{"id":424,"date":"2020-03-31T12:15:14","date_gmt":"2020-03-31T12:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/?p=424"},"modified":"2023-10-03T21:40:15","modified_gmt":"2023-10-03T21:40:15","slug":"ten-questions-every-business-owner-should-understand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/ten-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten Questions Every Business Owner Should Understand"},"content":{"rendered":"

The funny thing about planning- it is often most useful when it is performed\u00a0before<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>you need it. If you were going to sell your home, wouldn\u2019t you plan out a number of critical elements first?\u00a0 When is the best time to sell?\u00a0 What do I need to fix to maximize the value?\u00a0 Who will I list it for sale with? This same logic is true with a business but is much more complicated, time consuming, will take far longer than selling a home and there are many more options to choose from.\u00a0 I am going to detail a number of questions every business owner needs to consider now– in order to have a successful exit– whenever that may be.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u00a0What do you wish to\u00a0accomplish<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0from the exit strategy from your business?\u00a0 You went into business in the first place to accomplish certain goals for your life.\u00a0 You need to think about an exit in the same way.\u00a0 Goals are the foundation of any successful strategy and they are no different with an exit.<\/li>\n
  2. Do you know the\u00a0range of values<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0for your business?\u00a0 Unlike a house which normally sells within a range of the listing price.\u00a0 A business can and does have a number of wide ranging values based upon the method of transfer of ownership.\u00a0 An outright sale to a synergistic buyer will provide the highest value, whereas a gift to family will provide the lowest.<\/li>\n
  3. Do you understand all the options available to you with an exit strategy?\u00a0 Owners of privately held business normally have\u00a05 options<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0available to them.\u00a0 They include; a sale; a gift; a recapitalization; an ESOP or a sale to management.<\/li>\n
  4. Have you calculated the\u00a0risk factors<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0of your business?\u00a0 It is important for you as the owner, who has lived with your business for many years to understand how a third party would view the risk of owning your business.\u00a0 Ultimately any investment is priced based upon the perceived risk to the buyer.<\/li>\n
  5. Have you developed\u00a0an income replacement strategy<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0to satisfy your lifestyle after the business exit?\u00a0 Do you have a personal financial plan?<\/li>\n
  6. Have you considered the\u00a0taxes and fees<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0due at closing, and beyond?\u00a0 If you approach the exit of your business with the idea that you will know the right deal when you see it and do not properly plan the type of deal you wish and understand the cost of each option, you will end up chasing deals that are liable not to close.\u00a0 If you clearly know the dollars necessary to satisfy your post exit lifestyle, you will be in a better position to know the right deal when you see it.<\/li>\n
  7. Do you know that deal structuring can have a serious impact on the\u00a0net, after tax amount<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0that you receive for your shares?\u00a0 With any exit there are many variations that may occur.\u00a0 Are you selling shares or assets?\u00a0 Is it cash up front or structured over time?<\/li>\n
  8. Are you aware of the\u00a0estate tax<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0consequences to your business and other assets?\u00a0 In the absence of proper planning, estate taxes can cut deeply into the pie.\u00a0 Should you not plan for the exit of your business and the business needs to be sold at a fire sale price you can lose twice, once with estate taxes and secondly with a reduced sale value of your largest asset.<\/li>\n
  9. Have you identified the\u00a0legal agreements<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0you will need to sign to complete the transaction?\u00a0 Agreements can include a sale or asset transfers, non-complete, escrow and loan agreements along with potential consulting arrangements.\u00a0\u00a0 The more you understand the deal you are entering the better prepared to close you will be.<\/li>\n
  10. Have you chosen a\u00a0service provider<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0to manage the transaction? This is probably the largest single transaction you will execute.\u00a0 Do you know the advisory team you wish to employ?\u00a0 Do you need a local business broker or a larger M&A firm?\u00a0 The right real estate agent will help you maximize the sale price of your house; the same is true for an exit strategy.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Your business is probably the largest single asset you own.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it worth spending the time necessary to properly think out your own goals and develop an appropriate exit strategy?\u00a0 As a partner with\u00a0B2B CFO\u00ae<\/strong>\u00a0I am well prepared to help you develop these goals and plan for their successful achievement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The funny thing about planning- it is often most useful when it is performed\u00a0before\u00a0you need it. If you were going to sell your home, wouldn\u2019t you plan out a number of critical elements first?\u00a0 When is the best time to sell?\u00a0 What do I need to fix to maximize the value?\u00a0 Who will I list…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTen Questions Every Business Owner Should Understand - Phil Elworth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The funny thing about planning- it is often most useful when it is performed\u00a0before\u00a0you need it.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/ten-questions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ten Questions Every Business Owner Should Understand - Phil Elworth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The funny thing about planning- it is often most useful when it is performed\u00a0before\u00a0you need it.