How to Prepare Your Business for a Successful Exit | Upcoming Webinar

So when the conversation eventually turns to selling or transitioning the business, there is a lot more to consider than simply, “What is my company worth?”

Some of the most important questions are often personal:

• What do I need from the sale to support the life I want afterward?
• How could a transaction affect my taxes, estate plan, and investments?
• Who do I want to take over the business?
• And what do I actually want my next chapter to look like?

These are conversations that are better to have before a potential buyer is at the table.

Register for the Upcoming Webinar

That’s why on October 7, I’m joining Rafael De Paoli, Founder and CEO of FCL Capital Partners, for our upcoming webinar, Preparing Your Business for a Successful Exit. We’ll bring together two sides of the exit-planning conversation: preparing the business for a potential transaction and preparing the owner financially and personally for what comes next.

Register for the Webinar →

Thinking About Selling Your Business? 4 Questions to Ask Before an Exit

1. When Should I Start Planning to Sell My Business?
   Ideally, exit planning starts before you decide to sell. Giving yourself several years to prepare gives you time to understand your options, address potential weaknesses in the business, and determine what a future transaction needs to accomplish for you personally. Starting early doesn’t mean committing to a sale date. It means being prepared if the right opportunity arises. It also gives your advisors time to coordinate business, tax, estate, and personal financial planning before you’re working against the deadlines of an active transaction.If you’re thinking you may sell within the next few years, now is a good time to ask whether you and your business would be ready if a buyer approached tomorrow.
2. What Can I Do to Prepare My Business for a Sale?
   A potential buyer is likely to evaluate much more than revenue and profitability. The quality and consistency of earnings, customer concentration, financial reporting, management team, growth opportunities, and dependence on the owner can all influence how a buyer views a company. For many founders, owner dependence is especially important. A business that relies heavily on one person for client relationships, strategic decisions, or daily operations can be harder to transition. Building a strong leadership team, creating repeatable processes, and maintaining clear financial records can help make a company more transferable while potentially strengthening the business even if you ultimately decide not to sell.During our webinar, Rafael will explore the transaction side of this question in greater detail, including what buyers look for and how owners can assess whether their company is truly exit-ready. Save Your Seat for the October 7 Webinar →
3. How Much Do I Need From the Sale of My Business?
   Owners naturally want to know, “What is my business worth?” From a financial-planning perspective, I think there’s an equally important question: “What does my business need to be worth for me?”Your target sale price should connect directly to your personal financial plan. Your lifestyle, retirement goals, other assets, family priorities, charitable objectives, and plans after the business can all affect how much you may need from a transaction. Taxes and transaction costs also mean that a company’s headline sale price isn’t necessarily the amount you’ll ultimately have available to invest.Understanding those numbers before negotiations begin gives you a more meaningful way to evaluate an opportunity. Instead of looking only at valuation, you can consider whether the structure and proceeds of a potential transaction support the life you want to build after the business.
4. What Should I Consider Before Selling My Business?
   A successful exit involves more than choosing a buyer and agreeing on a price. Deal structure, taxes, estate planning, and what happens to your wealth after the transaction can all have long-term implications. Two offers with similar valuations can produce very different results depending on cash at closing, earnouts, rollover equity, financing arrangements, taxes, and future involvement in the company. Tax, estate, or charitable planning opportunities may also be better evaluated before a transaction reaches its later stages.That is why I encourage business owners to connect transaction planning with personal planning early. Your wealth advisor, CPA, estate attorney, and transaction professionals may each view the exit through a different lens, but those decisions ultimately need to support the same goal: a successful transition for you, your family, and the business you’ve built.

Preparing for Your Business’s Next Chapter

You don’t need to know exactly when—or even how—you’ll exit your business to begin preparing for it. Understanding your company’s readiness, your potential exit paths, and what you personally need from a future transaction can give you more options when the time comes.

On Wednesday, October 7, 2026, from 10:00–11:00 AM PT, Rafael and I will take a deeper look at these questions during Preparing Your Business for a Successful Exit.

We’ll discuss what buyers look for, different exit paths available to owners, personal financial planning before and after a liquidity event, tax and estate considerations, common exit-planning mistakes, and how your business and personal advisory teams can work together throughout the process.

If you’re considering selling your business in the next few years—or simply want to understand what you should be doing now—I hope you’ll join us.

Register for Preparing Your Business for a Successful Exit →