Selling a company isn’t a decision you make on a Monday and close by Friday—it’s a campaign that starts years earlier, with the right team and a clear plan. We unpack a practical, four-advisor framework that helps owners protect hard-won value: a seasoned M&A advisor to run the process, a CPA or fractional CFO to make your numbers PE-ready, an M&A attorney who speaks the language of deals, and a wealth advisor who designs a tax-smart path from illiquid to liquid.
We dive into the realities of private equity diligence and why GAAP alignment, revenue recognition, and a clean quality of earnings matter more than glossy pitch decks. You’ll hear where owners get tripped up—Q4 income games to save taxes, cash off the books, sloppy working-capital management—and how a fractional CFO can model normalized working capital so your LOI, QoE, and final true-up align. We also get candid about legal strategy: why a generalist can slow a deal to a crawl, and how a true M&A attorney can shorten the path to close while protecting you on reps, warranties, escrows, and earnouts.
On the back end of the transaction, we explore wealth strategy with an eye toward today’s markets: capital gains exposure, deferral tools like a deferred sales trust, diversification beyond the traditional 60/40, and building a resilient portfolio that matches your new risk profile. Along the way, we talk mindset—bringing in a battle-tested coach, embracing humility, and letting experts lead—so the process is demanding but not derailing. If you’re aiming for a life-changing exit, this conversation gives you the roadmap, the warnings, and the confidence to start early and finish strong.
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