ExitReadiness®️ PODCAST

Most business owners who receive unsolicited investor outreach have no idea how to evaluate it — which ones are serious, which are fishing for information, and how to respond in a way that protects their interests without burning a potentially valuable relationship. Mark Gartner, Managing Director at RLH Equity Partners, a private equity firm focused on knowledge-led B2B services businesses, joins...

Performance management is one of the most contentious topics in leadership — and one of the most consequential for business owners building toward an exit. Sarah Goelitz, leadership consultant and founder of Sarah Goelitz Consulting, rejoins Pat for a direct and honest conversation about whether formal performance management actually works, what it tends to get wrong, and what effective accountabi...

Tax minimization is a reflex for most business owners — but not every tax-saving strategy that makes sense during the life of the business makes sense in the context of a future exit. In this episode, Pat and Walter take on one of the most important and counterintuitive conversations in exit planning: the ways that aggressive income tax strategies can actually reduce your enterprise value, complic...

For business owners with charitable intent, donating business interests before a sale can be one of the most tax-advantaged decisions they make — but it requires careful planning and expert guidance to execute correctly. Laurie Roche, Vice President in Fidelity Charitable's Complex Assets Group, and Glenn Garbutt, Vice President and Charitable Planning Consultant with Fidelity Charitable, join Pat...

AI is already changing how businesses are built, operated, and sold — and the business owners who understand this shift will build more valuable companies than those who don't. Andre Yee, Founder and CEO of Tiga AI and a serial entrepreneur who helped grow Eloqua from $15M ARR to an Oracle acquisition for approximately $1 billion, joins Pat and Walter at the frontier of AI-driven selling. Andre ex...

Verne Harnish has spent four decades helping some of the world's fastest-growing companies scale — and he has studied what actually drives enterprise value more deeply than almost anyone in the field. Founder of the Entrepreneurs' Organization, CEO of Scaling Up (Gazelles), and author of Scaling Up and Mastering the Rockefeller Habits, Verne joins Pat and Walter to share four key ways companies ca...

Technology implementation is one of the most misunderstood pre-exit decisions a business owner can make — the right moves add value and buyer confidence, while the wrong ones create risk, disruption, and complexity that shows up in due diligence at the worst possible time. Mac Lillard, CPA/ABV/CITP, CIA, CFE, Senior Manager of Risk & Advisory Services at GRF CPAs & Advisors, rejoins Pat an...

Business owners who understand the risk landscape facing them in the years ahead can build stronger, more resilient companies — and more attractive acquisition targets. Melissa Musser, CPA, CIA, Partner and Director of Risk & Advisory Services at GRF CPAs & Advisors, joins Pat and Walter to map out the top forecasted risks for 2024 and beyond. From cybersecurity and technology risk to econ...

Identifying a successor is one thing. Equipping them to actually succeed as an owner is something else entirely — and most succession plans leave this critical step underdeveloped. In this episode, Pat and Walter focus on one of the most practical and often overlooked dimensions of succession planning: what it actually takes to prepare a management team member, family member, or key employee to st...

A business that depends on the owner to function — because the processes live in the owner's head rather than in documented systems — is not a transferable business. Jason Henderberg, founder of Henderberg Business Solutions in Webster, New York, and a 30-year veteran of operational and leadership consulting with credentials including Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and ISO-9001 Auditor, joins Pat to ma...

DISCLAIMER: The information in this presentation is provided as education only, with the understanding that neither the presenter nor ENNIS Legacy Partners or GRF CPAs & Advisors is engaged to render legal, accounting, or other professional services. If you require legal advice or other expert assistance, you should seek the services of a competent professional. Neither the presenter nor ENNIS...

If you’re a regular listener, you know we are agnostic as to which exit route an owner chooses – we work to help them decide which exit route most aligns with their goals. And that can be an ESOP, sale to co-owners or management, a transfer to children or family members or a sale to a third party. And when a third party sale is the right option…we want to do all we can to prepare an owner for the...

