Business Exits: How To Decide With Your Head Not Your Heart

Business exits are racked with emotion and indecision. Learn how to approach your sale without the emotional burden, so you can get what you need.

As a business owner, you spend most of your working years on steady, profitable expansion. When you’re calling the shots, there’s no limit to your growth, and there’s always more to achieve.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the time comes to consider hanging up your hat as the leader and strongest work horse. It’s time to slow down, step back and start planning for a new goal: your business exit.

“You’ve spent your whole life putting in the hours — building something strong from the ground up. Business growth is what you know. It’s your skill, your identity,” said John Vance, President of Vance Wealth. “But what happens when it’s time to change that?”

When assessing a business exit, Vance Wealth completes a comprehensive Personal and Financial Assessment to determine the guidelines for a profitable business sale.

“When determining how much you’ll need in your pocket after your business is gone, it’s actually most effective to start with your personal goals,” John said.

First, John will help you figure out how you’d like to spend your time once the business is sold. Together, you’ll determine whether you’d like to leave a legacy for your family, how much you want to travel, what hobbies you’ll spend money on and more. Essentially, you’re planning to do all the things you’ve wanted but put off because of work.
“It often opens up a new dialogue between husband and wife and, sometimes, within the larger extended family,” John said, “but together, we’ll evaluate how much you’ll need to live the life you’ve imagined.”

Next, it’s time to evaluate the financial side of the sale. John will walk you through possible future expenses, including any future moves or estate changes, health costs and more.

“We evaluate your needs and wants, so we have a game plan for exactly how much you’ll need to feel safe and happy after working so hard for so long,” John explained. “We believe this is a more efficient process than trying to evaluate the exact worth of your business at the time of the sale.”

By determining how much you’ll need, as well as how much you want, you can make the decision to sell based off a secure plan and a single target number — not an emotional, reactive or gut decision during a crucial moment. Then anything above your target is, essentially, gravy.

“This process gives people a range to make decisions within,” John said. “It lessens the emotional burden of the decision to sell, and for how much. Otherwise, the lack of clarity breeds anxiety, instead of allowing you to prioritize what’s important: the security to continue achieving more.”

To learn more about planning your business exit — or retirement planning for business owners — please contact Tara White at 888-775-0950 to set up a consultation.

Vance Wealth, Inc. (“Vance Wealth”) is a registered investment advisor. Advisory services are only offered to clients or prospective clients where Vance Wealth and its representatives are properly licensed or exempt from licensure. The information provided is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice and it should not be relied on as such. It should not be considered a solicitation to buy or an offer to sell a security. It does not take into account any investor’s particular investment objectives, strategies, tax status or investment horizon. You should consult your attorney or tax advisor.