Most owners pick the wrong exit.
Not because they got bad advice — because nobody told them there were five paths.
Strategic Buyer. Private Equity. ESOP. Internal Transfer. Acquisition Entrepreneur. Each one trades off price, speed, control, legacy, and your role the day after closing — differently. Twelve quick questions. One best-fit path. All five ranked.
Your answers map to each exit path differently. The bars below show how each one stacks up for your priorities — not just the winner.
Knowing your exit path is step one. Building the financial plan to actually hit it is step two.
Every exit path expects a different financial profile. Strategic acquirers pay for margin and revenue growth. Private equity pays for clean books and a leadership team that doesn't depend on you. ESOPs need stable cash flow and the headcount to support the structure. Internal transfers need a successor with the skill and capital to step in. The gap between where the business is today and where your buyer expects it to be on closing day — that's the work.
And the earlier you start, the more paths stay open — and the more likely you'll be satisfied with the one you take. Owners who start planning five-plus years out routinely land their first-choice exit. Owners who start the day an unsolicited offer arrives take whatever the market hands them.
Adviza builds the forward-looking financial plan and strategy that closes that gap. A target valuation cascaded into revenue targets, margin targets, and the KPIs your leadership team executes against — monthly, with a rolling three-statement forecast that tells you in March whether you're on pace, not in due diligence. So you don't drift toward the wrong exit by accident. You build toward the right one, deliberately.
This assessment is an educational tool, not a recommendation. Exit-path outcomes depend on your specific business, market, and personal circumstances. A real conversation is the next step.