Summary: Everyone eventually wants to transition out of their business and retire, and it can be difficult to sell a business off—you need specialized knowledge to do so. Today we hear from Ahmie Bahm, a financial advisor with clientele of business owners trying to transition to retirement. The sooner that business owners prepare for the inevitable transition, the better, and Ahmie explains the criteria for a successful exit/succession that every business owner ultimately experiences. Highlights: -Everyone eventually wants to transition out of their business and retire, and it can be difficult to sell a business off -Ahmie is a Financial advisor with clientele of business owners trying to transition to retirement -It is good to help business owners sooner rather than later to deal with the inevitable transition -In most cases, the SBA is not part of the transition process—it’s about following a time-strategic recipe to transition effectively -It’s not if you’re going to leave the business; it’s when -The criteria for a successful exit/succession is maximizing the bound, mitigating taxes, making sure you can cash flow your life into old age, and making sure you stay in control of the process -Family businesses fail by not having the right people involved/an insufficient management team, and not having the resources to deal with different problems that arise -Generational conflicts can come up and it is critical to know how to deal with these -It is good business to constantly be running your business for sale -When you start your business, it is imperative to have an exit strategy -The best successes occur with business owners that stay out of the middle: they can still be the leader, but every decision cannot revolve around them -Keeping the eventual exit in mind pushes owners to look to the future -It is important to make sure that your accounting is done properly, and to consider that the buyer is the professional—they will determine what contributes/takes away value Useful Links: Financial Survival Network Interchange Capital Partners