Many owners are either overwhelmed with the thought of exiting, or are so busy fighting daily business fires that they think they cannot plan their exits. "I haven't decided what I ultimately want to do with my company, or how much money I'll need, or when I want to exit, so how can I plan my retirement? Besides, I don't want to exit right now." If you've pondered this, or said this, you are not alone.
You may be deciding to settle for a less than optimum exit for yourself and for your children if you take a half-hearted approach toward the undeniable fact that -one way or another- you will leave your company. As Winston Churchill said, "I never worry about action, but only about inaction". Know that in your indecision, you are making a decision.
Why can't you just wait? If you are an owner who is undecided about what you want, or when you want to retire, why is it so important to decide to act today?
Basically, planning and transferring a business for top dollar is time consuming-sometimes as long as 5 years. Preparing the business for the transfer will take most of those years. If you decide to sell to workers or family, they'll need that time to find the money to pay you for your share. Reason being, these are two groups who rarely have any money.
It takes time to design and execute income tax-saving strategies, build value, strengthen your management team, and begin the gradual transfer of ownership (not control) to key employees or children.
If you wait too long, you most likely won't have time to execute these strategies and you'll likely end up transferring your business on less-than-optimum terms. Having more time often equals more reductions in risk and more alternatives.
The market may not be paying the best prices when you are ready to sell to an outside party, and may not operate on your schedule. Activity could be non-existent in many business sectors. Remember the state of the Mergers and Acquisitions market in 2008 and 2009.
If you're planning on exiting your business one day, why not decide to create the right exit strategy and act accordingly? Start now, and take the following steps to secure your retirement.
1. Create a retirement planning team to establish a plan with answerability for decisions and deadlines.
2. Work with a financial advisor to decide your financial needs.
3. Determine an exit date.
4. Choose whom you want to succeed the business.
5. Have your business valued to see if: a) you should sell/transition today; and/or b) it has the value needed to meet your financial and other exit goals.
The success of your company exit is simply too important to you, your family, and your employees to ignore. Why wait? The failure to move now can potentially be fatal to a profitable exit. Deciding to do something now will ensure the best possible retirement path.
You may be deciding to settle for a less than optimum exit for yourself and for your children if you take a half-hearted approach toward the undeniable fact that -one way or another- you will leave your company. As Winston Churchill said, "I never worry about action, but only about inaction". Know that in your indecision, you are making a decision.
Why can't you just wait? If you are an owner who is undecided about what you want, or when you want to retire, why is it so important to decide to act today?
Basically, planning and transferring a business for top dollar is time consuming-sometimes as long as 5 years. Preparing the business for the transfer will take most of those years. If you decide to sell to workers or family, they'll need that time to find the money to pay you for your share. Reason being, these are two groups who rarely have any money.
It takes time to design and execute income tax-saving strategies, build value, strengthen your management team, and begin the gradual transfer of ownership (not control) to key employees or children.
If you wait too long, you most likely won't have time to execute these strategies and you'll likely end up transferring your business on less-than-optimum terms. Having more time often equals more reductions in risk and more alternatives.
The market may not be paying the best prices when you are ready to sell to an outside party, and may not operate on your schedule. Activity could be non-existent in many business sectors. Remember the state of the Mergers and Acquisitions market in 2008 and 2009.
If you're planning on exiting your business one day, why not decide to create the right exit strategy and act accordingly? Start now, and take the following steps to secure your retirement.
1. Create a retirement planning team to establish a plan with answerability for decisions and deadlines.
2. Work with a financial advisor to decide your financial needs.
3. Determine an exit date.
4. Choose whom you want to succeed the business.
5. Have your business valued to see if: a) you should sell/transition today; and/or b) it has the value needed to meet your financial and other exit goals.
The success of your company exit is simply too important to you, your family, and your employees to ignore. Why wait? The failure to move now can potentially be fatal to a profitable exit. Deciding to do something now will ensure the best possible retirement path.
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