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ExitSmarts

www.exitsmarts.com

Our Platform and the Business Owner’s Transition Journey

Our business model is based on one simple objective: Aligning our Transition Planning platform with the journey of every Business Owner. We didn’t build our model for Baby Boomers only, but for GenXers and Millennials, as well. And we didn’t build it just for the owner who wants out in a year, but for every owner who understands that increasing business value is a full-time job.

Our clients are professional Advisors in Accounting, Financial Planning, and Wealth Management. We work with the Business Owners who our clients serve, but to be clear, the Advisors are our clients.

Our product is a comprehensive Transition Planning platform. It covers everything that the owner requires to transition successfully. In our model, the Advisor provides what he or she is able to provide, and we provide everything else. In all cases, the Advisor owns the client; the Advisor remains in charge.

Our purpose is to align our platform with the journey of the Business Owner. By doing so, we help Advisors create clients for life.

We have all heard stories about Advisors who worked with a Business Owner for years, only to have the owner invest the proceeds of his or her liquidity event with someone else. Preventing that outcome is what creating a client for life is all about.

The Business Owner’s Journey in a Nutshell

The stages of the owner’s journey can be summarized in a few lines, or in a simple table like the one included here. Advisors invariably enter the process at different points, but because they are usually specialists, they only provide a piece of what quickly becomes a much larger puzzle.

As the business goes through growth, maturity, and expansion, the puzzle becomes increasingly complex. Multiple Advisors become involved, and the owner is left to manage requirements, people, and processes.

By the time the owner decides to transition out of the business, the puzzle may look nothing like the owner’s original vision.

The goals that should never change for the owner include increasing revenue and profit, making a decent living throughout the journey, and cashing out at a number that supports the post-transition life that he or she wants. Ensuring that these things remain in focus throughout the owner’s journey is what our model and our platform are all about.

The Three Essentials of Transition Planning – Value, Planning, and Preparedness

Value – Increasing revenue and EBITDA are, of course, critical factors in the success of the business, the quality of the owner’s livelihood, and the realization of his or her dreams. But increasing the numbers is not the same as growing the value of the business. Value is best grown when it’s transition informed, and when it begins as early as possible in the owner’s journey. That’s why every client who owns a business is a candidate for transition planning. It’s not just the domain of a single generation.

Planning – One of the most important, but overlooked, components of an owner’s transition is a well-thought-out plan. Sadly, the vast majority of Business Owners enter the final stage of their journey with no plan for their post-transition life. Not surprisingly, the result is that 80% of them fail in what is probably the most important financial event in their life. And like building value, planning is most successful when done as early as possible in the evolution of the business.

Preparedness – A successful transition depends on the preparedness of both the owner and the business. All too often, emphasis is placed on the business with little regard for the preparedness of the owner. In many ways, this makes sense because preparing the owner is more art than science, while preparing the business is exactly the opposite. The emotional aspects of leaving the business, as well as the need to plan for a post-transition life, cannot be overemphasized. And owner preparedness cannot be addressed soon enough.

Overview of the ExitSmarts Transition Planning Platform

ExitSmarts has designed, developed, and delivered the most comprehensive Transition Planning platform available to Advisors and Business Owner today. It includes the processes, tools, best practices, and people required to ensure a Business Owner’s successful transition.

We invested five years in developing our platform. Most Business Owners will only need a fraction of our platform to achieve the success they envision, but whatever they need is available today.

We provide our platform in collaboration with Advisors in Accounting, Financial Planning, And Wealth Management. We do not market or sell directly to their clients. Business Owners already have relationships with Advisors they know and trust. Our mission is to strengthen those relationships, not replace them.

We give our clients – the Advisors with whom we work – complete flexibility to choose exactly how much of the Transition Planning work they want to do. We do the rest. They may choose to do all of it or only some of it, depending on their expertise. Or they may choose to do none of it, while continuing in their role as the Business Owner’s trusted advisor. Regardless of how they choose to participate, we support them fully.

Our platform includes the following components:

Plan Development is a three- to four-month process that includes twelve clearly purposed tools, beginning with a complete understanding of the owner’s transition objectives and concluding with the creation of a formal written plan.

Plan Implementation focuses on increasing the value of the business throughout the owner’s journey. Value is increased through proven processes designed to improve the company’s financial health on a period-over-period basis. But value is also increased by focusing on the intangible assets that comprise as much as two-thirds of the value of the business.

Exit Essentials are included in Plan Implementation. Because it’s a given that the owner will eventually leave the business, the implementation process includes the essential elements that must be addressed beforehand. If specialists are required to assist with these essentials, we integrate them into the process, ensuring that everything the owner requires is provided through a single source.

For more information, please contact: Gil Bean – gil@exitsmarts.com