Exit Planning Explained
Successful exit planning in Atlanta requires skill and experience! At DM Buck we develop superior strategies with your best interest in mind. We are aligned with NAVIX Consultants to help owners (and their businesses) prepare to efficiently (and successfully) exit their businesses in the coming years.
What is a "Successful Exit"?
- The right exit timing (balancing market conditions with the “readiness” of the owner and firm)
- Determining what an owner needs to become financially independent
- Understanding, and if necessary, improving a firm’s transferrable value
- Reducing deal killing risks such as losing key employees, or the impact of sudden illness
- Minimizing taxes which, left unchecked, can consume up to 70% of a transaction
- Ensuring a strong legacy as family members, customers and employees get treated right
We have found that buyers of businesses tend to be more sophisticated, experienced… and less emotional negotiators than are owners. We can level the playing field.
We believe that we have the most comprehensive exit planning approach in the business, and by leaving no stone unturned, we typically earn our fee 5-10x over… while also paving the way for the owner to successfully exit.
Who We Help
Are you a business owner who:
- Actively works in your company?
- Seeks to exit at some point in the not-so-distant future, typically several years from now?
- Desires to reach financial freedom, but has the most of net worth tied up in the business and its assets?
- Feels an obligation to people impacted by your exit: co-owners, key employees, valued customers?
- Cares about the legacy you leave behind?
- Wants advice and assistance?
- Recognizes you have one shot at success?
- Lacks time and experience to do this yourself?
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the Rolling Ten Year Phenomenon?
Ask any owners of a successful business, “When do want to exit?” and chances are they will say something like, “In about ten years.” Ask them the same question several years later and the answer usually doesn’t change. We call this bad habit the Rolling Ten Years. Our research shows that among owners over the age of 50 and older, more than seven out of ten stated their ideal time frame was within ten years. Almost two out of three owners ages 40-49 also said ten years and nearly half of the owners ages 30-39. The “ten year answer” keeps rolling forward from the owner’s thirties all the way to the sixties.
Q: What is the Best Exit Strategy for Me?
Either during your lifetime or at death, your business will be given away, sold, or liquidated. These three outcomes are not exit strategies. The word “strategy” implies a desirable result. Death is not a strategy! There are, in fact, only four possible exit strategies. Identifying your strategy as early as possible creates a clear path to achieve a successful exit.
The four possible exit strategies are:
- Pass to Family
- Sell to Outside Third Parties
- Sell to Inside Key Employees
- Planned Liquidation
Selling your business to an outside buyer and selling it to one or more key employees are different strategies. Conventional wisdom often lumps these two options together as simply “selling the business.” An outside party sale is usually a completely different process from selling it to one or more employees. To successfully implement these four strategies may require four totally different sets of tactics.
Q: How Do I Achieve Financial Freedom?
Achieving financial freedom after you exit your business does not happen without a solid plan. That’s why NAVIX developed the Exit Magic Number™ calculation. It determines the value you need from the business between now and your target exit date to achieve financial freedom. Note that the Exit Magic Number focuses on how much you need from the business, not what your business is worth. This is a different approach from most conventional approaches, which emphasize getting “maximum value” for the business. Getting maximum value is good and desirable but may not be the most important issue.
Q: What if you succeed in getting “maximum value” but find you are unable to afford financial freedom? Is this a successful exit?
There are two reasons why the Exit Magic Number calculation is arguably the most important number in exit planning for closely held business owners. One reason is “defensive” and the other is “offensive”.
On the defensive side, the issue is simple but critical—if the owner exits for a net amount short of his or her Exit Magic Number, he or she will fail to achieve personal financial freedom in the manner he or she aspires. The owner who falls short must either reduce his or her post-exit lifestyle, take on higher post-exit investment risks than he or she is comfortable with, go back to work, or some combination of the three. Few owners would happily choose this outcome.
Knowing one’s Exit Magic Number allows the owner to take control of the process by making decisions today and at exit that defend against coming up short. For example, identifying the number well before exit helps the owner forecast how big the business must grow to in order to not come up short, and make strategic decisions that drive the business toward the owner’s exit success. In another example, an owner seeking to sell the business can use his or her Exit Magic Number calculation to negotiate the deal terms with an eye towards receiving sufficient cash at closing to reach personal financial freedom. The selling owner who walks away from the closing table with net cash sufficient to achieve personal financial freedom is assured that any additional dollars in the transaction not received at closing and therefore at risk, such as deferred payments, earn outs, seller financing etc., will not compromise his or her financial security.
Playing “offense,” owners who know their Exit Magic Number calculation can take advantage of tactics at business sale that defer and reduce income taxes, estate and gift taxes. Having an accurate estimate of the Exit Magic Number allows owners to consider estate tax sheltering strategies without undermining their future financial freedom.
Q: How Do I Know if I am Adequately Prepared for Exit?
According to our research, nine out of ten owners stated they do not have a current, written exit plan. Most owners need guidance on what a sound plan looks like. Naturally, most owners have no idea what is required to be ready for exit, because they have never exited before. The marketplace offers little help.
A thorough and sound exit plan needs to address a variety of business, personal, financial, accounting, legal and other issues. If a plan fails to consider any one of these areas, it could not only miss an issue but possibly cause more harm than good.
The attached short, assessment overviews the 15 most important areas that an exit plan needs to address. Use this tool to quickly audit your existing exit plan, or to assist you in getting started.
Download the NAVIX Exit Plan Assessment tool
Are You Ready to Exit?