Transitioning Ownership
Most businesses reach a normal stage in their life cycle where the owners begin thinking about exiting. For example, you may be ready to retire and want to hand your business over to a relative. Or perhaps you’re simply ready for new challenges or the business did not live up to your expectations. Whatever the reasons, planning for your exit is just as important as planning for starting your business. The resources on this page will help you begin to think through the various issues you need to be considering as you plan your exit strategy.
Local Resources
The SBTDC helps small and mid-size business owners meet the challenges of today’s business environment, manage their ever-changing world, and plan for the future of their business, including their exit strategy.
The Institute for Entrepreneurship periodically offers courses and seminars on many business topics that can help you in every stage of business life cycle, include, among others, ‘How to Buy and Sell a Business’ that provides step-by-step instructions on determining what a business is really worth and how to maximize the value of your business.
SCORE, counselors to America’s small businesses, is a nonprofit association dedicated to educating entrepreneurs and helping small business start, grow and succeed nationwide. SCORE is a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).
Legal Assistance
The Institute for Entrepreneurship and Charlotte School of Law have partnered to develop a clinic to provide basic legal services to small businesses in the Charlotte area that otherwise have insufficient resources to obtain legal counsel
The North Carolina Bar Association provides legal assistance to low-wealth business owners in every stage of their life cycle. Learn more about the services they offer to help you with your transitioning business.
Information and Resources on the Web
This collection of articles is designed to help a small business person think about, strategize, and follow through on succession planning.
The James J. Hill reference library houses a world-class collection of practical business information resources and is considered one of the most comprehensive business libraries in the country. From this site you will find many excellent resources for growing, managing and maturing your business, including, among others, finding a valuation for your business, succession planning, keeping an eye on your industry, increasing your sales and much more.
The SBA has compiled various resources to help you learn how to be smart about how you make your business exit.
Learn some of the questions you need to be asking yourself as you consider your business succession plans in this article sponsored by The Kauffman Foundation, a highly regarded organization that supports entrepreneurship.
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