The Exit Eagle SERVICES

We Help You to Sell Your Business for the Best Possible Price

SELL Your Business in the Best Way Possible

Welcome! I'm Virginia Altman, founder of The Exit Eagle. Over the last 35 years, I've helped businesses, large and small, to increase and sell the value of their businesses. The first business I sold was my family's telecommunication systems and services company. I thought my nephew was going to take the operation over, but he simply wasn't interested. So I decided to apply my 20 years of experience as a turn-around consultant for Fortune 500 companies to getting our business ready to sell. That part went well, but the selling itself... WOW! It was like walking through a cave in the dark.

That was 14 years ago. Since then, I've gotten my Certification as a Business Broker and Valuator, my Masters from Carnegie Mellon, and have helped more than 40 businesses to KNOW, GROW and SELL THE VALUE of their businesses.

Our passion is to help you to get the BEST POSSIBLE PRICE for your business so you can FUND THE RETIREMENT OF YOUR DREAMS.

Schedule a call today so we can discuss how we may be of service to you!

stock-illustration-61273872-business-chart-and-finance-concept UNPD (2)

Our Guiding Principles

Make sure we get the best price we can for the value the business offers.
If they don't have enough value to accomplish their goals, help them to create it.
Always remember that there are families, employees and customers who will benefit -- or suffer -- from how well the work is done.
Partner with owners and other service providers who share our passion for honesty and integrity, and creating the WIN-WIN deal!.

KNOW THE VALUE OF YOUR BUSINESS

98% of business owners don't know how much their business is worth; how much someone would be willing to pay for their business. We have always been taught to track profit, but value is the driver for getting the best price you can when you sell your business. And if your retirement fully or partially relies on achieving a good sell price for your business, you may well need some time and effort to achieve the value that will bring in the funding desired to support the retirement of your dreams.

Some business owners don't want to sell their business. Perhaps they want to put together a Buy/Sell Agreement with their partner so the partner "left standing" pays the other partner's family an agreed upon price to assume ownership of the other share of the business. Or perhaps they want to pass the business to an heir; even then, believe us when we say, you still need to know value for business and tax planning purposes!

getting hands dirty shutterstock_178762802

"I've spent as much time with the laborers as the owners and managers of companies. That gives great advantage in assessing how to grow value, knowing how the work is done, because you learn from the people doing the work where the hidden opportunities are. Put that together with industry research: that's what helps to develop a realistic Unique Value Proposition."

--Virginia Altman, Founder, The Exit Eagle

Business valuations

In any case, having a Business Valuation, that shows you the true value of your business is critical to proper business planning and achievement of personal wealth goals. We show you how the Business Valuation is calculated and information analyzed, and involve you in establishing a Value (e.g. Sale Price) Range.

There are many different situations that require a Business Valuation, as outlined in the Top 7 Reasons to KNOW THE VALUE of Your Business chart, below. The Exit Eagle offers three levels of business valuation because not every situation requires the same investment.

Standard Business Valuation: This is an estimate of the Fair Market Value of your business, based on industry averages, best used for getting a rough estimate of value, or assessing conservative value for ownership transtiion purposes. If this method alone is used to establish the sale price, the owner may well (1) leave money on the table; or (2) have a rude awakening to True Value from prospective buyers.
The Eagle Eye Value Acceleration Report: This is a critical element of a Sell Your Business campaign that achieves the Best Price Possible. The foundation is a Certified Business Valuation, that includes three valuation methodologies to show three perspectives on value to assist in determining sale price range and positioning strategy. In also includes financial ratio comparisons, industry research, deep dives into business information and history to create a Unique Value Proposition that capitalizes on the Company's strengths and weaknesses to create a compelling story for a buyer who can benefit from the Company's unique offering.
The Exit Eagle Business ROI Prospectus: This package builds on The Exit Eagle Value Acceleration Report. Its primary purpose is to be used when selling the business to demonstrate the value of the business to potential buyers. This is loaded with graphs and charts and other data that support the Unique Value Proposition that suggest the strategy that will ensure business sustainability and increased profitability, the two most important things to most buyers. This package minimizes buyer due diligence and negotiation on price.

Grow the Value of Your Business

We've helped very small to billion dollar businesses. We'd love to help you, too!

Even the most well-run business has opportunities to increase value! The way you look at the business is usually very different from how a buyer/ investor will look at your business. And the way a buyer/ investor looks at the business depends on whether they want a sustainable/ turnkey business (no owner involvement) or a flip (exploit weaknesses by paying little, fixing them, and selling to gain an extraordinary ROI), or somewhere in-between.

