Why Exit Planning?

Are you like most business owners?

• A majority of closely held and family owned businesses will change
  hands within the next five years; but
• Most Business Owners have not taken active steps to transition out of
  ownership.

Again, if you are like many of our readers, the reasons for failing to
plan may be:

• You have simply been too busy working in your business to be working on it – at least until now.
• You are unsure of how to begin Exit Planning, who to use or even where
  to begin. Those uncertainties also can begin to disappear today.

This issue of The Exit Planning Navigator® and every subsequent issue will encourage you to work on—not in—your business. Your education about the Exit Planning process begins now. Proper knowledge and preparation can mean millions of dollars to you when you ultimately leave your company. Start Exit Planning today and you will avoid the sad (but too common) fate of T J Construction.

Years ago, we met with Jim & Tim McCoy, two owners of a thriving construction company. What we assumed would be a business planning meeting, turned out to be a "We're getting out of business, how do we do it?" meeting. As successful as they were, they were tired of the government regulations, changing tax codes and day-to -day grind of running a multi -million dollar company.

A sale to a third party was not an option because Tim and Jim were not willing to stay on after a sale –and they had failed to develop a strong management team which any savvy purchaser would require as a condition of purchasing the company. Transferring ownership to a group of key employees was also out of the question. None had been groomed to take on this type of responsibility and nothing had been done to fund this type of buy out.

Both owners were too young to have business active children so their only option was to liquidate.

Jim and Tim's highly- profitable company had little worth beyond the value of its tangible assets. After the sale of those assets, dozens of the employees lost jobs, the business disappeared and Jim and Tim left millions of dollars on the table.

How do you avoid Jim and Tim's fate? By engaging in a proven Exit Planning process that you control. An Exit Planning process that begins by asking yourself the questions that follow. Your Exit Plan will be created as you answer each of the following questions affirmatively:

1. Do you know your exact retirement goals and what it will take—in cash—to reach them?
2. Do you know how much your business is worth today, in cash?
3. Do you know the best way to maximize the income stream generated by
   your ownership interest?
4. Do you know how to sell your business to a third party and pay the least
   possible taxes?
5. Do you know how to transfer your business to family members, co-owners,
   or employees while paying the least possible taxes and enjoying
   maximum financial security?
6. Do you have a continuity plan for your business if the unexpected happens
   to you?
7. Do you have a plan to secure financial independence for your family if
   the unexpected happens to you?

These questions are almost misleadingly simple to ask, but to answer them affirmatively requires thought and action on your part.

Creating and implementing your Exit Plan is the most important business and financial event of your life.

Subsequent issues of The Exit Planning Navigator® discuss all aspects of Exit Planning.