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The ExitMap® Advisor’s Guide

An indexed review of the content contained in the initial

ExitMap® Affiliate Video Training Program

The ExitMap® Advisor’s Guide© is provided solely to ExitMap® Affiliates who have completed qualification training.

Reproduction in any form, including any imaging, paper or electronic means, is strictly prohibited.

Prepared for ExitMap® Affiliate

Mr. John F. Dini

Founder/President – The ExitMap®



The ExitMap® Advisor’s Guide Table of Contents Session 1: Affiliate Qualification Training Introduction ......................................................................... 9

Part I: Welcome (0:00) ............................................................................................................................. 9

John F. Dini, The ExitMap® Founder and Creator ................................................................................ 9

Part II: Why Exit Planning? (3:20) .......................................................................................................... 10

Part III: The Boomer Business Owner (8:27).......................................................................................... 12

The Boomers’ Psychology (14:22) ..................................................................................................... 14

Part IV: The Next Generation (21:54) .................................................................................................... 16

Part V: The ExitMap® Tool (26:30) ......................................................................................................... 18

Part VI: Review (31:22).......................................................................................................................... 19

Preparing Your Clients (33:10) .......................................................................................................... 20

Session 2: Starting the Conversation ................................................................................................... 21

Part I: Introduction (0:00) ....................................................................................................................... 21

Part II: “I Don’t Need a Plan” The Truth (1:04) ....................................................................................... 21

The CPA and the Reluctant Client (3:58) ........................................................................................... 22

The Client Who Knows About Value (9:01) ........................................................................................ 24

Part III: Misunderstandings (13:10) ........................................................................................................ 26

The Coach and the Successful Client (15:16) .................................................................................... 27

The Coach and the Overwhelmed Client (18:05) ............................................................................... 29

Part IV: The Perfect Storm (20:48)......................................................................................................... 30

The Cost of Waiting (21:36) ............................................................................................................... 31

The Attorney Phone Call (23:22)........................................................................................................ 31

Part V: Using the ExitMap® Assessment (25:08) ................................................................................... 32

Most Frequently Heard Objections (26:10)......................................................................................... 32

The Debriefing Conversation (27:37) ................................................................................................. 33

Part VI: Review (30:43).......................................................................................................................... 34

Marketing Tip (31:30)......................................................................................................................... 35

Session 3: Utilizing the ExitMap® Analysis & Action Plan ................................................................... 37


Overview (0:13) ................................................................................................................................. 37

Part II: How the Reports Work – Puppet Show (3:28) ............................................................................ 38

Part III: Preparing for the Debriefing Meeting (7:40) ............................................................................... 40

Assigning Codes for Reports (9:06) ................................................................................................... 41


Scheduling the Meeting (13:38) ......................................................................................................... 43

Managing Expectations (15:49) ......................................................................................................... 44

Debriefing and Consulting Fees (17:10) ............................................................................................. 44

Fees for Internal Sales (17:12) .......................................................................................................... 45

Fees for External Sales (18:20) ......................................................................................................... 45

Small Clients (18:45) ......................................................................................................................... 45

Preparing the Reports (19:37) ........................................................................................................... 46

Part IV: Debriefing (21:10) ..................................................................................................................... 46

Prior to the Meeting (21:15) ............................................................................................................... 46

Before Reviewing the Reports with the Client (22:11) ........................................................................ 47

Setting Debriefing Priorities (26:24) ................................................................................................... 49

The Analysis and Action Plan (27:38) ................................................................................................ 49

Prioritizing Action Items (28:52) ......................................................................................................... 50

Revising The ExitMap® (31:36) .......................................................................................................... 51

Part V: From Debriefing to Engagement (32:38) .................................................................................... 51

Next Steps (32:41) ............................................................................................................................. 51

Other Consulting Systems (35:13) ..................................................................................................... 52

Part VI: Review (36:49).......................................................................................................................... 53

Session 4: Consulting Opportunities in Finance & Planning .............................................................. 55


Overview (0:14) ................................................................................................................................. 55

Debriefing (2:20) ................................................................................................................................ 56

Part II: Finance Questions (3:14) ........................................................................................................... 56

Valuation (4:28) ................................................................................................................................. 57

Credit Strength (7:27) ........................................................................................................................ 58

Tax Impact (11:05) ............................................................................................................................ 60

Potential Buyers (14:56) .................................................................................................................... 61

