An experienced team skilled at crafting positive, fulfilling business exits: Exit Consulting Group

The Silicon Review

Small businesses drive the economy and are the nation’s largest employers. Exit Engineering^® services identify, define, build, and execute a business owner’s transition. The process includes assessment, design, implementation, and transition services. ECG’s goal is to empower business owners to successfully navigate necessary and inevitable business transitions in order to achieve measurable success. Exit Consulting Group, Inc.(ECG) is a professional services firm built upon the experience of professionals who have sharpened their skills by starting, growing, managing, and selling multiple companies of their own. ECG’s Exit Engineers specialize in developing roadmaps for businesses either going through or anticipating a transition, helping with everything from setting up for generational success, exit strategies, partner disputes, developing value-adding strategies, selling, and more. Working hand-in-hand with the clients, ECG defines what success looks like and then establishes a plan of action to achieve those results. ECG work with owners to successfully exit their business while ensuring that the organization continues to thrive. This includes driving value to the business to increase revenues, mitigating disunity, and managing the transaction of the sale.

Serial entrepreneur John Ovrom founded Exit Consulting Group after selling his construction company in 2005. Navigating the selling process on his own was a long, difficult and frustrating experience that highlighted the lack of resources available to owners. Despite bringing in qualified service providers to assist in the process, no one provider was able to oversee the deal, negotiate terms, provide a strategic approach, and minimize taxes during the transaction. Providers focused on their own offerings, missing the larger picture. This approach proved costly, aggravating, and time-consuming. Frustrated at the lack of creativity available in the market, as well as driven to help other owners like him avoid the missteps he encountered, John founded Exit Consulting Group. He vowed to give other business owners the option he never had. ECG focuses on assembling team members who understand the demands of running their own business and the stress and anxiety involved in exiting their business. ECG’s agents and consultants are prior business owners with both corporate and small business experience. They know operations and are fluent in financials. Most importantly, their team’s strengths include insight, integrity, and creativity. The breadth of experience and in-depth understanding gives ECG unparalleled insights into the challenges owners face, as well as the endless ways to craft an exit. ECG knows that every owner is unique, and the team is passionate about delivering success – as each client defines it.

A complex transaction needs a team of professional service providers to oversee all aspects of the deal. Engaging service providers early in the process creates a more seamless and efficient transition experience. From attorneys to financial planners and CPAs, ECG partners with the best providers to deliver high-caliber transactional services. The partners at ECG are selected specifically for their knowledge, experience, and specialty in business transfers. As the main point of contact, they quarterback the process to save you time and money. Much of the group’s success is due to their ability to collaborate with and coordinate multiple service providers to keep the process moving forward.

No two exits are alike, but they all require evaluating three things: the owner, the business, and the market. By defining the win and measuring it against the business as it stands and the market as a whole, ECG help you choose the right path for your best exit. The most important factor in assessing your business for exit is defining your wants and needs. What’s your win? Is it price? Timing? Maybe it’s transitioning the business to a family member or key employee. These factors have deep implications for you and your family’s future. ECG cares about your long-term success, which is why they begin with you. Once the group has defined your win, they evaluate the readiness of your business. ECG’s proprietary exit assessment measures your personal goals and objectives against where your business is today. They look at revenue, management, risk factors, concentrations, and growth opportunities in order to assess the feasibility of your exit. Even if you and your business are ready, market conditions may dictate the next move. They can determine whether an internal transfer or 3rd party sale makes the most sense. Sometimes they need to put an interim plan in place to build value until conditions turn. The timing of any transaction must be carefully thought out to ensure that you and your company transition well and both continue to succeed. ECG helps you determine the business value, deal structure, and buyer options (Inside or Outside Sale, Liquidation).

It’s important that owners understand the exit process, and begin every relationship there. ECG walks you through options, opportunities, and risks and helps you define your goals. They want you to have all the cards when they move to the design phase of your transition. They assess the business, the market, and the owner to determine the right path. Step one is identifying opportunities for adding value or pinpointing potential issues. Next comes developing a system to boost production, increase efficiency, or maximize revenue. ECG works with you to design comprehensive solutions. They work alongside the owner to put the systems in place and the plan into action. Some new systems take a lot of energy to fully implement. Their team can take the lead and integrate new processes throughout any aspect of your organization. This can be a crucial component of taking your business to the next level.

John Ovrom, CEO