Whether you are growing your business, planning your own retirement runway, or preparing for an eventual exit, the financial decisions you make today determine what you keep tomorrow. We work with small business owners at every stage.
Business exit planning sits at the intersection of enterprise value, tax structure, personal financial planning, and the life you want after the sale. We work with small business owners in Destin, along 30A, and nationwide whose wealth is concentrated in a single operating business and whose eventual transition deserves more planning time than most owners give it. Todd Sensing holds the Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) designation, and our process coordinates the business decisions, the investment structure that follows the liquidity event, and the retirement planning that the sale proceeds have to fund.
Most advisors focus on the exit. We start with the business you are running right now. The same tax strategy, retirement plan, and cash flow decisions that make your business more profitable also make it more valuable when the time comes to sell.
Solo 401(k), SEP IRA, SIMPLE IRA, or defined benefit plan, each with different contribution limits, tax treatment, and administrative burden. We match the plan to your income pattern, employee count, and long-term goals.
Salary vs. distribution splits, reasonable compensation analysis, S-corp election timing, and quarterly estimated tax planning. Small adjustments compound into meaningful savings over the life of a business.
Operating reserves, line of credit strategy, and separating personal from business liquidity. We help you build a cash management framework so you are not constantly reinvesting everything back into the business.
LLC, S-corp, partnership, or sole proprietorship: the right structure depends on liability, taxes, and your growth plan. We coordinate with your CPA and attorney to make sure the structure still fits.
Estate planning, education funding, investment management, and the life outside the business. Your personal balance sheet needs attention even while the business demands everything.
When can you afford to step back? What does the glide path look like? We model the transition from business income to portfolio income so you can see the runway clearly, whether retirement is 3 years out or 15.
A practical framework for building your retirement runway while you are still running the business. Covers plan selection, contribution strategies, tax coordination, and the transition from business income to portfolio income.
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Research cited by the Exit Planning Institute has suggested that business owners can lose 30-40% of potential value in poorly planned exits due to taxes, deal structure, and preparation gaps.* We coordinate taxes, structure, timing, and post-sale wealth so the liquidity event actually changes your life.
Structuring an asset vs. stock sale, installment agreements, and opportunity zone placement can cost you six figures in avoidable taxes.
Market conditions, business multiples, and your personal timeline rarely align. Getting it right requires years of planning.
Internal transitions, ownership concentration, and family dynamics add layers of planning that most advisors skip.
Your entire net worth is often in the business. The exit is your only chance to diversify and build real resilience.
Stay bonuses, earnouts, and deferred compensation structures determine how much you actually net from the sale.
Letting go of something you built is hard. Smart planning makes the transition to investor, not just the transaction.
Valuation, tax structure, compensation planning, and timing set the foundation. Decisions made years before the sale determine how much you keep.
Asset vs. stock analysis, installment strategies, opportunity zones, and charitable planning. We model every tax consequence so you understand real economics.
Sudden liquidity is its own problem. We guide investment of proceeds, estate restructuring, income replacement, and the transition from operator to investor.
Financial statements capture only a fraction of what buyers pay for. These four intangible capitals often determine whether your business commands a premium or a discount.
The knowledge, skills, and relationships locked in your team. Buyers pay less when key-person risk is high and more when institutional knowledge is documented and distributed.
Revenue concentration, contract quality, and customer lifetime value. A diversified, recurring revenue base with low churn signals a business that runs without the owner.
Brand reputation, industry positioning, and strategic relationships. Acquirers pay premiums for businesses with moats built on trust, reputation, and network effects.
Proprietary systems, processes, IP, and data. Businesses with documented, transferable operating systems are worth multiples more than those running on tribal knowledge.
Score your business across five readiness dimensions. Select the answer that best fits, then rate it 1-6 using the Common Sense Scale. Your overall score maps to an attractiveness band that indicates how prepared your business is for a successful exit.
This questionnaire is modeled from the Exit Planning Institute "Set for Life" framework and is provided for educational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice, a business valuation, an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation of any kind. Results are self-reported and unverified. Your actual exit readiness depends on factors this tool cannot assess. Consult qualified legal, tax, and financial professionals before making business exit decisions. Full disclosures
Enter your info below to access the full 25-question Set for Life Questionnaire.
Your results will be emailed to you when you complete the questionnaire. We will not share your information.
Your score highlights where to focus before going to market. A CEPA-certified advisor can help you close the gaps and capture full value.
Discuss Your ResultsThis assessment is an educational planning tool modeled from the Exit Planning Institute "Set for Life" framework and is not affiliated with or endorsed by EPI. It does not estimate business value, generate investment advice, or constitute a recommendation of any kind. Scores are based entirely on self-reported answers and have not been verified. Your actual exit readiness depends on business-specific, legal, tax, and market factors that this tool cannot assess. Consult qualified legal, tax, and financial professionals before making any business exit decisions. FamilyVest is a trade name used by Todd Sensing, an investment adviser representative of Farther Finance Advisors, LLC (CRD #302050), an SEC-registered investment adviser. Full disclosures
The economics of a business exit are set years before the deal closes. These are the decisions that determine how much of the enterprise value you actually keep, and what the transition feels like on the other side.
