plan is in place and you are actually able to leave the business when you want to. That, in a nutshell, is the purpose of Exit Planning – to leave your business on your terms and on your schedule.
Our Exit & Succession Planning and Corporate Service practices allow us to maximize the results of our corporate clients. We are able to do this by collaborating with business owners and their team of advisors to prepare for the succession and ultimate transfer of a business.
Our Exit & Succession Planning practice includes:
- The Exit Strategy Discovery Session;
- Business Sales and Acquisitions;
- Business Growth and Tax Planning; and
- Assessment of Corporate Structure and Due Diligence.
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