Exit Your Business

Exiting a business can refer to a variety of situations, most often, selling a business to a third party. However, exits can also happen by transferring ownership to a relative or member of your management team or by distributing ownership in shares to your employees. Mergers involve agreements to combine your company with another company. Finally, liquidation is selling pieces of your company which may be worth more than the whole. Business exits aren't failures; some entrepreneurs start businesses with the purpose of reselling them for a profit. Other "exits" involve bankruptcy or closing a business at a loss.

The resources on this page cover exiting in general. Visit the pages on closing and selling or merging for more specific information.

Tips

Starting points:

Read about different types of exit plans, and consider your own goals for your business (For example, if you plan to run your business until you die, what happens to it? If you plan to retire but still have your business continue, who will take over? If you plan make a profit from your business idea by selling it to another company, what is your target price?)

Suggested strategies:

Search article databases and news websites for exit planning stories, using keywords for specific small business selling or transferring options.

The following materials link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online content are provided when available.

Business Exit Planning by Les Nemethy
Call Number: HD1393.25 .N46 2011
ISBN: 9780470905319
Published/Created: 2011
The most viable exit strategies for owners of mid-sizedcompanies For many business owners, cashing out of a business is alifelong dream. For some, exiting a business can be a nightmare.Business Exit Planning: Options, Value Enhancement, andTransaction Management for Business Owners provides acomprehensive view of what every business owner needs to know toplan and execute a business exit. The book Includes 30 relevant mini-case studies on business exitplanning and transaction management, as well as a glossary offrequently used technical terms Details options for those owners who no longer want to beactive in the business, as well as for those who want to remaininvested Covers a wide range of topics related to business exit planningand transaction management, including IPO, MBO, refinancing, ESOPs,building an exit team, business plan and valuation, due diligence,and estate planning Regardless of whether a business owner seeks an immediate exitor a staged exit over time, Business Exit Planning providesa comprehensive strategy and road map to define exit-relatedobjectives.
The Tech Entrepreneur's Survival Guide by Bernd Schoner
Call Number: HD62.37 .S36 2014
ISBN: 9780071823975
Published/Created: 2014
While geared specifically toward technology startups, this book has advice that could be applicable for any entrepreneur. For information specifically on exiting, see Part III Exit: Selling Your Baby.

The subscription resources below marked with a padlock are available to researchers on-site at the Library of Congress. If you are unable to visit the Library, you may be able to access these resources through your local public or academic library.

ABI/INFORM Collection External This link opens in a new window
Delivering over 6,800 journals, nearly 80% of which are in full-text, ABI/INFORM Complete is a comprehensive business database. Offering much more than journal content, this diverse solution provides the right mix of content types to meet the needs of any business researcher. ABI/INFORM also offers coverage on hundreds of industries and focus areas such as oil, gas, mining, energy, environment, and healthcare management, and has an ever growing range of content from around the globe. ABI/INFORM Complete provides researchers with diverse publication types that meet the requirements of core business programs and corporate libraries. With annual reports from nearly 1,000 leading North American companies, downloadable data sets from the Economic Intelligence Unit, market research reports, dissertations, business cases, and current news from The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times, researchers will be equipped with the tools to respond to changing market conditions and prepare for emerging areas of interest.
Business Source Complete External This link opens in a new window
Provides bibliographic and full text content for thousands of the most important scholarly journals, magazines, and trade publications covering all disciplines of business, including marketing, management, MIS, POM, accounting, finance and economics. The database also contains detailed author profiles for the 40,000 most-cited authors in the database. Additional full text content includes financial data, books, monographs, major reference works, book digests, conference proceedings, case studies, investment research reports, industry reports, market research reports, country reports, company profiles, SWOT analyses, faculty seminars (videos), and more. Indexing and abstracts for 1,300 scholarly business journals date back to 1886.

These are freely available online sources provided by government agencies, trade publications, and organizations.

Close or Sell Your Business (SBA)
Describes different steps, depending on your business structure, for closing a business or transferring ownership.
The Small Business Owner’s Guide to Succession Planning (SCORE) External
SCORE, the mentoring program affiliated with the Small Business Administration, offers a guide to decide how to exit a business, including valuation tips, and transition planning. This page provides a guide overview with a link to download the pdf file.

Small Business Hub: A Research Guide for Entrepreneurs

Business Reference: Ask a Librarian

Exit Your Business

Tips

Starting points:

Suggested strategies:

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