Benchmarks (19:41) .......................................................................................................................... 63

Part III: Planning Questions (24:43) ....................................................................................................... 66

Retirement Funding (25:50) ............................................................................................................... 66

Contingency Plans (29:27)................................................................................................................. 68

Personal Vision (32:56) ..................................................................................................................... 70

Exit Options (36:52) ........................................................................................................................... 71


Disaster Preparedness (39:53) .......................................................................................................... 73

Part IV: Conclusion (43:19) .................................................................................................................... 75

Session 5: Consulting Opportunities in Profit/Revenue and Operations ........................................... 77


Overview (0:14) ................................................................................................................................. 77

Debriefing (2:17) ................................................................................................................................ 78

Part II: Revenue/Profit Questions (3:14) ................................................................................................ 78

Sales Trend (4:23) ............................................................................................................................. 79

Profitability (7:01) ............................................................................................................................... 80

Differentiation (9:56) .......................................................................................................................... 82

Customer Concentration (13:56) ........................................................................................................ 83

Part III: Operations Questions (19:29) ................................................................................................... 86

Process Documentation (20:42)......................................................................................................... 87

Company Culture (24:21)................................................................................................................... 88

Management Depth (28:04) ............................................................................................................... 90

Retention Strategies (33:17) .............................................................................................................. 92

Owner-centricity (37:20) .................................................................................................................... 94

Technological Currency (40:26) ......................................................................................................... 95

Part IV: Need More Help? (44:04).......................................................................................................... 97

Session 6: Using the ExitMap® to Engage Clients & Generate Referrals ............................................ 99


Overview (0:14) ................................................................................................................................. 99

Part II: The ExitMap® as a Marketing and Sales Tool (0:40)................................................................... 99

Part III: The Three Models of Client Engagement (1:44) ...................................................................... 100

One to One (2:07) ............................................................................................................................ 100

One to Many (3:35) .......................................................................................................................... 101

One to Many to Many (5:59) ............................................................................................................ 102

Part IV: Utilizing Other Advisors in a Cooperative Relationship (8:20) .................................................. 103

Part V: Whom Should You Work With? (9:43) ...................................................................................... 103

Part VI: The ExitMap® Training Review Overview (11:15) .................................................................... 104

Part VII: The ExitMap® Qualification for Affiliates Training Course Review (12:07)............................... 104

Part VIII: Credits (25:00) ...................................................................................................................... 105

The Players in Order of Appearance (26:26) .................................................................................... 106


Voice Talent (26:46) ........................................................................................................................ 106

Video Production Division (26:46) .................................................................................................... 107

Special Thanks (27:49) .................................................................................................................... 107

The Production Crew (28:57) ........................................................................................................... 107

The ExitMap® Advisor’s Guide© is an indexed review of the content contained in all six of the initial qualification

ExitMap® Affiliate Video training sessions. It is available only to ExitMap® Affiliates who have completed the four

hour video training course and is used in conjunction with the ExitMap® Analysis© and Action Plan© to work through

the planning and tools suggested in the details of the reports. The Advisor’s Guide© is available to Affiliates upon

completion of the Qualified Affiliate training.


Session 1:

Affiliate Qualification Training Introduction

The Boomer Entrepreneurs and the Coming Tsunami:

An examination of the typical ExitMap® client.

Part I: Welcome (0:00)

John F. Dini, The ExitMap® Founder and Creator

I have been a business owner for over 30 years. During that time,

I successfully operated a distribution company, a manufacturing

company and a healthcare management business. 25 years ago,

I began consulting for business owners. Since 1997, I have

coached over 400 CEOs in a wide variety of industries both in

developing their strategies and in their day-to-day operations. For

almost 10 years of that time, I was also a Certified Business

Intermediary assisting owners in the marketing and sale of their businesses. But when business owners came to me

saying that they were ready to sell their companies, my reaction was frequently, “Oh, you are anything but ready to

sell.”

I began looking for a way to help my clients be better prepared for their eventual exit. In 2011 I obtained my certification

as an exit planner from the Business Institute Enterprise (BEI) in Colorado. I’ve written three books about business

ownership, I have two business degrees and a total of six certifications in business related disciplines. But my most

important experience is in the thousands of hours I’ve spent face-to-face discussing business owner’s challenges and

expectations.

This experience is what I have poured into The ExitMap® so that you can utilize my experience to your client’s benefit.

