We strive to equip business owners with custom strategies for protecting, growing, and ultimately exiting their business.
Our Credo
At Crestwell, we believe the entrepreneur is the single greatest contributor to empowering individuals, families, and building our communities. Our passion is serving our business owner clients on their journey to “crest well.”
We’re a collaborative group of business professionals across critical disciplines who believe passionately about the benefits of entrepreneurship and wealth generation. Our partners have expertise in wealth management, corporate planning, legal strategies, tax planning, investment banking, and insurance.
The Crestwell Group participates in extensive research through the Exit Planning Institute on the readiness of business owners to transfer their business. Statistics show that business owners believe their business will transition in 10 years or less, but most are ill-prepared for it. In fact, most businesses that go to market won’t actually sell. The owners that are able to sell say they regret the decision profoundly. Even family businesses face long odds of a successful transition to the next generation.
Only 17% of owners have a written transition plan in place to anticipate a sale, succession, or death/disability. Over two-thirds of owners don’t know all of the exit options available to them. The lack of owner readiness results in the following: Nearly half of exits are involuntary - due to death, disability, divorce, distress, or disagreement.
Only 2% of small businesses in America have ever had a valuation performed. Most business owners are working “in” the business rather than “on” the business. They are focused on income generation and sales (top line) instead of increasing their net profit and enterprise value.
Only 30% of the businesses that are taken to the market actually sell. For the businesses that are able to sell, data shows that 3 out of 4 owners profoundly regretted the outcome 12 months later. Family business transitions are also impacted with only 30% surviving past the second generation.
Sources: Exit Planning Institute, PwC, Deloitte, SBA, AM&AA
The Crestwell Group has developed a collaborative, highly-contextual and repeatable strategy for building businesses and positioning them for a potential profitable exit. The collective value proposition is packaged into a methodology we call The Crestwell Method. Its primary goal is to maximize the value of the business at the time of exit, minimize tax liabilities, and ensure the owner is able to accomplish his or her personal and financial goals in the process.
When it comes to exit planning, business owners need a paradigm shift - exit planning is simply good business strategy. By adopting a strategic framework, our methodology aligns business, personal, financial goals to create a business that is attractive and transferable. Whether a potential transition is years or decades away, owners who begin to work “on” rather than “in” the business can result in increased net profits and achieving a higher multiple at sale.
Ultimately, Crestwell is here to support entrepreneurs. Our process begins with a business valuation, marketability assessment, and an owner readiness survey. We also provide live events, online webinars, and a library of free resources to help educate the business owner community on how to accelerate value creation.
We’ve invested in technology to help ensure our business owner clients have the facts needed to make sound planning decisions. Our innovative technology harnesses the power of big data to deliver accurate and efficient business valuations. The tool is backed by a secure and sophisticated engine that provides an initial baseline valuation for our business owner clients.
Our assessment uses a simple scoring system and is calculated through an analysis of the owner’s personal goals and the business’s performance on eight factors that drive the value of the business. The results assist our team in determining the state of owner readiness and how attractive the business is to the market compared against industry peers.
Are you ready to exit? It’s an easy question to ask, but it can be difficult to answer. First you need to get clear on the “why” to ensure the exit strategy aligns with the reason for exiting. Understanding the “three legs of the stool” - the personal, financial, and business goals - is critical to becoming properly educated and prepared for a future successful business transition.
The Crestwell Group strives to utilize only the best of the independent financial industry for our institutional partnerships. We are strategically aligned to best serve our business owner clients in a fiduciary capacity.
