Succession and exit planning: what we actually do for you

The moves you make in the year or two before selling often matter as much as the price itself. Here's the work, in plain terms — before the sale, at the table, and after the money lands.

Before the sale: stack the deck your way

• Get the full picture on paper. What you own, what you owe, and what the shop really provides your family — so you know what a sale has to accomplish before anybody names a price.
• Know your number. We run the math on what different prices and deal structures would actually mean for your retirement and your family. It turns "is this a good offer?" from a gut feeling into a question with an answer.
• Set up the tax side early. Asset sale or stock sale, how the price gets split, paid at once or over time — these choices change what you keep, and most of them have to be made before closing. I work these through with your CPA, not around them.
• Max out the owner years. Owner-only 401(k)s, SEPs and defined benefit plans can shelter serious income in your last years of ownership — and they'll need a smart rollover when you sell.

At the table: read the deal like a set of prints

• Compare offers on what they're really worth. Cash at close, seller notes, earnouts, employment agreements — each carries different risk and different taxes. The headline number is not the deal. We look at the whole thing.
• Keeping it in the family — or the crew. If the right buyer is your foreman or your kids, we work through seller financing, gifting and what it all means for your estate — so generosity doesn't turn into a problem later.
• Quarterback the team. Broker, CPA, attorney — we help you find good ones who know contractor deals, and we keep everyone pulling the same direction. One seat at the table is focused only on your family's outcome. That's ours.

After the sale: make the money do its job

• A plan for the proceeds. Built before closing, not after — balancing income, growth and cash on hand, matched to how much risk actually lets you sleep.
• Replace the paycheck. The shop used to pay you every week. We plan the income that takes its place, lined up with any new salary or earnout you're carrying.
• Recheck your coverage. Life, disability and liability insurance all looked different when the business stood behind your family. Now it doesn't — so we look again.
• The long game. Your will, your beneficiaries, what goes to the kids and what goes to causes you care about — all squared up with your new balance sheet.

Every exit is different. Yours should get its own plan.

Whether there's an offer on your desk today or you're just thinking a few years ahead — let's talk about which of this applies to you. First conversation's free, and we will come to the shop. Contact us.

Did you know?

How a deal is written — not just the price — can change what you keep after taxes by a meaningful margin. An earnout puts part of your price at risk after closing. It deserves the same scrutiny as the number itself. Your old SEP or solo 401(k) needs its own transition plan when the shop is sold.

Related resources

Business owner's guide to transition planning

FAQ: selling your electrical shop

Selling your shop in the data center era

After the sale

Sources

IRS Publication 544; IRC §1060; IRS Publication 537 (irs.gov), PA Dept. of Revenue; NJ Division of Taxation (revenue.pa.gov / nj.gov/treasury/taxation), Exit Planning Institute, National State of Owner Readiness IBBA / BizBuySell — preparation affects outcomes, IBBA/M&A Source Market Pulse deal structure reporting (ibba.org/marketpulse).