In working with my clients and in conversations with other Brokers and business planners, I realized that most owners

embarking on the process of selling their companies have little preparation and even less likelihood of realizing the full

value of their business enterprise.

The principle reason for this is the owner’s reluctance to really examine life after their business. That is why four out of

every five businesses that are listed for sale to a third-party never actually sell. Less than 25% of business owners

voluntarily start a conversation with their advisor about exiting. When they do, the advisor typically focuses on the area

of his or her expertise. Accountants do tax planning, attorneys prepare documentation and Financial Planners focus

on managing wealth following the sale. In reality, professional exit planning should encompass all of these things along

with a careful look at a company’s preparedness to deliver the financial expectations of the owner.

I created The ExitMap® to help advisors begin this vital conversation with their clients so they will be better prepared

to leave their companies in their own timeframe and with full value for what they’ve built. I know that you will find The

ExitMap® a simple and useful tool in helping your clients prepare for the biggest financial event of their lifetime.


Part II: Why Exit Planning? (3:20) The ExitMap® is a client engagement tool which will expand your relationship with your business owner

customers, and help them prepare for the most important financial transition of their careers.

Engage Clients:

The ExitMap® is a tool for engaging clients in conversations about their future. When we talk about engaging

clients, we are referring to long-term relationships to assist a business owner in deciding what his or her goals

are, and how to best prepare their companies to realize those goals. Proper, professionally assisted

preparation will also help your client enjoy the fruits of their efforts. Too many former business owners are

miserable because they really didn’t consider life after the company until the day they walked out.

Begin Conversations:

We show you how to use the ExitMap® to begin a conversations too few owners have with their professional

advisors, and how to do it in a non-sales way. We teach you effective techniques for putting the client at

ease, and for recommending your services in a way that is natural, and naturally accepted.

Cooperative Effort:

We show you how exit planning is best done in a cooperative effort with other professionals; cooperation that

inevitably leads to cross referrals, new clients and future engagements.

Business Development Tool:

We do not teach you how to develop an exit plan. Exit planning requires, financial, tax, legal and business

consulting skills, along with a fair amount of executive coaching. No one practitioner possesses all the

knowledge necessary for a complete strategy and implementation plan. The ExitMap® is a business

development tool for professionals who are already qualified to be part of that team.

Six Sessions:

The four hour video course and this guide are divided into six sessions:

Session 1: The Boomer Entrepreneurs and the Coming Tsunami

Session one examines your typical ExitMap® client, the Baby Boomer

Business Owner. Boomers are the wealthiest and most entrepreneurial

generation in our history, and their transition from small businesses

around the world will create shock waves over the next two decades.

Session 2: Starting the Conversation

Session two is a discussion about how to approach clients and engage

them in a substantive discussion about their transitions. The biggest

single obstacle to appropriate exit-planning is a business owner’s

reluctance to discuss it. You can have the conversation, and have it in a

way that has your client naturally assuming a long term consulting

relationship with you.


Session 3: Utilizing the ExitMap® Analysis & Action Plan

Session three is about setting priorities. Regardless of the changes or

improvements needed to successfully exit, your client needs to

understand what comes first. The ExitMap® ranks tasks by both urgency

and difficulty. Some things don’t take very long, but cause major

disruptions; while others aren’t that difficult but take substantial time.

Session three focuses on helping your client set up a trackable

implementation plan.

Sessions 4 and 5 are key training sessions and where the rubber meets the road. They are detailed

workthroughs of the ExitMap® tool and will take you step by step through a debriefing that ultimately

becomes an engagement.

Session 4: Consulting Opportunities in Finance & Planning

Session four is a question-by-question breakdown of the Finance and

Planning questions from the Assessment. There are recommendations

and suggested tools for effectively utilizing the responses when working

through the ExitMap® Analysis (shared with the client) in the debriefing

process. The ExitMap® Action Plan includes added coaching and

consulting suggestions for the advisor.

Session 5: Consulting Opportunities in Operations & Profit/Revenue

Session five is a question-by-question breakdown of the Operations and

Profit/Revenue questions from the Assessment. As in Session 4, there

are recommendations and suggested tools for effectively utilizing the

responses when working through the ExitMap® Analysis (shared with the

client) in the debriefing process. The ExitMap® Action Plan includes

added coaching and consulting suggestions for the advisor.

.

