Over the past 20-plus years, I have met with hundreds of business owners around the country consulting on a variety of topics including tax, business valuation, exit planning, and risk management. They spend virtually their entire lives building their businesses with the hopes of creating a valuable asset where they can eventually sell or transfer the business in order to achieve a lifetime of financial independence.
Anyone who has walked in those shoes can tell you that it’s easier than it sounds. The journey from starting a business to the eventual monetization of this illiquid asset is plagued with landmines along the way. One landmine that we encounter on a regular basis is an improperly created buy/sell agreement.