How much (or little) investment in time and money you make in preparing your business for the next owner depends on your answer to three questions:

What type of new owner do you want for your business?
How much money can (or must) you invest to transition ownership well?
How much time can you afford to take to prepare for a successful ownership transition?

As inputs, you need to know how much your business is worth (e.g., a Business Valuation) and your investment portfolio and retirement funding needs. [If you don't have a Financial Advisor, we can connect you with the best.)

It's TIme to Grow Your Value if your retirement funding needs are greater than your investments + the value of your business. We can help you to put a plan together that balances benefits and costs.

It's Time to Plan Your Exit if your retirement funding needs are less than your investments. Are you deciding whether to close or transition ownership? We can help you to evaluate the best way to exit your business.

It's Time to Sell Your Business if you need the money from the the sell of your business to supplement your retirement funds. We can help you to get the best price possible when you sell your business!

Experience. Good, common business sense. Instinct.

As an example, when discussing a particular business that Virginia was selling, I noted how the offering's cash flow barely supported any purchase price at all, regardless of its market, etc. Virginia, who was brokering the deal at the time, actually sold the business for its asking price by providing a strategic perspective, competitive evaluation, and quasi-tactical plan for the new owners to execute. Her actions were creative, conscientiously and ethically prepared for the buyer, and most importantly effective for the seller. Very impressive.

Robert Bartolacci

Executive Vice President/CFO, Modern Transportation Services; Adjunct Asst. Professor of Finance, Carnegie Mellon University

Value Acceleration Influencers: Time vs. Money vs. Type of Buyer

Time but Little Money

When we talk about "Target Market" in relation to planning what you are going to do to prepare to exit your business, it's really important to take into account the Type of Buyer that your business will be able to attract.

For example, consider a manufacturing business with ancient equipment and unresolved environmental issues. The amount of money that you would have to spend to attract a Premium Buyer is likely to be more the business would sell for. So best to sell "As Is" hopefully to a Bargain Hunter and not a Snark.

On the other hand, if your financials are in order, you have a good profit margin, employees who will stay: For heaven's sake (or your family's), spend the bit of money that will eliminate the detractors from your stand-up offering! That could shift you from a Judicial to a Premium buyer!!!

There are four types of buyers:

Type of Buyer: Do you want a Premium Buyer who will spend whatever it takes to get what they want? A Judicial Buyer who carefully balances benefits and costs? A Bargain Hunter who only buys a "good deal"? Or a SNARK, who looks for the vulnerable deal that he (or she) can exploit?

Money: How much money can you afford to spend? Enough to develop some process flows and training materials to make the business easy to learn? Enough to pull together an informative customer list? None?

Time: How much time do you have before you need to exit your business? Ten years? Five years? Three years? One? None?

Value Minimizers

Tax Returns and Income/ P&L Statements don't match
Presents an uncared for/ cluttered appearance
Customer List doesn't exist, or doesn't contain complete information and/ or history
No recurring revenue
Legal disputes
Undocumented processes and procedures, and no training tools
Unremediated environmental concerns
Single product or service
Lagging behind industry technologies
Price doesn't match buyer type
Opportunity for growth not visible
Unstable employee situation
Unreliable profit
No documentation of quality

The Exit Eagle can provide you with the information you need to make sound, profitable decisions on how to plan your business exit.

Schedule a free consultation today!

The sooner you get started in increasing value, the better!

SELL the Value of Your Business

7 Steps for Selling a Business

It is hard to put into words the appreciation that I have for Virginia Altman and the service that she offers. At the very beginning you were not afraid to tell me the truth about my business and areas that I needed to improve to make it mor attractive to potential buyers. I know that you have many other clients however you somehow were always there for me and I truly thought that I was your only client. You did not know anything about my business but before the second meeting you did you homework and got to know it, for that I will always be grateful. Once the business was listed you gave me regular update of interest and constantly reminded me that it is a process and there is a buyer out there and we are ready for anything. We found a qualified buyer and eventually closed on the business.

Virginia Altman went above and beyond anything that I could have expected in selling my business and I only wish I had others for her to sell. Because of my experience with her I am definitely a better person, and ready to take on any endeavor in the future. I would highly recommend her services to anyone in the future.

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!! – Richard, Business Seller

3 Exit Eagle Packages for Selling Your Business

We are writing a book on Tips and Tools for Preparing Your Business for Your Exit. To that end, we are conducting interviews with business owners to hear what questions and concerns they have about exiting their business. Would you consider allowing us to interview you for 20 minutes on the topic? Thank you in advance.

Click a button below to schedule a Preparing to Exit book interview.