It’s not a transaction. It’s a transition.
Selling a business is the most significant financial and personal decision of your clients’ careers. Selling it to the people who helped build it lets them shape what happens after they decide to step away.
Owners who have built something from the ground up care about more than just maximizing their “number.” Continuity of legacy – and giving their people a chance to build wealth of their own – are powerful motivators. Inside Exits helps your clients design and execute what comes next for themselves, their teams, and the businesses they built together.
You’re already the person they’ll call first.
Guiding them successfully through the process strengthens the relationship for everything that comes after.
Be the guide, not the technician. Understanding exit planning allows you to help them navigate the complexity of whatever direction they choose.
But evaluating your clients’ goals, preferences, timeline, and the particulars of their businesses against ESOPs, EOTs, and other structures is weeks of work per client. That’s the part we do.
Most exit planners help one person become wealthy. We help many
That starts with making sure the owner knows exactly what’s on the table. Our methodology begins by helping your clients understand their exit options and what each means to them, their people, and the business.
We help your clients evaluate:
Their personal readiness to exit and what they envision for their next chapter
The financial result they need to achieve in order to fund what comes next
Gaps in the business that need to be addressed – including owner dependencies that keep many companies from selling at all
If an inside exit is right for them, we will help them architect their options, plan for the transition, execute the plan, and ensure the business is set up to succeed when they are ready to step away.
We don’t have a set engagement structure your clients must buy into. Some might only want some help thinking through their options. Others might benefit from executive coaching, organizational planning, or operational improvements. Each engagement is unique.
Access to capital
Some employee ownership transitions might benefit from access to capital beyond traditional lenders. IE Partners works alongside Inside Exits to identify and support businesses where a mission-aligned capital partnership can make the difference between a transition that works and one that doesn't.
We help your clients plan a legacy, not just an exit
Unlike brokers, M&A advisors, or PE funds, the number at the top of the tombstone is not the only way we measure success. Our deals are successful when owners can make the right deal for their families, burnish their legacies, and set their employees up to successfully own and operate the business for years to come.
What we don’t do
We don’t manage assets, provide tax advice, or offer legal counsel.
We become part of your team.
Your role as your client’s sounding board and partner in the decision-making process doesn’t change. We reinforce the themes you already talk about with your clients (e.g. making sure they have the financial capacity to fulfill their retirement lifestyle).
You can be as involved in each part of the process to whatever extent you prefer. However that looks, we make sure that we are all aligned on the same page.
We’ve been in your clients’ shoes
Kevin Donnelly built a 600-person company, sold it, and watched the people who helped build it pay the price. Kevin started Inside Exits because he believes great businesses deserve better endings.
Read more about Kevin’s journey.You’ve heard this from your clients
“I care what happens to my people.”
Owners who recognize that their employees’ efforts are what put them in a position to exit and want them to share what they’ve built.
“I don’t want to hand this over to just anybody.”
Owners who’ve built a culture they’re proud of and want that legacy to continue.
“I tried to sell, but it went nowhere.”
Owners whose businesses won’t clear the market or who are offered a discount too steep to accept because they are the business. That’s an operating problem, not a dead end, and fixing it raises what the business is worth to any buyer, inside or out.