You’ve built your business like a master craftsman—now it’s time to plan your handoff. Doescher Group CFO, Kevin Rogner shares how business owners, specifially those in construction and trades, can create a step-by-step exit strategy that protects value, rewards key people, and ensures a smooth transition into the next chapter.

How prepared are you for the future state of your business? How ready is your business to transfer to a new owner? Regardless of the option that best suits you and your business, you’ll likely need to spend a lot of time seeking out information and guidance on the process. When the initial study was done in 2013, less than 40% of all owners surveyed said that they had an understanding of their exit options. In 2023, that number rose to 70%.

You’ve accomplished everything you set out to do; probably more. Now you’re ready to exit the business you’ve built from the ground up,

After reviewing your options, you’ve determined the best decision is to run a formal sale process to fetch the best offer for your company. Under this scenario, for a variety of reasons more than ever before, your most likely buyer will be a “financial buyer”. Let me tell you who this buyer is, and what they are looking for in your business.

Do you know what your business is worth? As an owner, you might have an idea in your head about what it could or should be worth. Maybe your competitor recently sold their business, and you heard how much it sold for. Perhaps you have done some tax planning. You may have even been approached about selling your business or even received an offer. Whether you're considering selling your business, seeking investment, or simply want to understand its worth, a “limited business valuation” can be a tremendous resource.

The intention during our Exit Audit is to learn the story of your business over the course of interviewing those that built it or have become essential in running it.

Hearing the stories of how it came to be, the factors that cause customers to remain loyal, and the plans for the future.

How did you get to where you are today and how will you reach those future goals you have plans for? That’s what we get to discuss.

The interview portion isn’t an interrogation, it’s a conversation. A conversation that allows us to paint a vibrant picture of your company and its potential.

So much of the value in your business is built on the qualitative data we learn about in the interviews.

Starting small now will inevitably lead to exponential changes in the value of your business in the future. Warren Buffett did not wake up in his 50s and decide he would be rich. He started making small decisions as a young boy and these accumulated into his financial success in his 50s. A FieldReady™ Assessment creates a road map of the things you can start doing today, without interrupting everything you’ve got going on.

It’s not time to ride off into the sunset and sell your company yet, but it’s coming and you find yourself wondering what you can do now to prepare for the inevitable future–the sale of your company.

Here at Doescher Group we work with business owners to ensure you make the most of your once in a lifetime opportunity to sell your business, by helping you position yourself and your business for exit in order to send you confidently into life’s next adventure.

Here are three tips for successfully selling your business to get you started.

The biggest, most impactful decision most founders and business owners will make is also the decision they seem to avoid the longest. How will you exit your business? Here at Doescher Group, we help you face that question on your terms.

You’re human and that means this will not go on forever.

As an entrepreneur, you successfully ignored this thought for decades. You’ve spent your career engrossed in the present. You’ve spent your time solving today’s problems. Even now, you cannot take a 30-minute meeting without receiving at least a few calls from needy customers and befuddled employees.

Reality cannot be denied any longer. There’s a thrill that comes from being so indispensable and in the flow of the day-to-day, but it’s time to start thinking about your next act before it’s too late.

You are a business owner. But when you arrive at the office in the morning, I’m guessing you arrive as an employee. You might be the highest ranking employee, but you’re an employee nonetheless. You have job duties and responsibilities that need to get done in order for the business to function properly. You draw a salary like everyone else. And the fact that you happen to own the company’s stock does not factor into the reality of your daily work life.

If you feel uneducated and unconfident about your business’s valuation, join the club. You are a business owner, not a business transactions specialist.

While anecdotes can serve as legitimate inputs to establishing the value of your firm, let’s learn about how buyer’s approach value in today’s marketplace.

You may be like most business owners. Your business is your passion and hobby. Sure, you enjoy R&R. You like golf and travel, but you feel most alive at the helm of your business, not on a yacht in the islands.

But if you want to find your next act, you’re going to need to do some self examination to figure this out. If golf and travel do not sound like an enticing retirement, you will want to find something that is.

It’s your business and you’ve always managed it this way. You’ve gotten a certain glee out of minimizing your income taxes. Over the years you’ve employed two common “strategies'' of closely held business owners: under-reporting cash sales and classifying personal expenses as business expenses.

While these actions are illegal under US law, you’ve dealt with that moral conflict long ago in your head. Either way, this piece is not about the legal, ethical, or moral questions of such strategies. Let’s instead discuss how these strategies may impact your exit plan.