Exit planning helps you maximize the value of your business
and makes sure you are ready for your end game.
As a Business Owner, You Likely Have These Questions
- How much do I need to sell my business for?
- How do I minimize the taxes I’ll pay when I sell?
- How can I grow the value of my business to capture what it’s truly worth?
- Who should I sell to? How do I find them?
A Personal Message From Our CEO to
Small Business Owners
Like you, I am a small business owner who has poured my heart and soul into my work. It’s hard for me to imagine life without Centerline Wealth Advisors. However, we will all one day transition out of our business and begin a new adventure. Exiting a business can be an emotional, confusing, and complicated process. Just thinking about it causes most owners to procrastinate and delay the planning process. Having worked with entrepreneurs for years – and being one as well – I understand the concerns and confusion around the best way to begin – and the best way to succeed. So, at Centerline we make it easy for owners by introducing them to our Exit Planning program Biz2Beach™.
Our Biz2Beach™ program helps you build value by showing you how to put systems in place to improve performance now, as well as how to reduce the hidden risks most organizations have. Our Exit Planning program has clear steps and deliverables that will help make an oftentimes overwhelming process much more manageable. From developing a financial plan to figuring out how you will pursue your passions in retirement to making sure your legal affairs are in order, Centerline Wealth Advisors helps you take specific steps to plan for your exit, allowing you to enjoy the wealth you have spent a lifetime creating.
Personal
What will your post-exit business card say? Where do you want to spend your time when it’s no longer on the business? What people or causes are important to you?
Business
Focus on the eight key drivers of value to grow the business while minimizing the inherent risks of a closely held business. Which exit options best match your desired outcome?
Financial
Without the monthly cash flow from the business, how will you plan your retirement? We focus on retirement income and tax planning, with appropriate risk management to make sure your money is there when you need it.
Preparing for Your
Exit and Beyond
The vast majority of business owners fall short in preparing for their eventual exit. This may explain why 75% of them regret their decision a year after they sell. Once you start the exit planning process you will be ahead of the 49% who have done nothing. With Centerline’s exit planning advisors at your side, we can make sure you are one of the few business owners who is truly ready – and fully prepared – to exit their business… with a plan for what comes next. Since Exit Planning is good business strategy now, the sooner you begin this process, the more valuable it becomes for you and your business.
Do you know if you’re financially Ready to Sell Your Business Yet?
You can find out here in just a few minutes.
Freedom Score is a 10-minute online questionnaire that evaluates your financial readiness to fund the next phase of your life after your business. Freedom Score calculates your Freedom Point – when the sale of your company will generate enough to fund your desired lifestyle for the rest of your life. Discover how to reach financial independence, de-risk yourself financially, and live worry-free in the next chapter of your life.
Exit Planning Articles and Whitepapers
Get Paid First
Get Paid First Most owners assume growth is the goal. More customers. More revenue. More staff. And they’re right. Buyers do reward growth. But they pay a premium for companies that grow while keeping a positive cash flow cycle. More than 80,000 business owners have completed their Value Builder Score Report, offering a window into […]
Why Imperfections in Your Business Don’t Make It Unsellable
For business owners considering their endgame, learning what makes a company valuable can feel overwhelming. Buyers prioritize factors like recurring revenue, a differentiated product or service, and a leadership team that operates independently from the owner. If a business doesn’t check every box, it can seem as though selling is perpetually just out of reach. […]
From Reseller to Brand Builder: Luke Peters’ $80M Success
A lot of companies are tempted to resell other people’s products and services as a quick path to hitting their next revenue milestone. While this approach might boost your top line, it often comes at the cost of your company’s long-term value. Acquirers aren’t just looking for companies that generate revenue—they usually want businesses that […]
The Power of Working on, Not in, Your Business
Have you ever considered that knowing too much about your company’s product or service could be a disadvantage? Sometimes, not being a technical expert can help you avoid a common trap many founders fall into. Carrie Kelsch, who founded A Plus Garage Doors in 2005, had no experience in garage door repair. Instead of seeing […]
Supplier Dependence: The Silent Killer of Business Valuations
Supplier risk can erode the value of your company. When a potential acquirer examines your business, they look for red flags. A major one: relying too heavily on a single supplier—whether that’s a sole raw material provider or a platform like Amazon that controls your primary sales channel. If that key supplier vanishes or changes […]
Sell the Potential…or Realize It Yourself?