Most owners have a number in mind. It is almost always wrong, in one direction or the other. A market-supported valuation starts with the right multiple for the industry and adjusts for the specific attributes of the business: customer concentration, recurring revenue, management depth, documented systems, capital intensity, and growth trajectory. The gap between a business with owner dependency and one with a functioning management team often shows up as a meaningful multiple expansion. Identifying the drivers that move the multiple, and the ones that cap it, is the work that happens three to five years before a sale rather than in the final quarter. We work with owners to understand where their business actually sits in the valuation range and which operational changes have the largest enterprise-value impact per unit of effort.
Deal structure changes the tax answer, the risk profile, and the timing of cash in the owner's hands. Asset sales often favor the buyer on depreciation and generally result in ordinary-income treatment on a portion of the consideration, depending on the asset mix and entity type. Stock sales tend to favor the seller on capital gains treatment but may limit the buyer's step-up in basis. Installment sales can spread the gain across multiple tax years but introduce buyer credit risk. Earnouts, rollover equity, and seller notes each shift some of the economics from certain to contingent. We work alongside the owner's CPA and transaction attorney to model the after-tax economics of competing structures before the letter of intent is signed, not after.
The buyer type changes almost every variable in the deal. Strategic buyers typically pay for synergies and are willing to stretch on price when the fit is right. Private equity pays for cash flow and growth potential, often with a rollover equity component and a second bite at the apple three to seven years later. Management buyouts preserve culture and continuity but typically require seller financing. Family transitions preserve legacy but rarely optimize price. ESOPs provide tax-deferral benefits for the seller and continuity for employees but add administrative complexity. None of these is universally better. Each fits a different owner profile, business type, and set of personal goals. We help owners think through the trade-offs well before the investment banker is on the phone.
Business readiness is only half the equation. Personal readiness determines whether the exit actually delivers the life the owner imagined. The Exit Planning Institute frames this as the Five Capitals: financial, human, social, structural, and customer. The owner's side of the ledger centers on financial capital (is there enough to replace the business income) and human capital (what do you do on Monday morning after the deal closes). Owners who skip the human-capital work often regret the sale within 18 months. We use the Five Capitals framework as the organizing structure for the planning conversation, and we build realistic models around the financial-capital side so owners walk into a deal knowing what number actually makes them "set for life."
A lump sum of sale proceeds is a different kind of balance sheet than the one the owner has been running for decades. The operating business was a concentrated, high-return, high-risk asset. The portfolio that replaces it needs to generate sustainable income across potentially a multi-decade retirement with a very different risk profile. The first 18 months after a sale are where mistakes concentrate: over-concentrated positions, emotional reinvestment, tax drag from poorly sequenced liquidations, and real estate or alternative investment purchases that lock up liquidity. We build the proceeds allocation, the tax-year sequencing, and the income plan before the wire comes in, not after.
A business exit almost always requires an estate plan rewrite. The asset that dominated the balance sheet becomes a portfolio of liquid and illiquid investments, and the plan built around the business (buy-sell agreements, entity-level succession provisions, business-specific insurance, and sometimes business-holding trusts) no longer fits. Pre-sale planning also opens windows that close after the deal: gifting interests before a valuation event, freezing estate values through grantor trusts, and charitable structures that reduce the taxable gain while funding long-term philanthropy. We coordinate with the owner's estate attorney to make sure the pre-sale and post-sale estate plans are intentional rather than accidental.
Common mistakes in exit planning and how to avoid them with strategic preparation.
Valuation methods, multiples, and how to maximize enterprise value before sale.
Structuring compensation, managing cash flow, and building wealth beyond the business.
Due diligence preparation, financial documentation, and timing your exit for maximum value.
Structuring an asset vs. stock sale, installment agreements, and opportunity zone placement can meaningfully change the net after-tax proceeds. The right structure depends on the business type, the buyer's preferences, and the owner's personal tax situation. Planning years in advance allows the owner to optimize the tax consequences and keep more of what was built.
Market conditions, business multiples, and personal timing rarely align. Most successful exits begin planning three to five years in advance. Decisions made about valuation preparation, tax structure, and timing set the foundation for how much the owner actually keeps from the sale.
Sudden liquidity is its own problem. When an owner's entire net worth has been in the business, the exit is the first opportunity to diversify and build real resilience. We work through investment of proceeds, estate restructuring, income replacement, and the transition from operator to investor so the sale actually changes the owner's life.
Asset vs. stock analysis depends on the business structure, the buyer's preferences, and tax efficiency. A stock sale may be simpler, but an asset sale often provides better tax positioning. We model the tax consequences so the owner understands the real economics of each approach before the deal is finalized.
Tell us about the business, your timeline, and what you want the post-exit chapter to look like. We take notes. We ask questions. We do not start with a sales script.
Not every business owner needs what we do, and not every situation is a fit for how we work. If we are not the right advisor, we will tell you and point you toward someone who is.
Value-driver analysis, deal-structure modeling, pre-sale tax and estate coordination, proceeds allocation, and post-sale income planning. You will know what the work looks like and what it costs before you decide to engage.
The first conversation is free. If you decide to engage us, we work on a flat-fee retainer. If you decide not to, you leave with a clearer picture of where you stand either way.
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Retirement plans, tax-efficient compensation, and runway modeling for business owners still in the game.
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