Session 6: Leading an Exit Planning Team: The Other Professionals

A fully implemented exit plan requires the expertise of several

professionals. The overall process, however, can be led by any member

of the team. Session six focuses on how to identify and approach other

professionals as someone who can provide them with new clients and

new projects, how to plainly stake out those areas you are planning

personally, and where they fit in. Most importantly, there is a discussion

about reciprocation, and becoming their trusted team member for new

clients.


Part III: The Boomer Business Owner (8:27)

In this first session we look closely at your prospective client, the Baby Boomer business owner. Since all

owners between the ages of 50 and 70 years old are Boomers, the odds are pretty good that virtually

everyone you wish to discuss exit strategy with is a Boomer.

We look at your clients in a new and different way, because we’ve found

that understanding a Boomer owner is the first step to understanding how

to approach a ticklish subject. We will cover:

How the Boomers became the most competitive and wealthiest generation in history.

Why the Boomer owner so deeply identifies with his or her business.

Owner reluctance to discuss exit plans.

Starting a substantive conversation, and

Initial, non-sales outreach using ExitMap® Marketing Resources.

Overview:

The sale of any owner managed business is an event that requires time and preparation, and considers both

the operational as well as the psychological impact of transition. Few business owners have fully examined

the business, legal, tax, and market conditions of transferring the business; all of which may have a dramatic

effect on their planning process.

In addition, a recent national survey showed that only a small minority of Baby Boomer business owners

have even had an initial conversation with a trusted advisor regarding their plans for transfer of the business.

The ExitMap® is designed to allow you to be the advisor that starts the conversation. Moreover, in a

multidisciplinary group, the type that is needed for any comprehensive exit plan, someone has to assume the

leadership and coordinator role. This training series will address how to develop that role, and utilize it for

more referrals from other professionals.

Only a few years ago, exit planning was a new term. Since then it has been

adopted by many professionals in their marketing efforts. Unfortunately, in too

many cases it is used to indicate an expertise in only one area of the planning

process. Exit planning is not simply listing the company for sale to a third-party,

or purchasing insurance against the risk of a failed transition, or estate planning,

or wealth management of the post-transfer proceeds.

Top-quality exit planning is a combination of all those skills. It is a complex and

sometimes lengthy process of preparing the business to realize its best value,

structuring a sale to minimize the impacts of taxation, making certain that the

proceeds from an exit are secure, and maintaining the owners control throughout

the process.


Why should exit planning be in the toolbox of every professional who works with business owners? It’s

because the coming wave of Baby Boomer retirements will affect small business ownership in a way that has

been unmatched in our history.

Let’s start with a couple of questions to see how well you understand the magnitude of the Baby Boomer

retirement wave.

Q: What is the current estimate of the TOTAL assets to be

transferred by Baby Boomers?

$700 billion

$5 Trillion

$16 Trillion

$28 Trillion

The answer, over $16 Trillion dollars, which is equivalent to almost an entire year of the US Gross Domestic

Product. Can you imagine the impact if the entire country stopped producing for a year? That’s the amount

of wealth involved with the Boomers’ retirements.

Not only are Baby Boomers the wealthiest generation in history, they are also the largest, equaled only by

the Millennials. Those who are selling businesses will have a dramatic challenge finding buyers, if only

because of the demographics.

Q: By 2017, what will be the net amount of Americans reaching

retirement age (65) over the number of GenXers reaching prime

ownership age (45)?

4,000 each day

10,000 each week

25,000 each month

500,000 each year

Boomers turning 65 will exceed GenXers turning 45 by 4,000 a day by 2017. That is 28,000 each week,

120,000 every month, and almost one and a half million annually for the following decade. That isn’t all the

Boomers, just those for whom there are no replacements.

But in addition to their numbers, Boomers own businesses in a ratio not seen in other generations before or

since before or since.

Q: How much more likely is a Baby Boomer to be a business owner

than members of the preceding or following generations?

50% more likely

80% more likely

120% more likely

250% more likely


That’s right, business owners are two and a half times more common as a percentage of population than

those in other generations, making Baby Boomers the largest, wealthiest and most entrepreneurial

generation of all time.

The Boomers’ Psychology (14:22) Understanding the Baby Boomers is a key to understanding your clients. Everyone is different, but Boomers

share a commonality that is unique to their generation. If you know what drives your clients, you will be better

prepared to assist them.

Let’s start with the basic numbers.

