The future of the business
How to prepare for a sale and other exit strategy options
Parting with your family-owned business is no less difficult than the artist parting with a great work. It is your masterpiece and your life’s dedication. With some planning, you can help position your business to attract buyers. In this installment of our eight-part series, “Pivotal moments for family enterprise,” we’ll chart a path of things to consider when trying to get a fair value for your business and protect wealth for future generations.
Pivotal moments for family enterprises under the spotlight
When you create something great, it can be tough to let it go. Many artists struggle with the thought of selling their work, and some have even gone so far as refusing to sell to someone they didn’t think valued it as much as they did.
It’s a conundrum familiar to many family business founders, who have worked so hard to realize their vision and can’t imagine it in the hands of someone outside the family. In our global survey of family enterprises, only one in 10 respondents saw an outright sale to a third party or an initial public offering as preferred options for executing their company’s leadership succession. In a separate Deloitte survey, 63% of next-generation family business leaders surveyed said it was “very important” or “fairly important” for the family business to own intellectual property.
A little preparation can go a long way in helping family businesses paint the pictures they envision. From balancing liquidity and control to being ready for a transaction and telling the right story—there are key questions to ask when considering a sale or other capital-raising transactions.
