Last week we shared a trivia poll on our LinkedIn to our network of professional advisors and business owners. We were interested to see if our advisors knew how many owners have indicated they are actively working on their exit with an advisor. Here are the results.
6% said 0% of Owners
57% said 10% of Owners
29% said 15% of Owners
8% said 25% of Owners
The correct answer is 10% of Owners are Actively working on their exit plan with an advisor.
Through EPI research we found something called the “Middle 60”. If you think of a spectrum, on one end of the spectrum there are 10% of owners who have indicated they are actively working on their exit with an advisor and incorporating the “Three Legs of the Stool”; business, personal and financial. On the other end of that spectrum, 30% of owners unfortunately will never do any exit planning at all. Their strategy is to die with the business or simply liquidate when ready. Which leaves us with a middle 60%.
In studying the middle 60%, we found that it splits evenly between two groups of owners. 50% said they would actively work on their exit if they understood the process better and their advisors approached them in the right ways. While the other 50% indicated they likely would need some deeper education to really understand the benefits. This is positive for us as advisors. In considering the 10% of owners actively engaged, the middle 60 shows us that we can get 70% of business owners in the micro and lower middle market to begin working on their exit. This 70% of owners are interested in integrating strategies that increase the value of their business while defining and aligning their personal and personal financial goals.
Exit Planning Institute President, Scott Snider, says, “Exit is now. It’s all around us. We have the opportunity as advisors to educate business owners on the process. If we do so correctly, in the way the business owner wants to learn and while meeting the owner where they are, we can build more significant companies and change outcomes.”
Are you interested in expanding your customer base, engaging with more of your target owner demographic, or having a stronger marketing presence?
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