In 1946, GIs returning from World War II began forming families at an

accelerated rate. For most of the 50 years prior, birthrates in America

had ranged from between 2.5 and 2.8 million annually. That exploded

to almost three and a half million in 1946, and grew to over 4 million a

year by 1954.

By 1965, the end of the Baby Boom, those young families had

contributed 78 million new citizens, growing the population in those

two decades from 140 million to over almost million. By 1965, two of

every five people in the United States were under 21 years of age. Today, we would consider that population

curve more appropriate for a third-world nation.

Simultaneous with the population explosion was the introduction and entry of television into the home. The

first networks began broadcasting in 1948, and color television arrived in 1951. The oldest Boomers were

then 6 years old.

Unlike other countries, American television was in the hands of private enterprise, who supported

programming with paid advertising. It didn’t take advertisers very long to figure out that forty percent of all

their viewers were children. For the first time, a generation became a market segment, and children enjoyed

programming targeted specifically to them.

An early genius in marketing directly to children was Walt Disney. He opened

Disneyland in 1955, and in that same year began airing The Mickey Mouse

Club on television. He pioneered merchandising, from Mickey Mouse wrist

watches to Davy Crockett “coonskin” caps.

One measure of his success was the sale of Mickey Mouse Club ears.

Remember, in those days if you wished to purchase a pair of Mouseketeer

ears you had to order them by mail from Disney in Southern California. There

was no Internet. There were no credit cards. There were no 800 numbers.


The only way to get your child a pair of ears was to put cash or a check in an envelope and actually mail it to

California.

Despite what we would today consider as unreasonable obstacles to convenient purchasing, from the late

1950s until the mid-1960s Disney shipped 25,000 pairs of Mouseketeer ears every single day. The consumer

power of the Baby Boomers became the driving force behind multiple billion-dollar industries.

The “Pig in a Python” effect of Boomers as they moved through stages

of life is plain in any number of statistics. From 1966, when the first

Boomers turned 21 years old, through 1975 the number of college

graduations in the United States tripled on an annual basis, going from

600,000 to 1,700,000 in a single decade. This influx of college graduates

into the workforce was far beyond what American business was prepared

to absorb.

But Boomers had been raised to believe that the American dream was their birthright. Facing fierce

competition for spots in top universities and executive-track positions in large corporations, the Baby Boomers

became the most competitive generation in history.

Surrounded by plenty all around them, the Boomers became avid consumers. Their need to show

contemporaries that they had “made it” drove the largest sustained expansion in the American economy for

the next 40 years. With millions shut out of the traditional corporate success ladder by their sheer numbers,

Boomers sought the executive lifestyle by forming new businesses at an astonishing rate.

Between 1975, when the first Boomers turned 30, until 1986, the

formation of new businesses in America jumped from 300,000 to 700,000

annually. By 1990, when the oldest Boomers turned 45, the number of

new business formations had fallen back to 600,000 a year. It has

remained there since. As the nation’s population grew from 190,000,000

to 310,000,000, the number of business startups has remained flat for the

last 25 years. As you will see, many of the dramatic growth curves caused

by the Boomers were one-time events, and have never been repeated.

Although Baby Boomers possessed the competitive desire, they were not born with an entrepreneurial

business gene. Fortunately, in the 1950s a number of natural entrepreneurs had created a new business

model; the turnkey franchise. Led by Harlan Sanders at Kentucky Fried

Chicken, Howard Johnson with his hotels, and Roy Allen and Frank Wright

of A&W root beer, franchisors begin offering start-up businesses with built-in

product, marketing, and operational support.

Franchising was the ideal answer for both the Boomer’s lifestyle and their

ambition. As Boomer parents expanded the average workweek to 54 hours

for college-educated middle managers, they began outsourcing the

household activities that previously occupied their parents’ spare time.


Boomers created the sport of competitive parenting. Gardening, cooking, home repairs, tutoring and sports

coaching were purchased from other Boomers who were running small businesses that specialized in those

skills.

The combination of a ready market of consumers and willing business owners who would work long hours to

serve them, drove new franchise sales in the US from 2,000 a year in 1975 to over 22,000 in 1980. Like

overall business formations, that number flattened out to about 20,000 a year, and has remained there for

the last 35 years.

There is one more startling statistic that illustrates Boomer competitiveness; the entry of women into the

workforce. Boomers didn’t create the two income family, but their quest for success made it the norm.

Between 1970 and 1980, while the population grew by 11%, the US workforce

expanded by almost 30%, and work/life balance became part of our vocabulary.

