Your ExitMap Blog Contributor
Exit Planning Articles by John F. Dini, CBEC, CExP, CEPA

Delegation and Depth – Company Readiness for Exit

Delegation and depth are critical when presenting your business as a buying opportunity. For many business owners, exit planning means getting the company ready for sale to a third party. There are a number of approaches to enhancing preparedness for a third-party sale. Assessing Readiness Some planning software products begin with a comprehensive survey of the owner’s impressions of readiness. Note that we say “impressions.” A Likert scale questionnaire that asks a client to rate their understanding of a statement and its possible implications with questions like “How confident are you that you know the value of your business?” and a ranking from “no understanding” ... Read more

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The Role of a Coach in Exit Planning

Defining the role of a coach on your exit planning team doesn’t just happen. Like any other aspect of working with consultants, you need to set expectations upfront. Many advisors like to characterize themselves as the “quarterback” of a transition planning team. I’ve always objected to that. We regard the business owner as the quarterback of the planning process. After all, the coach never gets sacked by a 300-pound defensive lineman. The advisor may want to win every bit as much as the business owner, but it’s the owner who actually has skin in the game. A Coach’s Responsibilities It’s one thing to say that ... Read more

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Impressions of Value in Exit Planning

Business owners, advisors, and buyers frequently have widely different impressions of value when it comes to a business. The Pepperdine Private Capital Markets Survey canvasses intermediaries who sell privately held Main Street and mid-market companies. One question is about the obstacles that prevented the sale of a business. The number one response is “Owners’ unreasonable expectations of value.” That may be self-serving or an excuse. Nonetheless, valuation is a sensitive subject. Many owners have worked in the business for 30 or 40 years. They assume it will fund their next 20 years of retirement. Their target price is set only by their desired lifestyle after ... Read more

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"Work From Anywhere" Comes Full Circle

Work from anywhere has been a necessity, an epithet, an obstacle, and an opportunity over the last 3 years. To paraphrase Aristotle’s axiom about Nature (“Horror Vacui”), business abhors a vacuum. Where one occurs, it is quickly filled. Work from anywhere started as a COVID-induced necessity. During the lockdowns of 2020-2021 (and longer in some places) we all had a crash course in video calling, VPNs, and virtual meetings. Employees quickly expanded the definition of anywhere. They tired of shunting the children off to a bedroom during conference calls, or using office-like backdrops to hide their kitchen cabinets. Soon they began changing their backgrounds to ... Read more

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Family Succession Planning: Who Gets the Office?

  Sometimes the most sensitive question in family succession planning is “Who gets the office?” Dad’s (or Mom’s) office is usually perceived as the center of authority by the employees and other family members. That is where you got called on the carpet, where you were informed of promotions, or where you took an insolvable problem. When a parent/CEO is handing off operating responsibility, there is often a lag, sometimes measured in years, between stepping back from the daily decisions and completely separating from the premises. There is great value in having that experience available for coaching, mentoring, or just to lend perspective on new ... Read more

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