Test Your Assumptions About Exit Options

Five years ago we met with the owner of a successful business who told us he wanted to exit in the next few years. When asked if he knew who he wanted to sell the business to, he responded: “I guess I will sell to a third-party buyer”. He didn’t at all seem excited about that, so with further questioning, we learned that he was moving ahead under the assumption that a sale to a third-party was his only option.