Surrounded by plenty while being driven by competitive forces, Boomers identified

with what they did and what they owned. Treated as a homogenous market by

advertisers who had unprecedented access to them via media technology, The Baby

Boom generation became the wealthiest and most entrepreneurial in history. Now

they are moving on, and the results will be seismic.

Part IV: The Next Generation (21:54) In 2015, the last Baby Boomers turned 50 years old. They still own some 60% of all the small employers,

(those under 500 employees), in the United States.

They are healthier, and will likely work longer than prior generations, but they still have three and a half million

businesses to sell, or approximately 175,000 a year for the next twenty years. The big question is; who is

going to buy them?

In the movie “The Perfect Storm,” three different fronts combine to create a massive weather event. The three

trends that combine to impact our next generation of business buyers are similar, in that each works to make

the other two more powerful, and the combination of all three will be a shift of historic proportions.

First, there is simple arithmetic. Just as the generation of Boomer business owners hits its peak point with

respect to those reaching retirement age, the following generation’s birth curve takes a deep drop. This fal l-

off in the birthrate was caused by two factors.


The first factor was the decision by two-income Boomer households to

delay child bearing until they had achieved greater financial security. The

second was the legalization of The Pill for birth control in the early 1960s,

making family planning the norm among young families.

As we said earlier, this leaves a gap of 4,000 people a day in the prime

buying age population. Over the next 20 years, Generation X falls short of

replacing the Boomers by some 20 million lives. This is the demographic

storm front.

The second weather front in our perfect storm is psychographic. Baby Boomers complain about the work

ethic of “the younger generation,” but every generation has complained about that since the ancient Greeks

first wrote about it.

The reality is, the generations following the Boomers were brought up in an expanding economy, where the

education and job infrastructure built for the Baby Boom was more than adequate to comfortably

accommodate them.

Younger workers, and even younger entrepreneurs, have little interest in

the 50 hour plus workweeks that are standard for many small business

owners. Their idea of work/life balance pictures a life that isn’t dominated

by the demands of earning a living.

They also expect technology to provide them with flexibility in working

hours and location, which isn’t good news for the millions of service

franchisees whose schedule is determined by customer convenience.

Just as important, these buyers have no money! They were raised in a “buy now, pay later” economy, where

a good credit rating was at least as important as a good income. They graduate from college in debt, and

maximized their lifestyle by borrowing to pay for cars, furniture and vacations. They have little capital to

finance the acquisition of a business.

Finally, there is the sociographic weather front. Boomers aren’t just leaving their businesses, they are retiring

from jobs in all walks of life. Corporate America knows and understands this, and is aggressively acting to

attract new talent.

Corporate executives have listed a coming shortage of skilled employees

as a major concern for almost a decade, but small business owners are

just beginning to figure it out.

Large organizations have always been able to outbid small businesses for

employees. As corporations vie for younger talent, they’ve implemented

benefits that entrepreneurs can’t hope to match. Unlimited paid time off,

family leave, hot-desking, job sharing, telecommuting and educational


sabbaticals are just not practical in a small company. Couple that with the ability to pay highly competitive

salaries, and small business will be hard pressed to keep up.

The sum of the parts leads to an inevitable conclusion. The largest business-owning generation in history is

transferring to one that in both poorly equipped to, and disinterested in taking over. It isn’t a pretty picture for

an unprepared Boomer owner.

Part V: The ExitMap® Tool (26:30)

By now, it should be very clear why the term exit planning is suddenly

enjoying widespread popularity. Unfortunately corporate strategists had

been preparing for this population shift for the last 15 years. Small

business owners are late to the game, and are only just becoming aware

that there is a problem.

Now that you understand why Boomers are the way they are, you are better equipped to overcome the

obstacles when starting a difficult conversation. For most small and midmarket business owners, the sale of

their companies will be the biggest financial event in their lifetimes.

In a recent national survey of business owners by the Business

Enterprise Institute in Golden Colorado, surprisingly few business

owners had discussed any plans to leave the business with their

advisors. Only 13% had had a conversation with their attorney,

and slightly fewer than that had one with their CPA. Even allowing

for minimal overlap, something under one quarter of all owners

had ever engaged in even an opening conversation.

For many, if not most Boomer owners, their ownership of the business is not a factor in their lifetimes, it is

their lifetime. Ownership is a large part of their identity in the business world, in their communities, and in

their families. Considering life after the business is the roadblock because to them, exit planning

conversations are threatening.