If you listen to us regularly you’ve heard us talk about the importance of an objective estimate of business value for planning your eventual exit and for this purpose you really do not need a qualified or certified valuation. However, there are certain situations where a certified valuation is advisable if not required. And, it’s not unusual for one of our business owner clients to have one of th...

A key driver of business value and a successful exit is what we would call a “next level management team". A management team that can take the business to the next few levels of growth. You’ve heard many times on this podcast that the less central an owner is to the business the more valuable and attractive their business will be to potential buyers. And if an owner is to be less central they need...

Want to learn more? Go to: ennislp.com DISCLAIMER: The information in this presentation is provided as education only, with the understanding that neither the presenter nor ENNIS Legacy Partners or GRF CPAs & Advisors is engaged to render legal, accounting, or other professional services. If you require legal advice or other expert assistance, you should seek the services of a competent profes...

Today we want to discuss producing great results that would lend toward maximizing business value during tough times. If you’re a business owner long enough you will at some point hit a tough patch which could be do to either internal or external factors or both. And it can be tough to remain focused and keep your eye on your long term strategy and goals to maximize business value. Want to learn m...

In our last episode with Tim Van Miegham of The Proaction Group, we discussed “What Will Private Equity Buyers Want to Know About Your Company BEFORE They Write the Check?” As we mentioned in our opening last time, there are pros and cons in selling to a private equity firm versus a strategic buyer, and that’s what we are going to talk about today, “The Advantages of a Private Equity Deal” Want to...

There are pros and cons in selling to a private equity firm versus a strategic buyer which we are not going to get into here today. But one thing Private Equity firms are known for is how thorough they can be in performing due diligence on a business they are interested in acquiring. Want to learn more? Go to: ennislp.com DISCLAIMER: The information in this presentation is provided as education on...

In today’s conversation we want to focus on a specific area that if strengthened, you will more enjoy life in the business while at the same time increase the value of the business making it more transferable or sellable. And if you have a transferable business you will have more options for your eventual exit. Want to learn more? Go to: ennislp.com DISCLAIMER: The information in this presentation...

In today’s conversation we want to focus on a specific area that if strengthened, you will more enjoy life in the business while at the same time increase the value of the business making it more transferable or sellable. And if you have a transferable business you will have more options for your eventual exit. The topic for discussion is often neglected by business owners because for most of us…...

There are not a few psychological and emotional challenges that owners experience when thinking of eventually leaving their business. These challenges can actually keep an owner from moving forward in doing what they know they need to do create a strategic plan for exiting and acting on it. Our topic today is “The Psychological and Emotional Challenge of Exit and Succession” Want to learn more? Go...

A most common refrain we hear from business owners in conversations about exit planning is “Why should I plan now, I’m not ready to exit, I’ll start planning when I’m ready to leave.” Want to learn more? Go to: ennislp.com DISCLAIMER:The information in this presentation is provided as education only, with the understanding that neither the presenter nor ENNIS Legacy Partners or GRF CPAs & Advi...

As with any strategic planning it’s as important to know what pitfalls to avoid as much as it is what actions to take or put in place. And there are not a few pitfalls to avoid when planning your exit which is most often the most significant and impactful event and transaction of their life as a business owner. Today we are going to get specific about some of the more common pitfalls to avoid. And...

It’s not a secret that leadership, bad or good, wrong or right, has a significant impact on enterprise value and on the future transferability or sellability of a business. Perhaps there is nothing of greater importance in building the value of a business than the ways in which an owner and their management team lead and manage the business. And, it’s not unusual for an owner to either be or becom...

DISCLAIMER:The information in this presentation is provided as education only, with the understanding that neither the presenter nor ENNIS Legacy Partners or GRF CPAs & Advisors is engaged to render legal, accounting, or other professional services. If you require legal advice or other expert assistance, you should seek the services of a competent professional. Neither the presenter nor ENNIS...