Financial professionals, for the most part, focus on advising individuals or couples, helping them plan for retirement by suggesting strategies for getting the most out of their money, such as reducing taxes or creating income streams.
Sometimes those individuals also happen to be business owners – and when a business is a person’s greatest financial asset, things can get more complicated as extra factors come into play on the way to retirement.
In other words, it’s a different conversation, but one that absolutely needs to happen.
If you’re a business owner still a few years out from retirement, now is the time to begin taking steps that will maximize your business’ value and put you in the best position to retire comfortably and confidently. Let’s take a look at what those steps should include.
Determine what the business is worth
Surprisingly, the question of how much a business is worth is something many owners spend little time thinking about. That’s probably because they focus so much of their time on revenue, expenses, profits and other concerns that relate to day-to-day operations. Selling the company is, presumably, far off into the future. They have more immediate worries.
The value of the business is a question worth answering. When owners come to me, one of the first things we do is recommend a preliminary valuation of the business, which shows they have built something of substantial wealth. Usually, for the business owners I see, the value of their company is $1 million or more, which comes as a pleasant surprise to many of them.
Once they understand that value, they should take steps to preserve and even increase the amount.
Create a financial plan
In many cases, business owners initially visit me because they want assistance creating a personal financial plan for their retirement. Those conversations inevitably lead to discussions about the business as it becomes clear it accounts for the majority of the person’s wealth. (Next in order of value are usually a 401(k) and real estate holdings.)
One question that comes up quickly involves when they want to retire. Some owners are in no hurry. They prefer to keep working longer than their employees, so retirement is off in the distance, maybe not quite yet in view. Others are eager to retire – tomorrow, if possible.
Everyone knows how important it is to have a nice-sized nest egg set aside for retirement so you don’t run out of money. For a business owner, the size of the nest egg is affected greatly by the net amount they realize after selling the company, minus taxes owed and the transaction cost.
Here is something that is probably not a surprise: Taxes are the biggest expense when selling, so that should be considered when creating the financial plan. Typically, the taxes on the sale of a business are capital gains taxes. It’s important to work with someone who can help with tax planning and reduce the amount owed as much as possible.
Fortunately, the tax code allows many ways to reduce if you are proactive and understand the rules. Most people have four choices relative to capital gains tax: Pay it (most people do this because they don’t know about their choices), defer the taxes, reduce them or avoid them.
For example, one strategy owners use is to sell the business on an installment plan. The buyer’s payments are staggered over multiple years, allowing the tax liability to be spread out rather than being due all out once. Another option is to defer and eventually avoid the capital gains tax by selling the business to employees.
Creating a financial plan also opens the door for the involvement of the business owner’s spouse. Some spouses are intimately involved with the operation of the company, while others are not. Regardless, when you are building a family retirement plan as a couple, it’s important to make sure expectations are aligned with what each person’s vision for retirement looks like.
Create an intentional growth plan
Creating an intentional growth plan for the business is critical, especially within five years of any plan to sell. You want the company to be in the best shape possible for wooing prospective buyers.
It’s much like selling a house — where you upgrade the kitchen, improve the landscaping or take other steps to make the property more attractive.
Unfortunately, too many business owners don’t plan for that sale carefully. They sell six months or so after they make the decision to do so, reducing their chances of getting the best price because they have not made the necessary upgrades or found ways to improve.
This is why the earlier you can get started on an intentional growth plan, the better. To accomplish that goal, concentrate on developing value drivers that will help you optimize the business’ worth:
- Make sure there is a consistent and increasing net free cash flow
- Develop a strong management team
- Ensure you have documented business systems and processes that all team members follow
- Demonstrate you have a diversified customer base and aren’t reliant on just a few major customers
- Upgrade the appearance of the facilities so they are consistent with the asking price
- Have a realistic growth strategy
Increasing your business’ value to position it for a successful sale does not happen overnight. Owners who make that growth a priority five years or more before they sell can put themselves in a better position to attract the price they need.
To accomplish that, it’s wise to seek help from a financial professional with experience working with business owners. Together, you can work toward the ultimate goal – a fitting swan song for your days as a business owner and a confident beginning for the next adventure in your life.
Ronnie Blair contributed to this article.
The appearances in Kiplinger were obtained through a PR program. The columnist received assistance from a public relations firm in preparing this piece for submission to Kiplinger.com. Kiplinger was not compensated in any way.
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