Owners exit their businesses for
a number of reasons, and often,
retirement isn’t the key driver. In fact,
according to Aspire Management, the
No. 1 reason for selling the business
is burnout. Here are the most common
reasons why owners sell or otherwise
discontinue their businesses:
• Burnout
• Health issues
• Personal diversification
• Retirement/semi-retirement
• Death
• Divorce/partner disputes
• Business growing too fast
• Second generation not up
to the task
• Loss of market share
As you assemble your team, you’ll get a
real handle on the value of your business.
Because, as Snider points out, “Being in
business is all about driving value—that
is really the end game. Regardless of your
age, you should always be thinking about
driving value.”
But first things first. You need to do
some homework to find out what com-
parable businesses in your industry are
worth, and get a formal valuation from a
professional. Technically, a valuation is an
estimated economic value of an owner’s
interest in a business, and it is used by
financial market participants to determine
the price they are willing to pay or receive
to close the deal.
But more practically, value is defined by
those aspects of your business that make it
attractive to buy. “Value, at the end of the
day, is what a willing buyer and seller can
agree to,” Fantozzi sums up, noting that as
a financial planner, the value in his busi-
ness comes from his goodwill and client
list. For a manufacturer, value is found in a
process, the bricks and mortar, equipment.
A technology firm’s value is in its ideas.
“One of the things you need to figure out
is, what are people really buying?” Fantozzi
asks. “What they are really buying is cash
flow—you’re always buying money,” he
says. But what else are they getting? In
Fantozzi’s case, there is value in a team of
professionals who work at his firm, and in
the company’s reputation for the way they
handle clients. Value is different for every
industry.
continued on page 14
®
You have dreams for your life and dreams for your business.
I can help you make the most of all of them.
As an Ameriprise financial advisor, I can help you seamlessly integrate both your business and
personal goals into one easy-to-manage plan. With tailored solutions, I’ll help you manage taxes,
develop attractive retirement and employee benefit programs, protect your business, and develop
a sound succession plan.
To start a conversation, call (216) 373-7526 today.
Eric Tolbert, ChFC®, CLU®
Financial Advisor
Business Financial Advisor
The Hanna Building
1422 Euclid Ave., Suite 1564
Cleveland, OH 44115
(216) 373-7526
eric.tolbert@ampf.com
www.ameripriseadvisors.com/eric.x.tolbert
Ameriprise Financial cannot guarantee future financial results. Ameriprise Financial does not provide tax or legal advice.