Sell the Potential…or Realize It Yourself? Brent Beshore never set out to be a private equity investor. He didn’t come from Wall Street, never took a finance class, and once had to google the term “due diligence.” (He typed “do diligence.”) He was an operator building a marketing firm from scratch—until one day a founder […]
A Strong Business but a Modest Multiple
A Strong Business but a Modest Multiple When Sean McAuliffe sold his company, he had a lot going for him. His distribution business was generating nearly $19 million in revenue. Margins were healthy. Growth was solid. And yet, when it came time to sell, his company was valued at around four times EBITDA, a relatively […]
The Leadership Style That Builds Loyalty—and Destroys Company Value
The Leadership Style That Builds Loyalty—and Destroys Company Value Some leaders take pride in leading from the front. They’re in the trenches with their team. They never delegate a task they wouldn’t do themselves. It earns respect, builds morale, and inspires loyalty. But it can also destroy the value of their business. According to data […]
How to Jack Up the Value of a Commoditized Business
How to Jack Up the Value of a Commoditized Business If you sell something the market sees as interchangeable, your business may be worth less. Acquirers often argue that without a competitive moat, commoditized companies are sitting ducks for a price war. Margins get squeezed. Valuations drop. After completing the Value Builder Score Report, more […]
How One Founder Beat Billion-Dollar Competitors by Doing Less
How One Founder Beat Billion-Dollar Competitors by Doing Less Most business owners assume that bigger is better. More products. More customers. More markets. Adam Rossi took the opposite approach. By going narrower and serving just one group of customers with one set of critical problems, he outperformed billion-dollar competitors like Lockheed Martin. It wasn’t because […]
How Proving Your TAM Might Double Your Company’s Value
How Proving Your TAM Might Double Your Company’s Value When an acquirer evaluates your business, they’re looking beyond what you’ve built. As successful as your company may be, buyers need to see how much larger it can grow to generate a return on their investment. That’s where Total Addressable Market (TAM) comes in. TAM is […]
Is Your Industry Next for a Roll-Up? Here’s How to Tell—and What to Do
The garage door industry isn’t the most obvious place for a business empire. Yet in just a few years, Guild has emerged as a dominant force, consolidating a fragmented market into a scalable platform worth millions. If you’re a business owner in a fragmented industry, Guild’s story raises two pressing questions: Could my industry be […]
The Problem With a Personal Brand
The Downside of Building a Personal Brand These days, building and curating a personal brand online is often portrayed as a key to success. Entrepreneurs are told to put themselves at the forefront, to be the face of their business, and to leverage social media to grow both their influence and their company. However, the […]
The 3 Fixes That Made this Service Business Sellable
The 3 Fixes That Made this Service Business Sellable On paper, MotiveBase looked like a sellable business. It served blue-chip customers like McDonald’s, Target, and General Mills. It generated millions in revenue. Margins were strong. Yet when founder Ujwal Arkalgud first tested the market, acquirers hesitated. Not because the business wasn’t attractive. But because it […]
A Sellable Service Business in Four Moves
A Sellable Service Business in Four Moves Gavin Bell had achieved the freelancer dream. He was known as “the Facebook ads guy” in Edinburgh, pulling in £30k/month with almost no overhead. It was incredibly lucrative. It was also a trap. While rewarding, his business was completely unsellable. His customers weren’t buying an agency—they were buying […]
The Rembrandt in Your Attic
The Rembrandt in Your Attic In M&A circles, there is a well-known concept called the Rembrandt in the Attic. It refers to a situation where an acquirer discovers an asset or capability inside a target company that the seller either undervalued, underutilized, or did not realize was there. Just like the classic trope of a […]
Customer Satisfaction Doubles Your Multiple. Owner Dependence Gives It Back.
