A common question exit planning professionals get is, “when is the right time to sell?” While the answer that Certified Exit Planning Advisors (CEPA®) give is relatively simple, let’s first examine the considerations and factors that shape exit outcomes.

The first factor is your personal timeline. This timeline relates to your age in part but also relates to your health, personal readiness and sensibilities.  According to the Exit Planning Institute’s CEO, Chris Snider, in his book “Walking to Destiny,” enthusiasm and energy begin to decline around the age of 62. The second factor is the business’s lifecycle. All businesses have a lifecycle that is generally marked by accelerated growth early on, leading to a plateau and eventual decline if the business is not expanded in some way. The third factor is the private capital markets, which fluctuate over time based on economic conditions.

Conventional wisdom may lead you to a strategy that aligns all three variables with perfect timing. ...

What is Exit Planning?

Many business owners think that exit planning is simply how you sell your business. That is just not the case. Our method of exit planning is smart business strategy that accelerates your business growth and value today and offers readiness, opportunity, and transferrable value tomorrow. Rather than being a distraction from the important initiatives you currently have on your plate, this strategy aligns with and supports them. And it’s more important than you think it is.

Why is it important?

Many reasons may be cited why now is the time to incorporate exit planning into your prioritized business initiatives. Your success today and in the future hinge on these plans. Let’s take a look.

1)    In some way, the global pandemic impacted your business. In talking to clients and business owners nationwide, I have found that in broad strokes, two camps exist: The first camp consists of the non-essential businesses that are navigating the upheaval in business. If ...