Exit planning and sale readiness. The price gets set years before the sale.

Exit planning, in plain terms

Exit planning is the work of getting a business ready to sell, take on a partner, or refinance before anyone outside starts asking. On the finance side, that means earnings a buyer will believe, a valuation range you understand, a data room that holds up in diligence, and a debt structure that does not get in the way.

Most of a sale price is decided before the sale starts. Exit is the work of moving it while you still can.

• Buyers pay a multiple of earnings. Both halves of that formula are partly in your control.
• Owner dependence, customer concentration, and messy books all pull the multiple down. Each can be fixed, but none of them quickly.
• The same work gets you ready for a lender or an investor. Projections, the story behind them, and a data room are the same package.
• Exit is scoped per engagement and quoted separately from any monthly retainer.
• We do not run the sale. Finding buyers and negotiating the deal is a broker’s or banker’s job, and the legal and tax sides belong to your attorney and CPA. We get the business and the numbers ready, and work alongside them.

What you walk away with

Depending on scope: adjusted earnings with every add-back documented, a valuation range and the factors that move it, the fixes that raise the multiple in order of what they are worth, projections a buyer or lender can test, an organized data room, and a debt and working capital plan.

• Adjusted earnings (SDE or EBITDA), with add-backs documented
• A valuation range, and what moves it up or down
• The fixes that raise the multiple, ranked
• Projections, and the story behind them
• A data room organized for diligence
• A debt and working capital plan

What exit planning costs

Exit is scoped per engagement rather than priced as a monthly retainer, because the work depends on your timeline and how much needs fixing. We look first, then quote the project, separately from any monthly retainer.

We will tell you which fixes are worth making. Some cost more than they would add to the price, and you should know that before you spend on them.

• In scope, depending on the project: Earnings normalization and add-back documentation, a valuation range, a ranked list of fixes, projections, data room preparation, and debt and working capital planning.
• Not in scope: Running the sale or finding buyers, legal work on the deal, tax returns and deal tax work, and certified appraisals.

When it's time to start

Earlier than most owners think. Start when any of these is true: you might sell, take on a partner, or step back in the next few years; a refinance or new credit line is coming; someone has floated a number for your business; or the business still cannot run a month without you.

• You have started thinking about the exit. Even loosely. The fixes that move a multiple need time to show up in the numbers a buyer looks at.
• A bank conversation is coming. A refinance, a new line of credit, an equipment loan. The bank wants projections and a story, the same package a buyer wants.
• Someone floated a number. A competitor, a private equity group, a broker. You would like to know whether it is fair before you answer.
• The business runs through you. Sales, operations, and the key relationships all sit with the owner. Buyers price that as risk.

Frequently asked questions