White Papers
Here is our library of business owner-focused white papers that address topics of interest in the area of Exit Planning. Click the links on topics that strike your interest!
Business Valuation: 5 Reasons Why It's Important:
Business owners sometimes assume that an expert business valuation is an unnecessary expense. However, an expert valuation can be the difference between exiting when they want and needing to stay in the business long past their desired departure date to get the cash they need for financial independence. This white paper provides five reasons why a business owner needs to get an expert valuation if he or she wants to exit the business in style.
This white paper discusses four primary problems sole-owned and co-owned companies face when an owner dies or becomes permanently incapacitated.
Business Growth by Acquisition:
This white paper is dedicated to the owner seeking to exit his or her business in style. Acquiring other businesses is a tool that business owners use to grow their own businesses, and this white paper will present several ways that acquiring businesses can be a key cog in a successful exit.
This white paper discusses the differences between C and S corporations. It provides information relevant to tax payments upon ownership transfers or sales, and helps business owners determine the different implications each entity status provides to business owners.
Incentivizing employees, especially management, to remain with the business after the owner leaves is a critical piece of the Exit Planning puzzle. This white paper will explain why employee incentive plans are important and offer several incentive plans that can keep the most important employees with the company after the owner has exited.
Exit Paths for Business Owners:
When business owners start to think about exiting their companies, the number of possible Exit Paths can seem limitless. In reality, there are only eight. This white paper will guide owners through each Exit Path and help them determine which Exit Path might be best for their unique situations.
Strong businesses typically implement strong business plans. Likewise, strong business exits are typically the result of implementing strong Exit Plans. Exiting a business is only as difficult as an owner makes it, but which difficulties should owners be aware of as they exit? This white paper will discuss three major headwinds in an owner's exit and provide potential solutions to cutting through the headwinds on their way to a breezy business exit.
Leaving Your Business Is Inevitable:
This white paper brings the inevitabilities of business ownership into focus. At some point, every owner leaves his or her business, voluntarily or otherwise. This white paper speaks to business owners in their own language about what that means for them and their businesses. It discusses The BEI Seven Step Exit Planning Process™, which is designed to achieve an owner's financial and other goals. Deliver this white paper to encourage business-owner clients to plan for their inevitable exits on their own terms.
Successful Transfer of the Family Business:
Exit Planning for family businesses creates its own set of unique challenges and rewards. While each family's situation differs, the transfer plans we can design are founded on three basic principles:
1. We must ensure that the parents' post-business life is financially secure.
2. It is important to create a fair way for children to receive ownership interest and other assets.
3. We emphasize the need to keep parents in control of the company until they have attained financial security and until the successors are fully equipped to run the company successfully.
This white paper describes 10 deal pitfalls (in no particular order) that each have the capability to derail a deal, some more effectively than others. All of these pitfalls are fairly common, although some owners are prone to fall into more pits than others. Before and throughout your Exit Planning Process, refer to each of these pitfalls to assure that you don't fall into them. Avoiding these pitfalls will allow a smooth exit on your terms.
Transferring Wealth to Children: A Primer for Business Owners:
Successful business owners often wrestle with the issue of how to pass wealth to children in a way that legally minimizes their tax bills. This white paper explains how such a transfer can be designed, why fixing their own financial objective precedes any transfer, and how to determine the amount to be transferred.
Transferring Your Company to Key Employees:
Owners wishing to sell their businesses to management (i.e., key employees) face two unpleasant facts: Their employees have no money and they cannot borrow a sufficient quantity to cash out the owner. The transfer methods described in this white paper employ a long-term installment buyout of the owner or use someone else's money to affect the buyout.
Using Short-Term Key-Employee Incentives to Increase Sale Price:
One of a business owner's greatest challenges is to attract, motivate, and keep key employees. Keeping key employees is absolutely critical if the business is to be sold at the highest possible price. This white paper describes the design elements of a stay-bonus plan and how to convert a long-term key-employee incentive plan into a short-term plan.
Every business owner must create value in his or her business prior to any transfer or sale. Exactly how do owners do that? Read this white paper to learn about which Value Drivers buyers look for when deciding how much to pay for a business.