EXIT STRATEGY PLANNING

Do you find yourself thinking about getting out of your business?
Are you wondering how to groom a successor?
Is passing your company on to your children becoming increasingly unlikely?
Are you getting tired of "fighting the alligators" and want a different challenge?
Does the whole "succession" idea seem overwhelming?

If you can answer yes to any of these questions, it is time for you to create an Exit Plan. If you don't know how to get started, you are not alone. Few, if any, business owners know how to leave their businesses in style.
Leaving in style means leaving your business to the successor you choose, for the price you want at a time you pick. An Exit Plan makes all of this possible.

How do you get started? Call 408-857-5319for a free consultation.

Approach: The Six-Step Exit Planning Process

There are many tools available to help individuals get into business, but few that help them get out. The Exit Planning Process is a customized comprehensive approach to designing and implementing a business owner's successful exit from his or her business. Exit Planning uses an owner's unique personal objectives to convert his or her current reality into the desired outcome. The Exit Planning Process helps maximize the financial return, minimize tax liability, plan for contingencies and increase the likelihood of a successful transfer of the business.

Step 1 - Owner Objectives

Each business owner's unique objectives drive the creation of his or her Exit Plan. Step 1 articulates and tests the owner's objectives so that the comprehensive Exit Plan focuses on achieving those goals. Key exit objectives that will be identified as part of the Exit Planning Process include: (1) the owner's desired departure date, (2) the value that the owner wants or needs from the business, and (3) the individuals or entities to whom the owner wants to sell/transfer the business.

Step 2 - Business and Professional Financial Resources

Step 2 determines what owners have now - how much the business is worth and how much cash flow the business can generate for Exit Planning. The current value and projected cash flow, along with other non-business assets and income, are used to determine the paths and planning tools available to reach the owner's objectives.

Step 3 - Maximizing and Protecting Business Value

The elements that build the value of a business or protect the value the owner has worked so hard to create are called Value Drivers. In Step 3, owners and their advisors identify which Value Drivers are important to meeting the owner's overall exit objectives and devise specific steps to maximize the impact of the Value Drivers.

Step 4 - Ownership Transfers to Insiders or Third Parties

During Step 4, owners who want to sell their business to either an insider or a third party will work with their advisors to identify ways to do so in the manner that results in the most beneficial sale price and terms.

Step 5 - Business Continuity

Step 5 prepares the owner for the contingencies that affect the business and its owners. A complete Exit Plan incorporates potential changes, such as death or permanent disability of an owner so that the owner's objectives can still be achieved if circumstances change.

Step 6 - Personal Wealth and Estate Planning

The sale of a business generates cash for owners, their families and the IRS. During Step 6, owners and their advisors create a plan that not only preserves wealth, but minimizes taxes using both lifetime and estate planning tools.

To successfully navigate this process, you need to work with a team of advisors. My objective is to help you lead your team with only your interests at heart.