Customer Satisfaction Doubles Your Multiple. Owner Dependence Gives It Back. Most business owners are obsessed with adding new customers. The sales pipeline, the marketing budget, the growth targets all point in one direction. Find more. Close more. Grow faster. That obsession is not wrong. But it can blind you to something that builds more value […]
How to Fix Customer Concentration Without Shrinking
How to Fix Customer Concentration Without Shrinking Murray Kent paid $40,000 for a four-person electrical conduit fittings business operating out of what he generously described as a crack den. A decade later, a private equity-backed acquirer wrote him a check for 6.2 times EBITDA. All cash. No earnout. No equity rollover. A lot of things […]
The System Is the Star
The System Is the Star According to Value Builder research, companies where the owner is the hub of the business are 20% less likely to receive an acquisition offer at all. Not a lower offer. No offer. Because a buyer looking at a business that cannot operate without its owner is not looking at a […]
The Hidden Metric That Can Transform the Value of Your Business
The Hidden Metric That Can Transform the Value of Your Business Revenue matters. It gets you in the room with acquirers, it signals that customers want what you sell, and it is the foundation everything else is built on. But revenue alone does not make a business valuable. What often transforms a revenue story into […]
Three Times More Likely to Get Lowballed
Three Times More Likely to Get Lowballed Customer concentration is one of the few things that can quietly discount the value of an otherwise healthy company. The logic is familiar: if one customer leaves, a large share of the revenue leaves with it, and an acquirer buying that revenue is buying that risk. We […]
Just Add Capital
Just Add Capital If you’re looking to attract an investor or an acquirer one day, expect them to dig into your sales and marketing process. If you’re a company that sells to other businesses, an investor will want to know where you get your leads from and how much each costs you to generate. They’ll […]
The Recurring Revenue Bump
Last month, Darden, the owner of the Olive Garden restaurant chain, announced it was acquiring Ruth’s Chris, the legendary American steakhouse, for $715 million, implying a valuation of around one times last year’s annual revenue, or about ten times their adjusted EBITDA for 2022. Not bad for a giant company, but Ruth’s Chris’s value was […]
How to Increase the Value of a Distribution Business
Transforming a distributor or reseller into a valuable company may seem like a daunting task. Distributors are usually not worth very much, because an acquirer reasons that without a point of differentiation, a distributor is vulnerable to a price war. Rather than acquire a target company, a savvy potential acquirer of a distributor could temporarily […]
How First Impressions Can Drive the Value of Your Business
The initial impression customers have of your business often influences how much they decide to spend with your company. This is well known, but have you ever considered how first impressions affect the way potential investors value your business? When raising capital, investors’ initial perception of your business significantly impacts their valuation, affecting both the […]
“The Costly Consequence of an Unprepared Exit: Lessons from a Failed Business Sale”
INTRODUCTION A Louisville business owner in her early 60’s in the software/services industry was looking to sell and begin her retirement. She had created and operated a successful company that employed 50-100 people and sustained rapid customer and revenue growth. She felt the company was in great shape and ready to be sold. A private […]
Hidden Value: A 3-Part Approach to Hiring High-Potential Employees
French economist Jean-Baptiste Say characterized an entrepreneur as one who “shifts economic resources out of an area of lower and into an area of higher productivity and greater yield.” This expands the term’s literal translation from the French for “one who undertakes” to include the concept of value creation. Bootstrapping founders epitomize the principle […]
Rethinking 65 Article Feature: How are America’s Businesses Faring? Ask an Advisor.
