Resource Search

While entrepreneurs are intently focused on building their businesses, they may have less time to spend on building, sustaining, and distributing their wealth. Given the importance of early wealth planning and its long-term impact, this guidebook provides insights and tools at each stage of the entrepreneur’s journey to help them move forward from growth to exit to reinvention.

Entrepreneurs and business owners often put off wealth planning because they’re so busy with their businesses. Yet, wealth planning is a crucial part of protecting everything they’ve worked so hard for. That’s because their personal and business finances can be interconnected, but they aren’t always at the same stage of growth. This guide by BMO outlines a few key phases for entrepreneurs to consider where wealth planning can really prove its worth, including growing their business, protecting their livelihood, and planning their exit.

For business owners and their advisors, it’s probably not surprising that buying another company or other assets requires moving with speed and diligence. But gaining an edge—and winning—on the buy side is a bit more complicated. Effective companies tend to deploy a series of purposeful tactics and avoid common mistakes when pursuing acquisitions. This article by William Blair & Company outlines five tactics to implement and five mistakes to avoid for any company considering an acquisition.

Effective pre-liquidity planning is always important for a business owner considering a business sale, exit, or other transaction. But several recent and upcoming developments—related to estate laws, small-business tax exemptions, residency trends, philanthropic endeavors, and high interest rates—make 2024 a uniquely challenging year. This article by William Blair outlines why these developments are particularly salient for founder-owned companies and offers guidance specifically tailored for them in the run-up to a liquidity event.

While the market for private sales has slowed, private equity companies have record amounts of dry powder they need to put to work—for the right companies, this may be the ideal time to explore a business sale or capital raise. In this podcast episode of Business Insights, Terry Hill, Partner in BPM’s Advisory Practice, is joined by Tara Smith Kacher, Managing Director at Cowen Inc. Together, they discuss what strategic buyers are looking for and how companies can best position themselves for M&A transactions.

No matter what stage of the business cycle you are in, you should always have a defined strategy for your business operations and potential exit. For many family business owners, the sale of their business will be the single largest transaction of their lives. Yet many enter this transaction not fully prepared. To ensure you maximize your sale, there are eight key items to consider before commencing a business sale, beginning with understanding what your business is actually worth in the marketplace and knowing the difference between the business value and the enterprise value.