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Fifty-seven percent of the research respondents are Baby Boomers
(birth years from 1946 through 1964).
Nearly all owners say it
is important to have an exit plan, but few do. The vast majority
of business owners (more than nine in ten) agree that having an
exit and succession strategy is important for their future as well
as the future of their business. However, just shy of nine in ten
owners do not have a written, up-to-date exit plan.
Nonetheless, half of
owners surveyed have an aggressive timeframe for exiting their
business, indicating that they will leave their business within
the next 10 years. Owners who are 60+ years in age have the most
aggressive exit planning timelines, yet two-thirds of them do not
have an exit plan.
The number of years
to exit plays a role in how much attention owners have given to
exit planning. Owners who consider themselves more than 10 years
away from their ideal exit date have given the matter less
attention than those within 10 years of exit.
The average time span
from now to exit among owners surveyed is 7.7 years. The vast
majority of owners believe that achieving their ideal timeframe
for exiting their business is attainable.
Business owners say
that maintaining focus on the growth of their business is a major
reason why they have not spent more time on exit planning to-date.
At least two-thirds
of owners indicate that their top three essential or important
exit planning objectives include:
- Achieving personal
financial security,
- Maintaining
harmony within the family and
- Achieving the
maximum value for the business
Business owners’
primary concerns around exit planning appear to be universal.
Approximately eight in ten owners say that minimizing taxes,
adequately determining the value of the company and meeting other
part-owners’ objectives are a "major concern’ or ‘somewhat of a
concern."
Ninety-six percent of
Baby Boomer business owners agreed that having an exit strategy
was important, but 87 percent do not have a written, current exit
plan. |
