Exit & succession planning
Not a vague intention - an actual plan that accounts for what your business is worth, what a sale would cost you in taxes, how you'd replace your income, and what happens to the people who depend on you. Many owners don't have this until it's urgent. That's exactly when options disappear.
The earlier you start, the more options you have. Positioning a business for maximum value often takes longer than owners expect - and the right runway can remove meaningful tax exposure.
5-10 years out
Every door open. Value optimization, tax positioning, wealth diversification, and succession structure - all available with time to execute properly. This is the window owners often wish they'd used; decisions made here compound for years.
2-5 years out
Clean financials, reduced owner dependency, key-person risk addressed, retirement income modeled, succession framework in place. Still time to shape the outcome - but the window for major structural changes is narrowing.
Under 2 years
Deal structure, tax mitigation, and negotiation strategy are still on the table; some options have permanently closed. The focus shifts to maximizing what remains and avoiding the costly last-minute mistakes that erode value at the finish line.
No plan at all
A health event, a market shift, a partner dispute, or a buyer who knows you're unprepared. Owners who wait leave on someone else's terms - the outcome that decades of planning exist to prevent.
Options still open at each stageIllustrative
There's no single right answer. The right path depends on your goals, timeline, family, and what you want the business to become. Each option has fundamentally different planning requirements.
Often the highest value
Strategic buyer, private equity, or open market. Often the highest value, but requires years of prep - clean books, reduced owner dependency, defensible revenue, a business that runs without you. Buyers pay a premium for predictability.
Preserves the culture
Key employees or management buy you out. Preserves culture and rewards loyalty - but financing is complex, valuations are negotiated, and the structure must be designed carefully to protect both sides.
Keeps it in the family
Passing the business to the next generation with gifting and estate-planning tools. Requires tight coordination between business structure, estate plan, and family dynamics - the most emotionally complex option, and the one many families plan too little for.
Liquidity now, upside later
Take chips off the table now while keeping a meaningful stake - liquidity today, upside tomorrow. Increasingly common for growing businesses. Done wrong, you lose control; done right, you get both.
Many owners overestimate how exit-ready they are. Buyers pay for predictability, transferability, and documented systems - not just revenue. These are the questions a sophisticated buyer will ask.
Does the business run without you? If you take three months off, what breaks? That's a buyer's first question.
Are your financials clean and auditable? Three years of organized, defensible financials is a baseline expectation.
Is your customer concentration acceptable? If one client is more than 20% of revenue, buyers discount heavily.
Do you have documented processes? Repeatable, transferable operations command higher multiples.
Do you know your real valuation range? Many owners have a number in their head - and in our experience many are wrong by 30-50% in either direction. What is your business really worth?
Your exit-readiness check
Answer the five questions to see where you stand.
Talk through your answers"The owners who get the best exits planned them like they were building something to last - not like they were trying to get out."
- Nate Walters, President
How it works
The more time there is, the more paths stay open.
When you'd like to step back, what you'd like the business to become, and who depends on it.
What it may be worth, how ready it is for a buyer or successor, and what a sale or transfer could cost in taxes.
A third-party sale, a management buyout, a family transfer or a recapitalization, weighed side by side, with the steps in the order they matter.
Coordinated with your CPA and attorney at every stage, with a plan for replacing your income and for what comes after.
Who you'll work with
You'll work with both of us, from the first conversation about your exit through the sale or handoff and whatever comes after. Nate has advised business owners for more than thirty-five years. Tyler brings an analytical, modern approach to every plan.
No account reps or hand-offs. When you call, you reach one of us.
Meet Nate and TylerTools and guides
Run your own numbers, or start with the guides owners ask about most.
A 30-minute conversation is enough to know where you stand and what needs to happen next.
An honest look at what's possible.