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Preparing yourself and your family can be one of the most overlooked parts of a business sale and exit strategy. But it goes beyond maximizing tax efficiency and unlocking newfound wealth—it’s a monumental transition filled with emotional considerations. This article outlines key questions and critical areas of considerations for business owners and provides a hypothetical case study of how a company founder can maximize after-tax proceeds from a sale.

“You only sell your company once” is a phrase founder/family-owned business leaders often hear before embarking on a major liquidity event. It demonstrates the enormity of the undertaking to effectively sell a business. Ensuring your company is prepared for a sale is crucial to any exit strategy, and should be considered long before beginning a sale process. This article outlines key questions that business owners should expect and aspire to have answers to leading up to a liquidity, followed by four critical focus areas that are important for them to consider.

If you’re considering a sale of a business, listen in on this 10-minute interview for some valuable potential tax-savings strategies. Attorneys Jason Kohout and Stephanie Derks also discuss income and estate tax planning opportunities, especially for business owners who are in a high income tax state.

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.

Leaders of founder-owned businesses embarking on a liquidity event often have never been through a sale process or conducted a formal capital raise. It’s a complex process—so they often turn to outside advisors for guidance.

When selling your business, choosing the right team of advisors can make or break the deal. Some business owners may question whether to hire an investment bank to help with the transaction—perhaps to save on transaction fees or because there is already a specific buyer in mind. Before deciding to “go it alone,” consider the quantifiable value and 10 benefits of hiring an investment bank. A list of 8 key items is also provided to help you choose the right investment bank for your business.