EXIT PLANNING INSTITUTE TWIN CITIES METRO AREA BUSINESS OWNER'S FORUM
You’ve worked hard to build a successful business. Now you have another big decision to make, should you Grow, or Go? This is one of the most profound personal and financial decisions you will ever make. Yet, most business owners avoid making it as long as they can.
Discover how to maximize your life’s work, whether you choose to hand the reins over to family, key employees, a strategic buyer, or a private equity group. We’ll share some real life success stories as well (and some failures) that will help every business owner better understand their exit options
The Business Owners Forum provides both advisors and owners with a look at the future of exit planning. Discover why proper exit planning is important for not only your future success, but the success of your business as well.
Attendees will hear expert sessions from Chris Jones and Sean Hutchinson, both dynamic keynote speakers. Chris Jones will kick off the session and will surely help you to help your clients navigate the big decision of should you Grow, or Go? Sean is an EPI speaker who will show you that the best way to understand how to accelerate business value is to see it in action. The Twin Cities EPI Chapter’s Owners Forum showcases an interactive case study, led by veteran Certified Exit Planning Advisor Sean Hutchinson, a well-known thought leader in the field of value growth and transition-readiness. Using the story of a family-owned heavy equipment dealer/distributor, groups of owners and advisors will collaborate to identify and unpack key value drivers and killers, learn what it takes to manage value barriers, and explore options for increasing transferable value. Walk side-by-side with the 3rd generation owners as they face long odds and work feverishly to find a path that will set the stage for 4th generation success while enabling two older brothers to retire.
Additionally, this Forum will feature members from our EPI Chapter Steering Committee and Membership in attendance, as well as many business owners with whom to network during a Happy Hour of heavy hors d’oeuvres and drinks.
Learning Objectives:
- How to value your business and how to GROW its value
- Understand the Cost of Avoidance when it comes to selling a business/exit planning
- Understand the different buyer types and why all buyers are not created equal
- Understand common exit paths, including the Big 7
About the Presenters:
Hear from industry experts, Sean Hutchinson and Chris Jones.
Thank you to our Sponsors
Event Location
Event Details
Who Should Attend?
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Attorneys
You have close relationships with clients, and can benefit from being the first advisor to introduce the idea of exit planning.
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CPAs/Accountants
Owners participating in the State of Owner Readiness research continue to indicate that you are the No. 1 "Most Trusted Advisor." You are a natural fit to lead the exit planning team and deepen your relationship (and retention) of next generation owners.
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Wealth Managers
You’re a skilled relationship person. Being entangled into your clients’ professional lives matters as you build a strategy to manage their wealth upon them harvesting it from their business. Exit planning allows you to build a deeper relationship with your client, expands your COI network, while giving you an early seat at table well before the liquidity event.
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Financial Advisors
One of the critical ‘legs of the stool’ is personal financing planning. An owner must have a strong financial plan & contingency plan post-transition to enable them to thrive in the next act of the lives personally and financially. Exit planning brings this future mindset into the present. Exit is now.
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Valuation Analysts
Valuation is both a billable engagement AND an opportunity to provide owners some perspective on how to accelerate value drivers (and deal with value killers). Use exit planning to make that valuation into a longer term value acceleration engagement.
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Investment Bankers
Only 2 of every 10 businesses that come to market actually sell. Learn how exit planning can bring attractive AND ready business to your purview.
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Estate Planners
Exit planning is a natural fit for estate planners who want to operate more holistically with their owner clients.
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Strategic Consultants
One of the most critical roles in exit planning is building transferable value. Strategic consultants have the ability to expand options and drive rapid business value that affect performance today.
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Mergers & Acquisition Advisors
Proper exit planning causes less deals to fall through at the last minute. Connect with CEPAs to build your healthy deal flow network.
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Insurance Professionals
Exit planning addresses the 5 D's. So do you. Approach the risk conversation differently with exit planning.
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Family Business Advisors
More than 50% of lower middle market business owners would prefer to transition to the next generation. Help them succeed with exit planning strategies.
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Commercial Lenders
One of the best relationships a business owner makes is with their banker. How can you help your corporate clients think about the future and ensure financial continuity? Answer: exit planning.
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Other Professional Advisors
Regardless of your unique specialty, there is seat at the exit planning table for you. Learn more at www.EarnCEPA.com.
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Private Business Owners
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Members of Family Business Boards
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Professional Advisors
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Business Consultants
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Other Business Professionals
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Business Owners
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Business Owners & Their Trusted Advisors
EXIT PLANNING IS GOOD BUSINESS STRATEGY
The Exit Planning Institute, provides Financial Advisors, Accountants, Consultants, and other advisors of business owners with the critical education to differentiate themselves and add value to their existing client relationships through a credential, conference, courses, and content. Download the CEPA brochure for more information.
ABOUT THE PRESENTER
Sean Hutchinson is a partner in the international value growth consulting firm Ready for Next, which was founded to help owners in the USA and Canada increase the enterprise value of their businesses, achieve transition-readiness, and ultimately harvest that value to fund their “third act.”
RFN’s Value Accelerator is a process-driven, structured approach to increasing earnings, reducing risk and positioning the business as best-in-class. RFN’s clients are privately held middle-market business owners in a broad spectrum of industries. Ready for Next’s success is powered by one of the best qualified and most seasoned teams of advisors in the profession, all of whom are former business owners or C-level executives.
Sean has been a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) since November 2008 (one of the first 100 to be certified), a CEPA course faculty member since 2014, has been honored by the Exit Planning Institute as Exit Planner of the Year & Leader of the Year, and was inducted into EPI’s CEPA Hall of Fame in 2024. He is recognized as one of the profession’s top thought leaders.
He is also a 3rd generation heir to his family’s 67-year-old manufacturing business, a first-hand, very personal, and humbling experience that keeps him grounded in the realities of value growth and ownership transition.
In addition to holding the CEPA credential, Sean is a Certified Merger and Acquisition Advisor (CMAA) and has served on the Boards of five private companies, including 13 years for a 90% ESOP-owned enterprise. He graduated in 1992 with a Master of Arts degree from Miami University of Ohio.
Meet Chris Jones:
Entrepreneurship changed my life. One of my mentors took a company to a successful IPO, another launched a start-up that was acquired by a Fortune 200 private company.
Watching these business owners take an idea, and turn it into a successful business, fundamentally changed what I wanted to do with my life; BUILD A BUSINESS. Over 20 years later I’ve built, sold and invested in companies and it’s as exciting as ever. I've been blessed in many ways and now my personal mission is to improve the world through business ownership.
Experience:
Co-owner and President of the largest U.S. office of Business Brokers and M&A Advisors; Sunbelt Business Advisors and True North M&A.
Experience in hundreds of transactions including: Consumer Products, Distribution, Manufacturers of Industrial Products, Contract Manufacturing, E-Commerce, Outdoor Products, Office Products Industry, Building Products, Digital Marketing, B2B Services, IT Services/Managed Services, BPO, Staffing, Software as a Service (SaaS) and many others.
Sell-side and Buy-side advisory expertise. Prior to Sunbelt worked in strategic acquisitions for a Fortune 200 private company.
Regularly invited to speak at the International Business Broker Association (IBBA) Annual Conference.