Exit Strategies & Succession Management

Introduction

If you are considering retiring in the near future you might be questioning: How do I get out of the business? How far in advance should I plan for my retirement? Is this in my shareholders or operating agreement? That is where Wonder Worth Solutions LLC comes in. We walk you through all of the necessary steps and help you plan for your retirement goals well ahead of time to ensure the business will be in safe hands when you leave.

Valuation of the Business

There are many factors that go into determining the value of a business, such as:

•   The number of employees
•   The amount of revenue the business generates each year
•   The industry the company is in
•   The assets it owns (e.g., buildings, vehicles) or other assets (e.g., patents) that give it an advantage over competitors

Owner Financing, Loan Structure, and Payments

In addition to planning for your retirement, you should also consider the best way to get out of a business and where your exit strategy starts. The most common ways are:

•   Selling the company (which is often a long-term goal)
•   Selling or gifting part or all of your ownership interest in the company (for example, an employee stock ownership plan)
•   Transferring legal title back to yourself or your spouse (in this case the transfer would not be considered taxable income)

Successor Preparation

• The best succession plans are those that prepare the business to be handed over to another individual, who is ready and able to take on the position.
• Successor Preparation
• Here's what you need to do in order to prepare your successor:
• Timing

It's important to have a plan in place early on because timing is everything. If you wait until it's too late, you may have no choice but to sell your business or close it down completely.

Take action today and start planning for the future of your company with the following steps:

•   Create a succession plan by which time you'd like someone else to take over for you. This should be done well before you retire so that there is plenty of time for them to learn their role and take over when needed.
•   Work with an attorney who specializes in estate planning so that they can help ensure that all of your assets are transferred as smoothly as possible into the right hands once they're passed on or sold off (or whatever happens).

If you are considering retiring in the near future, you might be questioning: How do I get out of the business? How far in advance should I plan for my retirement? Is this in my shareholders or operating agreement? That is where Wonder Worth Solutions LLC comes in. We walk you through all of the necessary steps and help you plan for your retirement goals well ahead of time to ensure the business will be in safe hands when you leave.

Our team has helped many companies transition into new ownership and management teams with a seamless transition process that ensures continued growth and success while retaining culture and employees.

We help with:

•   Defining roles & responsibilities before departure (i.e., key person insurance)
•   Exit strategy development (i.e., valuation methodologies)
•   Designing succession plans based on personal goals & objectives

Conclusion

Hopefully, this article has given you some food for thought on how to handle your exit strategy. We know that it is not an easy decision, but we also want to stress the importance of planning ahead and getting help from professionals who can guide you through the process.