Exit Plan Alignment Is Often a Conundrum for Co-Owners
Put two or more business co-owners together, and it is virtually inevitable that they will have different exit goals.
For example:
One co-owner wants to exit sooner; another wants to exit later.
One wants to sell the business; another wants to pass it down to his or her children.
One needs more money at exit to be happy; another needs less.
One wants a quick exit; another wants to stay with the company for longer.
Sometimes the different exit goals are only partially or marginally conflicting. In many situations, however, the co-owners’ different exit goals are incompatible, meaning the pursuit and fulfillment of one co-owner’s goals will undermine or block another co-owner from achieving his, or her, goals.
Your future deserves your present attention; if you are like most business owners, you have worked too hard and accomplished too much to surrender control over the eventual outcome.