The majority of business owners, when asked about their plans to

transfer the company, will answer “I think I’ll sell it in about 5 years.”

Here is some interesting information from a survey done by Price

Waterhouse Coopers in 2008.

As the survey shows, 85% of all business owners say that they plan to

sell the company to a third party in the next 5 years. When PWC drilled

down by age they found out that 85% of the 60-year-olds plan to sell in

5 years, 85% of the 65-year-olds plan to sell in 5 years, and 85% of the

70-year-olds plan to sell in 5 years.


As an advisor, you need to understand that when a business owner says “I’ll just sell it to someone in the

next 5 years,” he or she is really saying “I have no idea. I haven’t thought much about it, but I expect these

years of hard work to be worth something, so it will all work out.”

Here is a news flash: That is not an exit plan.

Note also that the survey shows most owners believe they will find a third party buyer who will acquire their

business. Most, in fact, combine their ignorance of the demographic, psychographic and sociographic trends

all into one sentence when they say something like “I’ll just work until I’m tired, and then I’ll find some

ambitious and hardworking young entrepreneur who wants a great opportunity, and who will fund my

retirement by cashing me out of my business.”

Make no mistake, if that idea, or something like it, is what your client has in mind, he or she will be much

better off spending their income on lottery tickets. Their odds are probably better.

Clearly, a business owner who responds with “I think I’ll sell the company in about 5 years.” Is giving no

answer at all. But with the ExitMap®, you have a tool that will allow you to continue the conversation with a

broad overview of the company’s preparedness to sell.

Having this conversation is a critical service to your clients. In this session we’ve shown you how and why

the vast majority of Baby Boomer business owners are completely unprepared for the inevitable competitive

buyers’ market.

In subsequent sessions, we will discuss how best to use the ExitMap® with your clients, how to follow up,

how to analyze and deliver the findings in the ExitMap® Analysis, which is only available to advisors, and how

to build a team of professionals that will lead to more referrals and expanded consulting revenue.

Best of all, you will be providing a service that your business owner

clients desperately need. By taking the lead in the conversation,

you will be key in helping them prepare for the largest financial

event of their lives.

It doesn’t matter what your professional discipline is; whether you

are an accountant, an attorney, Financial Planner or a business

consultant. You will be able to choose the work you feel qualified to handle, and direct others in providing the

scope of professional services needed for a quality exit plan.

Part VI: Review (31:22)

Let’s review what we’ve learned about the largest market opportunity for professional advice over the next

15 to 20 years.


Baby Boomers 50 and older own almost 60% of the private businesses in the United States. That equates to nearly 3 and a half million small and midmarket businesses that will transition in the next 2 decades.

Over three quarters of business owners say they have not had an exit planning conversation with their key advisors.

85% of retirement-age business owners have a vague, and totally mistaken impression that they will somehow sell their business and fund their retirement in the next 5 years.

Baby Boomers identify closely with their ownership role, and have difficulty visualizing the future without it. Therefore, almost 75% off them choose not to discuss it.

The five years that most owners use as the timeframe for exit is a minimal amount of time when it comes to executing plan that really provides full financial benefit.

The next generation of buyers is demographically, psycho-graphically, and socio-graphically unlikely to buy the majority of Boomer owned businesses.

Today, four out of five businesses that are listed for sale fail to sell. That batting average is only going to get worse.

A highly competitive buyers’ market is inevitable.

As a trusted advisor, you will serve your client best by helping him or her prepare for what is coming.

Preparing Your Clients (33:10)

Here is what you can do to begin this conversation with the appropriate clients:

Provide copies of Beating the Boomer Bust to clients whom you feel should begin an exit planning conversation. This 45 page e-book is a light, and in some ways nostalgic, look at the coming issues facing exiting owners.

You can download Beating the Boomer Bust for free from the ExitMap® Marketing Resources for Affiliates on the ExitMap® website. You can choose between a version sized to use when sending printed copies (8.5 x 11) or a smaller-page version formatted for electronic submission and designed for e-readers (5.5 x 8.5).

Send copies either electronically or by mail to your clients. Attach a note that shows your interest in them without making any sales pitch. Make it plain that the client doesn’t need to take action right now (although some will.) A simple “I thought you would be really interested in this. Call me if you’d like to discuss it.” is enough to start things for many people.

Documents

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