What we stand for
A practice built to give the answer a brokerage cannot afford to give
"You are not ready to sell, and here is what that would take" costs a broker the listing. It is the most useful sentence an owner two years out can hear.
Only 20 to 30% of businesses that go to market actually sell, according to the Exit Planning Institute. Seven or eight owners in ten go through listing, buyer meetings and diligence, and then do not close. Most of what decides that is settled before the listing exists.
The industry is not structured to fix it. Preparation takes twelve to twenty-four months and produces no transaction fee, so the people best placed to spot the problems are the people paid only if a sale happens. This practice exists on the other side of that line: we are paid for the preparation, which is what makes an honest assessment affordable to give.
What we commit to
We will tell you if you do not need us
Some owners who ask for an engagement are closer to ready than they think. When the free readiness score comes back high, the right answer is a conversation with a broker, not a twelve-month plan. We would rather say so and lose the engagement.
Preparation and selling stay separate decisions
Engaging us creates no obligation to list a business with anyone. The engagement letter says so in writing, and it names every advisor here who also works as a broker. A preparation practice that functions as a listing funnel is a listing funnel.
Every number carries its basis
If we cite a figure, we name where it came from. Where a commonly repeated statistic cannot be traced to a real source, we do not use it, even when it would help the argument. Claims about our own results will carry the metric, the period and the sample, or they will not appear.
The plan gets measured, not just written
The assessment is re-run at the end of the engagement so the change is demonstrated rather than asserted. Most exit plans fail after the document is delivered, which is why the reviews are part of the engagement instead of an upsell.
We say who benefits
Two of our advisors also work as business brokers with First Choice Business Brokers. Exit Path Advisors is not owned by or affiliated with First Choice Business Brokers. Both facts are on every page of this site and set out in full on the disclosure page, because you should know them before you engage us rather than afterwards.
What we do not do
- We do not sell businesses. That is a brokerage function and we are not one.
- We do not produce valuations for sale purposes.
- We do not give legal, tax or investment advice. Where a decision turns on your tax position, the answer comes from your accountant.
- We do not take an engagement we think will not earn its fee.
Who we are
A small group of advisors, still being assembled. Theadvisors page lists who is currently doing the work, along with their credentials and every other relationship worth knowing about.