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/ten-questions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Phil Elworth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-03-31T12:15:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-03T21:40:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Phil Elworth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Phil Elworth\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.b2bcfo.com\\\/phil-elworth\\\/ten-questions\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.b2bcfo.com\\\/phil-elworth\\\/ten-questions\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Phil Elworth\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.b2bcfo.com\\\/phil-elworth\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6585505d66d139017e90b92155c4ce7d\"},\"headline\":\"Ten Questions Every Business Owner Should Understand\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-03-31T12:15:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-03T21:40:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.b2bcfo.com\\\/phil-elworth\\\/ten-questions\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":742,\"commentCount\":0,\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.b2bcfo.com\\\/phil-elworth\\\/ten-questions\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.b2bcfo.com\\\/phil-elworth\\\/ten-questions\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.b2bcfo.com\\\/phil-elworth\\\/ten-questions\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ten Questions Every Business Owner Should Understand - Phil Elworth\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.b2bcfo.com\\\/phil-elworth\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-03-31T12:15:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-03T21:40:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.b2bcfo.com\\\/phil-elworth\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6585505d66d139017e90b92155c4ce7d\"},\"description\":\"The funny thing about planning- it is often most useful when it is performed\u00a0before\u00a0you need it.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.b2bcfo.com\\\/phil-elworth\\\/ten-questions\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.b2bcfo.com\\\/phil-elworth\\\/ten-questions\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.b2bcfo.com\\\/phil-elworth\\\/ten-questions\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.b2bcfo.com\\\/phil-elworth\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ten Questions Every Business Owner Should Understand\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.b2bcfo.com\\\/phil-elworth\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.b2bcfo.com\\\/phil-elworth\\\/\",\"name\":\"Phil Elworth\",\"description\":\"B2B CFO\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.b2bcfo.com\\\/phil-elworth\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.b2bcfo.com\\\/phil-elworth\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6585505d66d139017e90b92155c4ce7d\",\"name\":\"Phil Elworth\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b557073e8248d5333ae7508bc4e91ac098f0c00795328809e74097b57f569791?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b557073e8248d5333ae7508bc4e91ac098f0c00795328809e74097b57f569791?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b557073e8248d5333ae7508bc4e91ac098f0c00795328809e74097b57f569791?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Phil Elworth\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.b2bcfo.com\\\/phil-elworth\\\/author\\\/pelworth\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ten Questions Every Business Owner Should Understand - Phil Elworth","description":"The funny thing about planning- it is often most useful when it is performed\u00a0before\u00a0you need it.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/ten-questions\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ten Questions Every Business Owner Should Understand - Phil Elworth","og_description":"The funny thing about planning- it is often most useful when it is performed\u00a0before\u00a0you need it.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/ten-questions\/","og_site_name":"Phil Elworth","article_published_time":"2020-03-31T12:15:14+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-10-03T21:40:15+00:00","author":"Phil Elworth","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Phil Elworth","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/ten-questions\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/ten-questions\/"},"author":{"name":"Phil Elworth","@id":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/#\/schema\/person\/6585505d66d139017e90b92155c4ce7d"},"headline":"Ten Questions Every Business Owner Should Understand","datePublished":"2020-03-31T12:15:14+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-03T21:40:15+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/ten-questions\/"},"wordCount":742,"commentCount":0,"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/ten-questions\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/ten-questions\/","url":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/ten-questions\/","name":"Ten Questions Every Business Owner Should Understand - Phil Elworth","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-03-31T12:15:14+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-03T21:40:15+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/#\/schema\/person\/6585505d66d139017e90b92155c4ce7d"},"description":"The funny thing about planning- it is often most useful when it is performed\u00a0before\u00a0you need it.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/ten-questions\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/ten-questions\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/ten-questions\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ten Questions Every Business Owner Should Understand"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/","name":"Phil Elworth","description":"B2B CFO","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/#\/schema\/person\/6585505d66d139017e90b92155c4ce7d","name":"Phil Elworth","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b557073e8248d5333ae7508bc4e91ac098f0c00795328809e74097b57f569791?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b557073e8248d5333ae7508bc4e91ac098f0c00795328809e74097b57f569791?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b557073e8248d5333ae7508bc4e91ac098f0c00795328809e74097b57f569791?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Phil Elworth"},"url":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/author\/pelworth\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11599,"href":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424\/revisions\/11599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.b2bcfo.com\/phil-elworth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}