09/19/2026
Most owners start thinking about an exit when they're ready to leave. By then, the decisions that set the price were made years ago.
A buyer is asking four things. Does the operation run without you. Do the records support what you're claiming. Does the structure transfer cleanly. Are the key relationships the company's, or yours personally.
Every one of those takes years to change. Clean records accumulate. Reducing owner dependence means hiring and delegating early. Structural cleanup is far easier with no transaction pending.
None of it is urgent, which is exactly why it gets deferred.
If an exit is anywhere in the next five years, the work starts now.
How we approach it: https://sas-acct.com/succession-planning-for-franchises/
