I remember when my dad said to me back at the turn of the century, he asked if he should renew his lease? Dad was a dentist and had a great practice. By leaning forward and saying “open wide,” he began to suffer from boney degeneration in his neck and back that led to a sudden decline in his health. He was going to turn 62. We talked about his health and his age, and whether he should get started with his retirement, or should he extend his lease for five years. Without any real choice, he was forced into a decision that resulted in his selling the business, and that his days of saving for retirement suddenly came to a halt.
This is why I became an Exit Planning Advisor. I wanted to help business owners to create an exit plan so that they were ready even if something happened that was beyond their control. Exit planning is about contingency planning and succession planning. It is also about the process of deciding when to exit, to whom to transfer or sell the business and knowing how much you need to net from the sale of your business to fund your retirement. This helps you to know how much you need gross from the sale and how much you should be saving. When we put all these together, this is your exit plan. This is what we do.