Business Broker vs. M&A Advisor: Which is Right for Your Exit?
September 29, 2025
Touchstone Advisors Announces Acquisition of All State Landscape Services LLC
October 14, 2025Selling a business isn’t just a financial decision—it’s a major life transformation. The most profitable and stress-free business exits don’t begin when you’re ready to retire—they begin years earlier with a strategic exit plan focused on maximizing the value of your life’s work. When you start preparing your business for sale 2–5 years in advance, you create the opportunity to increase business value, improve cash flow, and reduce risks that lower your business valuation during due diligence.
With Touchstone Advisors, Exit Advantage℠ program, we help business owners build a business exit strategy that helps them realize the full value of their investment, protects their legacy, and ensures a smooth ownership transition.
Why Business Owners Should Plan Their Exit 2–5 Years in Advance
Owners who start exit planning early gain more flexibility and control over both timing and valuation. A longer planning window allows us to remove risk, improve transferability, and strengthen key value drivers that buyers and investors look for. During the exit readiness process, we help owners:
- Improve financial performance and increase adjusted EBITDA
- Produce clean, accurate financial statements buyers trust
- Strengthen recurring revenue and customer retention
- Reduce owner dependency for a transferable business
- Strengthen leadership teams
- Identify and protect intellectual property
- Clean up contracts, leases, and supplier agreements
- Optimize operations through documented processes and SOPs
These improvements lower perceived buyer risk and maximize company value before a sale.
Exit Planning Also Protects Your Personal Financial Future
A business exit plan should align both business goals and personal wealth goals. Early planning allows owners to:
- Design a tax-efficient exit strategy
- Coordinate with wealth advisors and CPAs for financial planning before selling a business
- Work with your attorney to structure estate and trust plans, especially for family-owned businesses
- Define post-sale lifestyle and retirement goals
- Evaluate transfer options – third-party buyer, family successor, or management team
The sale of your business may be the largest financial event of your life. Exit planning ensures you maximize what you keep—not just what you sell for.
The Risks of Waiting Until You’re Ready to Sell
Many business owners delay exit planning until they’re emotionally ready to sell—but that delay usually costs them money. Waiting until the last 12 months can lead to:
- Lower business valuation multiples
- Rushed decisions and deal stress
- Uncovered issues during buyer due diligence
- Reduced negotiating power
- Limited buyer pool and weaker offers
- Higher taxes due to poor structure or timing
Modern business buyers, including private equity firms and strategic acquirers, expect a company to be deal-ready. If your company isn’t prepared, buyers will discount the offer—or walk away.
Early Exit Planning Creates a More Valuable, Transferable Business
When you prepare early, you create a sellable business—one that runs efficiently, grows predictably, and transfers smoothly to a new owner. With a structured exit planning process, you can:
- Fix valuation issues before buyers see them
- Increase enterprise value and justify a premium offer
- Build a compelling growth story that attracts quality buyers
- Create a strong Confidential Information Memorandum (CIM) and data room
- Maintain control of the sale timeline
The result: a stronger company today and a more profitable sale tomorrow.
Ready to Build Your Exit Strategy?
Let’s build a roadmap that aligns with your goals and timeline.
If you’re thinking about selling your business in the next 2–5 years or more, the best time to start planning is now. A confidential exit planning conversation can help uncover value-building opportunities today—long before you decide to go to market.
Contact us for a confidential consultation.
Originally published on the Exit Advantage℠ Blog. Republished here with permission for the benefit of Touchstone Advisors’ audience.
Steven Pappas, M&A MI
Partner, Managing Director
Touchstone Advisors
860-669-2246
spappas@touchstoneadvisors.com
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