Yesterday, Scott Snider, EPI Vice President, was interviewed by Stone Payton and Lee Kantor on High Velocity Radio, hosted by BusinesRadioX headquartered in Atlanta.

Snider expanded on many topics, including a deeper dive into the EPI Chapter Network and why that is a cornerstone of EPI’s community philosophy.  He also gave some pretty direct advice to business owners about when to start incorporating exit planning into your mindset.

Click to listen to the interview: EPI’s Scott Snider on BusinessRadioX

Host Lee Cantor posed the question: When do owners start to think about exit planning?

Scott’s answer: Not soon enough.

From EPI and Snider’s perspective as an owner himself, most owners believe that they can time the market.  But your business goes in cycles.  Frankly, if you look at a graph at the three key factors (personal, business, private capital market) in ‘market timing,’ it looks like a roller coaster ride.  Plainly, you can’t effectively time or predict the market.

“I’d say, one of the issues facing business owners today is that we look at exit planning in a six-, 12- to 18-month timeframe,” Snider says, “but I’ll tell you, if you only give 6-18 months to transition, you’re just throwing makeup on a pig.”

-start listening at minute 20:17 to hear Snider's full answer on timing the market.

Late planning is a contributing factor to the staggering statistics that show that only 2 out of 10 business that comes to market will actually sell.  Success rates (if you can call them that) tend to be even lower in family/intergenerational transitions.

Understanding the State of Owner Readiness

Providing exit planning owner education is critical to the economic health of the middle market and Exit Planning Institute, alongside their partners, are conducting research throughout the United States, called the State of Owner Readiness(TM).

The first National State of Owner Readiness Research Report was published in 2013 by Chris Snider and his partners at the EPI Northeast Ohio Chapter.  The information was powerful and the content viral.  Since then, EPI has published reports in local markets: 2017 Greater Nashville, 2017 San Diego County, 2017 Twin Cities Metro Area.

Are you a business owner?  Take the State of Owner Readiness Survey.

This is a 12-minute, 44 question survey that measures the owner readiness and business attractiveness levels of middle market companies in several major markets, that include San Francisco, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Arizona, Manhattan, Long Island, New Jersey, Chicago, Capitol Region, and Indiana.

Take the survey by visiting www.OwnerReadiness.com and selecting your region.