For most owners, the business is the single largest thing they own — and the least liquid, least diversified, and least planned-for. It’s the most important financial event of their life waiting to happen, and most treat it as a someday transaction.
For most owners, the business is the single largest thing they own — and at the same time the least liquid, least diversified, and least planned-for. It’s the most important financial event of their life waiting to happen, and most treat it as a someday transaction: find a buyer, sign the papers, ride off. The data says that’s almost exactly backwards.
The most concentrated bet you’ll ever make
The Exit Planning Institute estimates that 70 to 80% of a typical owner’s net worth is locked inside their business. Sit with that. If a client walked in with 80% of their wealth in a single stock, you’d call it a dangerous concentration and start trimming. The owner’s balance sheet is that stock — except you can’t sell a slice on a Tuesday. It’s one illiquid asset, tied to one industry, one customer base, one key person: you.
Most businesses that go to market never sell
Here’s the number that should reorder priorities. Only 20 to 30% of businesses that go to market actually sell. Meanwhile, 51% of the U.S. business market is owned by Baby Boomers heading for the exits, three-quarters of owners want out within a decade, and half want out within five years. A wave of supply is coming, and most of it won’t find a buyer.
That failure usually isn’t the economy. It’s readiness. A business that can’t run without its owner, that has messy financials or a single dominant customer, isn’t a business a buyer can confidently take over — it’s a job that happens to have your name on it.
The exit is won before the sale
The value a buyer will pay isn’t decided at the closing table. It’s built in the years before it — by making the company less dependent on you, cleaning up the financials, diversifying the customer base, and building a team that stays. The old line is exactly right: work on the business, not just in it. By the time the letter of intent arrives, the value is already largely set. The owners who command strong offers started enhancing transferability long before they had a buyer in mind.
The number you want versus the number you need
Most owners fixate on a headline figure — the number they want to see on the check. The number that actually matters is different: whether the after-tax proceeds will fund the life they want for the rest of it. The gap between those two is where exits quietly fail. A sale is also a major taxable event, and how it’s structured can move the net proceeds substantially — which is precisely why that math belongs years ahead of a deal, worked through with your CPA and attorney, not discovered during due diligence.
The part almost no one plans: the life after
This is the most overlooked finding in the research, and the most human. About 76% of owners regret selling within a year — and a major reason is that 60% had no plan for what came next. The business wasn’t just income; it was identity, structure, purpose, and the place they were needed every morning. Sell that without a plan for the void it leaves, and the check doesn’t fix it.
That’s why exit planning rests on three legs, not one: business readiness (is the company sellable?), financial readiness (do the proceeds fund your life?), and personal readiness (who are you, and what do you do, after?). Skip any leg and the stool tips.
Where a planning-led advisor fits
Only 5% of Boomer owners have a dedicated exit team — which is striking given that for most of them, this is the largest financial transaction of their lives. The M&A advisor sells the company. The attorney structures the deal. The CPA handles the tax. But the two legs that determine whether you’re actually better off — financial readiness and personal readiness — need a coordinator who knows your whole picture. That’s the work a planning-led advisor is built for, and it’s the reason the exit-planning credential exists. If your path is handing the business to family rather than selling, the case for starting early is even stronger: only 40% of family businesses survive to the second generation, and 13% to the third.
Where this leaves you
You spent decades building the most valuable asset you own. It deserves more than a someday. The owners who exit well — who sell at a strong number, keep enough of it, and are glad they did a year later — almost all have one thing in common: they started years before they had to, and they planned three readinesses instead of one transaction.
By the time you’re at the closing table, the value is already decided.
You built it over decades. The exit is worth planning like it.
Key takeaways
• For most owners, 70–80% of net worth is locked in one illiquid, undiversified asset — a concentration you’d never accept in a portfolio.
• Only 20–30% of businesses that go to market actually sell, even as a wave of Boomer owners heads for the exits; the usual reason is readiness, not the economy.
• The value a buyer pays is built in the years before the sale — by making the business less owner-dependent and more transferable (“work on it, not just in it”).
• The number that matters isn’t the headline price; it’s whether after-tax proceeds fund the life you want. A sale is a major taxable event, so structure it early with your CPA and attorney.
• About 76% of owners regret selling within a year — usually because they planned the transaction but not the life after it.
• Exit planning rests on three legs — business, financial, and personal readiness; the financial and personal legs are where a planning-led advisor coordinates the team.
Common questions about exit planning
When should I start exit planning?
Years before you intend to exit — ideally five or more. The things that drive value and a smooth transition (reducing owner-dependence, clean financials, a strong team) take time to build, and can’t be created once a buyer is at the table.
Isn’t exit planning just getting a valuation and finding a buyer?
No. The valuation and the sale are the final steps. Exit planning is the multi-year work of making the business sellable, confirming the proceeds fund your life, and preparing for what you’ll do afterward.
Why do so few businesses actually sell?
Most aren’t ready to transfer — they depend too heavily on the owner, or have financial or customer-concentration issues a buyer sees as risk. Readiness, not just attractiveness, determines whether a sale closes.
What’s the “wealth gap”?
The difference between the after-tax proceeds you’d net from a sale and the amount you actually need to fund your post-exit life. Identifying it early gives you years to close it by building value.
I want to pass the business to my kids, not sell. Does this still apply?
Yes, and arguably more so. Family transitions fail at high rates — only 40% reach the second generation — and succeed only with early preparation of both the business and the next generation.
Who should be on my exit team?
Typically a coordinating financial and planning advisor, plus an M&A advisor or broker, a transaction attorney, and a CPA. Only about 5% of owners have assembled one — starting early is the differentiator.
This article is for educational purposes only and is not tax, legal, or investment advice. Business transition and sale decisions depend on your individual circumstances and applicable law, which can change; consult your CPA, attorney, and a qualified transaction advisor before acting.
Brent Rupnow is a Registered Representative with, and Securities and advisory services are offered through LPL Financial (LPL), a registered investment advisor and broker-dealer (member FINRA/SIPC). Insurance products are offered through LPL or its licensed affiliates. Via Luce Capital is not registered as a broker-dealer or investment advisor. Registered representatives of LPL offer products and services using Via Luce Capital, and may also be employees of Via Luce Capital. These products and services are being offered through LPL or its affiliates, which are separate entities from, and not affiliates of Via Luce Capital.