Exit Engineering Process

Exit Strategy Consulting

As an entrepreneur, exit planning is crucial to your financial future. With the stakes higher than ever and emotional ties to what you have spent years building, your exit is the final act that determines your legacy and the foundation for the next chapter of your life.

When Do You Need an Exit Strategy?

An exit strategy is a planned approach to transition ownership or finalize a situation to maximize benefit or minimize damage. Regardless of whether you are ready to transition out of your company or plan to scale and grow it, planning your exit strategy early on can help increase the value of your business, minimize stress and prepare you for whatever comes next.

The critical word to remember when planning your exit is “readiness”. While all exit opportunities are unique, all exits require three key components: owner readiness, business readiness, and market readiness.

 

← General Consulting Services

Our Approach

Working with us means getting the care and attention you need for exit opportunities from experts on corporate strategy. There are a wide variety of paths you could take to exit your business.

Our consulting experience and skill make us experts in developing the strategy that best fits your situation and your goal. Our consultants can help evaluate these potential exit paths through the lens of what matters most to you and which route gets you to your WIN.

Read briefly about each component of our Exit Engineering® process to better understand true exit readiness.

Talk to an expert

Inside Sale

An inside sale is a sale to someone familiar with the business. Selling to an inside party, whether a family member, key employee, or Employee Stock Option Plans (ESOP), can make your exit experience feel less final and less stressful. Working with an exit strategy and management consulting firm will help develop a plan that will be in the business’ best interests.

Outside Sale

If you have a salable business and don’t have a candidate for an inside sale in your family or company, an outside buyer may be your best option. This person or company sees the value and opportunity in purchasing your business. There are many different types of buyers, each with different motivators. Exit Consulting Group can help define which type of buyer would bring the best options for your situation, target those buyers, and take advantage of the negotiations of the sale.

Annuity

If you don’t necessarily want to sell your business but no longer want the responsibility of running it, consider turning the business into an annuity. You’re relieved from the day-to-day operations while still receiving a monthly income. It’s a creative solution enabling you to hold on to the business, be involved in some (or none!) of the decisions and steer your legacy without forcing an unfavorable sale.

Liquidation

The word might carry negative connotations of “failure”, but liquidation is a viable exit strategy for businesses that might not be easily sold. Liquidation is much less complex than a sale transaction and eliminates any future liability by taking buyers and new owners out of the equation.

Why Are Exit Strategies and Exit Planning Important?

Planning your exit is a delicate balance of time, money, and energy. Without a proper exit plan, you won’t have a clear path to reaching your financial goals, and your company will be left with no direction, leaving everything you built on the line. To create financial freedom for yourself and establish a legacy, you need an exit strategy. The sooner you start thinking about your Win, the better your outcome will be.