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 along with 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, will help those responsible for governance—including board members, owners and shareholders, and managers—assemble the information they need to determine how best to move forward. From there, we’ll regularly release new material on important elements of the selling process, including valuation, finding a buyer, and more.

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.