Exiting your business

As a business leader, the decision to exit your business is among the most important you’ll ever make. You need to consider the wellbeing of your employees, how your exit will affect your long-term legacy, and if applicable, the return you’ll be able to secure for shareholders. For family-owned businesses, you also need to layer on the effect your decision will have on your relationships with loved ones. If you’re considering an exit, it’s critical to ensure that you understand the journey ahead.

Exiting a business requires a solid understanding of each step of the process from preparation to valuation to negotiation. The actions taken in each step have a significant impact on the outcome. As with many important and complex business issues, it can take years to work through the exit process. However, many business leaders underestimate the effort and time required to successfully exit their business. 

Follow our series of guides to help you exit your business. Each piece of content provides business leaders with tools to help navigate the process.

Our first piece, Exiting your business: A guide to information and analysis, helps those responsible for governance—including board members, owners and shareholders, and managers—assemble the information they need to determine how best to move forward.

Our second guide, Exiting your business: A guide to valuation, provides an overview of the business valuation process, including key concepts and terms, and an overview of core value drivers. 

Our most recent guide, Exiting your business: A guide to finding a buyer, will  help key stakeholders understand how to approach finding the right buyer, including determining your core objectives, discerning the different types of buyers and what motivates them, and preparing the business for potential sale.

If you’re currently considering an exit, but want to better understand the process, we can help—contact your local advisor or reach out to us here.