“My investment advisor suggested that I sell my company to an ESOP. Is that a good idea?”
My estate planning attorney recommended that I begin giving my business to my children. What do you think?”
“I’m getting tired of running my business every day. My accountant thinks a sale to a third party is a good [...]

When you started your business, you may have had issues on your mind other than choosing the best corporate entity form for an eventual sale. Now that you are thinking about your exit, however, entity choice (C or S corporation) has become critically important. That’s because selling your company’s assets inside the wrong entity can [...]

“I can’t play golf every day.”
“My wife wants to see more of me — but not at every breakfast, lunch, and dinner!”
“What do other ex-owners do after they’ve sold out?”
Failing to answer these concerns can create vacillation, reluctance, and ultimately, an unwillingness on the part of many owners to proceed with planning for their business [...]

When transferring your company to insiders, a Low Value can put Dollars in your pocket.
Owners of successful businesses valued between $2 and $5 million face two difficult exit problems:
1. Cash buyers are usually seeking larger companies; and
2. Owners are generally unwilling to assume a long-term installment note because of the risk of non-payment.
Given these hurdles, [...]

The last step in your Exit Plan is Wealth Preservation Planning. But that doesn’t mean you should wait until you are out of the business to begin actively preserving your wealth. In fact, if you wait until the value of your business is converted to cash, it may be too late to realize all of [...]

How do you successfully transfer your business to a child, key employee or co-owner? The most successful method is to follow a recipe that mixes, in equal measure, three key ingredients:

One part: the ability, experience and dedication of the prospective new owners;
One part: a company with strong, consistent cash flow and little debt; and
One part: [...]

What is a good way for you to get top dollar for your business?
First, consider selling to an outside third party, not to an insider such as a child, key employee or co-owner. Outside third parties typically have the cash and the ability to pay a higher earnings multiple for your business.
Secondly, proceed through planning [...]

“When a man does not know which harbor he is heading for, no wind is the right wind.” So said Seneca almost 2,000 years ago. Today, speaking to business owners he might likely say, “Exit Planning for business owners must start with knowing your exit goals and objectives; otherwise, failure may be inevitable.”
Why is Seneca’s [...]

Are you like many business owners?

A majority of closely held and family owned businesses will change hands within the next five years1; but
Many Business Owners may not have taken active steps to transition out of ownership.

Again, if you are like many of our readers, the reasons for failing to plan may be:

You may have simply been [...]

If there is no one to buy your business, you shut it down. In a liquidation you sell off your assets, collect your accounts receivables, pay of outstanding debt, and keep what’s left, if anything for yourself.
The primary reason to consider liquidation is that a business lacks sufficient income producing capacity apart from the direct [...]