Our 4 Phase Process
Our process, like our overall philosophy, is to keep things simple. We start with an initial no-cost, no-obligation 60-minute consult.
Assuming we jointly agree to move forward, we will establish a scope-of-work agreement and decide on the tools we’ll use for collaboration and communication.
Stop Waiting for “Tomorrow” to Plan the Future Wellbeing of Your Business
In life we often feel that we never have enough time or money, especially when it comes to planning our future. As a business owner, these sentiments are even more amplified. Everyone deserves a better future and a solid, reliable plan to get there. I understand planning for future contingencies may seem excessive – the future is far away and we never know what will happen, right? That’s true. However with the guidance of a well-crafted exit plan, you can take control of both your financial and personal future. You will maximize the value of your business and be prepared for unplanned sales, unsolicited offers and unpredicted scenarios [5 Ds]. Through proper planning you can mitigate risk for yourself and your family, clients, employees and vendors.
As a five-time entrepreneur myself I understand the feelings of concern, confusion and reluctance that come with the idea of selling your business. My cumulative experiences combined with being a Certified Exit Planning Advisor allows me to guide business owners like you through the process I once struggled through and eventually mastered – and come out of it confident and prepared.
We use a simple 4 step process. At the end of each phase you decide whether to move on to the next phase, or stop there. Here’s how our process works and what you can expect when working with us:
In Phase 1 we start with a valuation of your business. The valuation becomes the cornerstone for developing your personal financial plan and as well as benchmarking your business to industry best in class.
In Phase 2 we conduct three assessments, Business Readiness, Business Attractiveness and Owner Readiness Assessments. At the conclusion of this phase we have a comprehensive outline of areas that require attentions and areas of focus for improvement and increasing value.
In Phase 3 we take the results of the assessments conducted in Phase 2 and develop a comprehensive list of issues that we need to address. We then select the priorities we want to focus on over the next 12 months for the organization, your leadership team and you personally. We then build action plans of what we expect to accomplish in the next 90 days, assign responsibility for each priority and agree upon how we will measure success towards achieving that priority. During this phase we speak weekly for 1 hour to check in on progress and identify issues. We will meet monthly to have each team member provide updates on their work and make sure that the team is staying on track to meet our quarters priorities. We then meet quarterly for ½ a day to review results for prior quarter, identify issues we want to add to our comprehensive list, and select our priorities for the new quarter.
Every six months we conduct a one on one with the owner to review progress, change in value and discuss if the owner at this point would like to explore exit options.
Phase 4 triggers at the owners discretion and is when we explore all potential exit options and the owner makes a sell or stay decision.
Don’t find yourself in a situation of forced sale, leaving money on the table, unhappy with your lifestyle post sale or unable to protect your family, clients, employees and vendors. With all of the hard work that you do, you deserve to reach your full potential and meet the future with a plan for success.
