Request a Strategy Call and we will get in touch with you
Exit Planning Insights
Business Valuation and M&A Services for Estates and Trusts
March 9, 2016 / in Business Valuation, Exit Planning / by Al Statz
This article takes a look at the various situations in which trusts and estates (those that hold private business interests) need business valuation or M&A brokerage services. Business Valuation Services Our firm, Exit Strategies Group, regularly provides fair market value appraisals (a.k.a. valuations) of closely-held corporations, FLPs and LLCs for estate planning, gifting, estate tax, charitable donations, buy-sell transactions and succession planning. We value fractional interests in operating companies and asset holding companies using appropriate …
Welcome News for Business Owners: Five-Year Built-in Gains Tax Recognition Period Permanently Extended
March 2, 2016 / in Exit Planning, Sell a Business / by Al Statz
The Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act (PATH), enacted in December, makes selling a business easier for some. Since most sales of SME’s will be asset (versus stock) sales, double tax for C-corp owners and built-in gain tax (currently 35 percent federal) for owners of recently converted S-corps are very real impediments to selling a business. C-corporation owners face a “double tax”, where gains on a sale of assets are taxed at the corporate level …
Think Like a Buyer
February 24, 2016 / in Exit Planning, Sell a Business / by Roy Martinez
Entrepreneurs spend their entire career thinking like an owner. They don’t need to pay any attention to the value of their business. They may have a vague notion of its value based on anecdotal industry revenue or profit multiples that they heard bandied about at an industry conference they went to years ago in Orlando. But, at the end of the day, during the operating years, what is important to an entrepreneur is the bottom …
Build, Transfer, or Protect
February 4, 2016 / in Exit Planning, Sell a Business / by Exit Strategies
Research indicates that most business owners have 60-80% of their wealth tied up in their businesses. Yet in our experience few owners have a clear idea about the value of their business and few have done much thinking or strategizing about how to build, transfer, or protect years of hard-earned wealth. Let’s examine these options. Build means to invest for growth. This involves time and money. As you near retirement, it may be less prudent …
Good Exit Planning: First and Foremost, A Valuation of the Company
December 28, 2015 / in Business Strategy, Exit Planning, Sell a Business / by Bob Altieri
With the baby boomer generation retirement rush beginning to take hold, many business owners lack sufficient information about the value of their business for retirement planning purposes and don’t foresee the deal killers that await them. A Deal Killer is a condition that, if undetected and unresolved before the sale of a business, will kill the transaction. The purpose of pre-sale planning is to maximize sale proceeds (as well as to achieve other non-financial goals), …
Where’s the Seller Tsunami?
October 27, 2015 / in Exit Planning, Sell a Business / by Al Statz
The Wall Street Journal published an article this month titled “The Missing Boom in Small-Business Sales — An expected rush in sales of small firms by the baby boomer generation has yet to materialize.” The article points out that despite predictions that a flood of private businesses would be coming up for sale as baby boomers reach retirement age, many of these owners are holding on longer than expected. We’re seeing the same thing here at Exit Strategies. …
Event: Helping Business Owner Clients Achieve More Valuable Exits
September 16, 2015 / in Exit Planning, News, Sell a Business / by Al Statz
When: September 22, 2015 Where: San Rafael, California Host: CalCPA San Francisco-Marin Discussion Group As baby boomer owners and shareholders of privately-held businesses reach retirement age and get serious about exiting ownership, they face many new questions and challenges and turn to their professional advisors, often their CPA, for solutions. Based on his experience helping over 100 companies successfully sell or transfer ownership to partners, management or the next generation, Exit Strategies’ founder Al Statz will …
Simple Way to Avoid Stale Thinking and it’s Ugly Cousin Group-Think
August 26, 2015 / in Business Strategy, Exit Planning / by Al Statz
As a professional advisors we all have habits, standards, rules and regulations that direct much of our daily activities. It’s important that we constantly reexamine our preconceptions, processes and practices to avoid stale thinking. It’s easy to default to accepted dogma that might be hindering our work. This isn’t to say everyone needs to be on the absolute leading or bleeding edge of their profession. However, periodically challenging our thinking and methods helps stimulate us …
What is a Recapitalization Exit Strategy?
August 14, 2015 / in Exit Planning, Sell a Business / by Al Statz
One of the exit strategies available to company owners is called a recapitalization, or “recap”. In a recapitalization, an investor (usually a private equity firm) purchases an equity interest in your company using a combination of cash and debt financing. They expect to grow the company and earn an attractive return on their cash investment when they sell the company at a higher price in 3-7 years. Their value creation strategy usually involves initiatives to …
How Well Do You Know Your Exit Options?
July 26, 2015 / in Exit Planning, Sell a Business / by Exit Strategies
You have built a business that provides a strong income and comfortable lifestyle. However, if you are like most business owners you haven’t made the time to know the range of options you have to successfully exit the business and transfer your wealth. The tax, legal, valuation, deal structure, and insurance considerations are many. Even if you had the time, where do you begin? Before you can evaluate any of these options, you must first …