How Are America’s Businesses Faring? Ask a Financial Advisor
3 (Creative) Ways to Get Your Business to Run Without You
If you aspire to build a valuable company, one crucial factor is to ensure your business can operate independently without your constant involvement, but embarking on this journey can feel daunting. In this article, we’ll explore three cost-effective, simple strategies to set your business on a path to autonomy and allowing it to thrive without […]
Core Values as a Growth Catalyst: The $14 Million Journey of Sauceda Industries
In the competitive third-party logistics (3PL) sector, Jay B Sauceda turned Sauceda Industries into a standout business, ultimately reaching $14 million in sales before being acquired by Cart.com. His secret weapon? His core values: “Yes, And,” “Explore More,” and “Give a Sh!t.” Talent Recruitment Sauceda found his first significant opportunity with Howler Brothers, the digitally […]
The Switzerland Structure
The Switzerland Structure One of the eight factors that impact the value of your company is something the team at The Value Builder SystemÔ refers to as “The Switzerland Structure,” which emphasizes the importance of business independence. It cautions against excessive reliance on any single entity, whether suppliers, employees, or customers. While many business owners […]
What to Do When Your Clients Want You
Do your customers ever ask that you personally get involved in their account? If so, one of the best things you can do to improve the value of your business (and your life) is to get your employees to treat your customers as well as you do. That’s easy to say but hard to do, […]
Growth vs. Value
Growth vs. Value We live in a business world where growth is worshiped. Entrepreneurs measure themselves by how many people they employ. Many founders dream about making lists whose sole criterion is revenue growth. However, if your endgame is to sell your business to a strategic acquirer one day, indiscriminate revenue growth may not result […]
Big vs. Valuable
Big vs. Valuable Most founders aim to boost sales, but prioritizing top-line growth can attract low-quality revenue, potentially reducing your company’s value. To an acquirer, revenue quality varies. They prioritize future revenue predictability, valuing recurring income from contracts and subscriptions higher than one-off sales. Consequently, firms with recurring revenue often command a revenue-based valuation, whereas […]
3 Ways to Get Your Employees to Sell More
Who does the selling inside your business? If you’re involved, your business will be less valuable than if you weren’t. Investors and acquirers are reluctant to invest in a business where the owner is the rainmaker of the company. The team at the Value Builder System™ analyzed more than 70,000 businesses, and the data revealed […]
How First Impressions Can Impact Your Company’s Value
How First Impressions Can Impact Your Company’s Value When potential acquirers first evaluate your business, most will quickly categorize it into a specific industry. This initial classification can significantly impact the value they place on your business. Some industries are inherently perceived as more valuable than others, and if your business is placed in a […]
From Gretzky to Popovich: What Sports Legends Teach Us About Business Value
From Gretzky to Popovich: What Sports Legends Teach Us About Business Value Have you ever wondered why some athletes struggle to transition from player to coach? This challenge isn’t just limited to sports; it’s a critical shift that many business owners need to make to build a valuable business. Take Wayne Gretzky, for example. Despite […]
Why a Strong Moat Made Boondockers Welcome an Acquisition Target
What Makes You Tough to Compete With? It’s that thing customers value but competitors can’t seem to match. For Apple, it’s their integrated ecosystem of devices and services. Apple’s ecosystem binds together iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple Watches, and services like iCloud, Apple Music, and Apple Pay into a seamless experience. Once you own one Apple […]
Listening & Leveling: How Customer Feedback Turned a $50 Idea into a 7-Figure Business
In the early days of Airbnb, co-founder Brian Chesky went to surprising lengths to gather customer feedback. He would stay with Airbnb hosts to experience the platform as they did, asking detailed questions about their needs and frustrations. Chesky’s commitment to listening wasn’t just about making improvements—it was about truly understanding the customer experience in […]
Your Complete Exit Planning Roadmap
Discover the step-by-step process successful business owners use to maximize their company’s value and achieve financial freedom. Download Your Free Roadmap What You’ll Learn From Our Newsletter Business Valuation Strategies Learn proven methods to increase your company’s value before exit Tax Minimization Techniques Discover strategies to reduce tax burden during ownership transfer Exit […]
How to Double Your Chances of a Premium Acquisition Offer
Value Builder Analytics, drawing on proprietary data from over 80,000 business owners, found that companies that can run without the owner for at least three months are twice as likely to receive an acquisition offer above 6x EBITDA. The concept is simple. The execution? Not so much. Take Kristie Shifflette for example. She was an […]
Endgame
As a business owner, your endgame shouldn’t be a distant, abstract goal. Knowing how you plan to transition to your next chapter, by when and with what proceeds is a powerful tool shaping your current strategies and decisions. Envisioning your exit, whether it’s selling to a strategic acquirer, passing the torch to the next generation, or another path, provides clarity and direction.
