Planning for major events can sometimes cause a sense of dread. There are so many things to consider, and so many things that can potentially go wrong, that it becomes tempting to ignore what needs to be done in favor of easier things you already know how to do. Whether it’s planning a honeymoon, a long family trip, or a business exit, it’s easy to say, “I’ll do it later, when I’m less busy.”
A common misunderstanding about both business owners and Exit Planning is that money rules all. Yes, financial security is the bedrock of Exit Planning. Yes, nearly all business owners strive to receive as much money for their businesses as possible. But when Exit Planning Advisors dig into what business owners care about, they often learn that money isn’t the be-all and end-all.
Exit Planning relies on one basic and important premise: allowing owners to leave their businesses with the financial security they and their families need in their post-exit lives while fulfilling all of their other Exit Objectives. If the Exit Plan fails to do this, it is no Exit Plan at all. Given this goal, why wouldn’t owners want to leave their businesses once their Exit Plan is set? This post will examine two of the most common reasons why owners stay, even when their Exit Plans are appropriately constructed.
Recently, we spoke to an advisor who asked an interesting question: “How long do I have to wait before I start seeing returns on Exit Planning?” This advisor was intrigued by the benefits of Exit Planning but also feared that it would take too long to reap those benefits. In the 22+ years BEI has provided Exit Planning solutions to advisors, we’ve seen advisors benefit in the short term and the long term by implementing Exit Planning. This post will explain how.
A decent chunk of business owners, 37%, said they’d take action once they were ready to exit, which we talked about in my prior post. But a full 53% of owners gave two similar but distinct answers for why they were waiting to begin their Exit Plans: 22% said they are “too busy,” and 31% said they have “more pressing issues” to manage.