As a business owner, you have spent decades building a successful business, and chances are you are continually focused on the day-to-day operations and the work at hand. Therefore, your daily routine may not give you enough time to think about when you can take a step back and enjoy a well-deserved retirement. However, exit planning is a process that entails months (and more likely years) of moving parts and strategizing, and the future of your business depends on the exit plans that you create now.
This is where exit planning consultants can simplify the hurdles to come.
Regardless of the size or nature of your business, an expert exit planning consultant can be your solution. Their guidance does much more than finding a buyer or helping an owner navigate through paperwork when it’s time to sell, liquidate, or transfer a business to other parties, stakeholders, or family members.
So, if you want to ensure peace of mind now and well into the future, consider the ways that an exit planning consultant can pave the way to a successful end of one chapter when it’s time to start a new one – even if that timeframe is many years from now.
What is Exit Planning in Business?
An exit planning strategy comes into play when an owner thinks about selling their ownership in their business, transferring it to another company, family member, or investors, or otherwise stepping away from daily operations. An exit plan can ensure that an owner can reduce or liquidate their role in the company while maximizing profits and ensuring any essential factors – like retaining core values and employees – remain in place indefinitely, regardless of company control.
When and How Do You Make an Exit Plan?
The answer to this question is highly dependent on your future goals for your company.
Regardless of whether you are looking at a succession, mergers and acquisitions, IPO, or liquidation strategy, you should ideally start crafting your exit plan years before an eventual exit looms.
Each one of these strategies has its own suite of legal and logistical considerations, optimal timing, and resources or contacts to ensure the best results. As such, a good starting point for making an exit plan is to map out what you want the future of your business to look like, as this will provide the milestones for the steps ahead.
What is a Certified Exit Planning Advisor?
A certified exit planning advisor takes your list of long-term goals for your company (and your financial future) and facilitates the steps required to achieve these goals.
An exit planner essentially has multiple roles.
On the financial and accounting side, an exit planner will assist with the legal, logistical, and financial steps required to allow your business to eventually make a desired transition (such as selling the company or passing it down to the next generation.) They will ensure all potential challenges have been accounted for well beforehand so that when it is time for an owner to retire or launch a new adventure, the transference of the business will be seamless and streamlined.
On a broader scale, an exit planner also identifies opportunities, which begins with timing.
An exit planner will help an owner strategize to find the best timeframe for selling or otherwise liquidating a business to ensure they garner the most profit.
In addition, an exit planner’s role is to ensure that the owner’s goals for the company stay intact. Many owners spend a lifetime building their businesses, and want their values, employees, brand, and reputation to be safe even after leaving the company. An exit planning advisor can help ensure that this legacy remains, and that the business continues to run as the original owner intends, even after they step away from the table.
Do You Need an Exit Plan and an Exit Planning Advisor?
Saddock Advisory is your only resource for all your exit planning needs. Forming a detailed and comprehensive exit plan starts with a conversation. Your retirement may be many years from now, but it’s never too early to start preparing for the future when it’s time for your business to make a significant change.
If you own a business and are too focused on ensuring every day is successful to start mapping out long-term plans, then it’s time to start a conversation with the exit planning experts at Saddock Advisory. With our assistance and dedication, we can ensure that your legacy and decades of hard work continue for your company’s next generation and beyond, regardless of your long-term ambitions.
