BEFORE THEY SAY "EXIT": HOW ADVISORS BECOME RELEVANT THROUGH EVERYDAY BUSINESS CONVERSATIONS
Most owners don't wake up thinking about selling their business. They wake up thinking about payroll, taxes, employees, customers, cash flow, and whether the business can function without them. That is a very different lens than traditional exit planning, and it is exactly why many advisors get left out of the conversation until it is too late. The Prepare Gate is where enterprise value is built, risks are uncovered, and future options are created, years before an owner is ever exit-ready.
Join CEPAs Laurie Barkman and Michael Laliberte for real-world lessons on becoming relevant to owners long before an exit. Attendees will learn how advisors can use ongoing wealth, tax, and business planning conversations to identify opportunities and build a transferable asset before a transaction is ever contemplated. Because the most successful transitions, and the strongest client relationships, are built years before anyone says the word exit.
Learning Objectives:
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Recognize why most owners aren't thinking about an exit, and how that mindset shapes the conversations advisors should be having today.
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View the business through a buyer's lens to identify the factors that drive attractiveness, transferability, and enterprise value.
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Use everyday wealth, tax, and business planning conversations to spot value-creation opportunities years before an owner is exit-ready.
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Lead the key conversations that uncover owner priorities and business risks early in the Prepare Gate.
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Build a value-creation approach that deepens relationships, retains assets, grows AUM, and positions the advisor as the owner's first call for both business and personal planning decisions.
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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Insurance Professionals
Exit planning addresses the 5 D's. So do you. Approach the risk conversation differently with exit planning.
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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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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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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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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
As founder of The Business Transition Sherpa, Laurie Barkman, CEPA, is an M&A Advisor and former CEO of a $100M revenue company with a successful exit. Having guided over 50 founders through complex transitions, she created the BUILT By Design™ framework to bridge the gap between advisors and business owners. Laurie helps advisors gain immediate relevance by adopting a buyer’s perspective and prioritizing the business outcomes owners value today, well before a future exit.
Michael Laliberté is a CEPA, Wealth Advisor, and Founder of Coastal Family Wealth Advisory, an integrated firm coordinating wealth, tax, business, and transition planning for business owners. Working years before a transaction is contemplated, he helps owners reduce operational dependence, improve transferability, and align personal financial planning with enterprise value creation. He believes that entrepreneurial success should create freedom, not lifelong dependence on the owner.