Every engagement begins with your own data
Before any coaching is proposed, you see exactly where you stand across the six pillars that decide whether a transition delivers the value, timing and legacy you want.
Exit Readiness Snapshot
Twelve questions, about five minutes. An instant score across six pillars and the one pillar to work on first.
Take the SnapshotExit & Legacy Assessment + Readiness Review
- Intake & Discovery with an eight-question continuity red-flag screen
- Owner Vision Worksheet: why now, priorities, life after business, legacy
- Exit Readiness Index: 44 items, six pillars, your Blind-Spot Rate, Wealth Gap and first 90-day sprint
- A 75-minute Exit Readiness Review with Jerry Covella
We establish the facts, your goals and the gaps, then agree the plan that closes them. Nothing about your route or timing is decided yet; this stage is about knowing.
- S1
Kickoff, intake review and continuity screen
Resolve anything urgent first; map your advisory team and the documents we need.
Intake & Discovery - S2
Owner vision and personal readiness
Define success, rank your priorities, and design a next chapter you can test now.
Owner Vision WorksheetLife After Business Planner - S3
Exit Readiness Index debrief
Read your six-pillar profile and blind spots; find what still depends on you.
Exit Readiness IndexOwner Dependence Audit - S4
Your number and the Wealth Gap
With your financial advisor: what your next chapter needs and what a sale would net today.
Wealth Gap & Net Proceeds - S5
Business value and transferability
Normalized earnings, an indicative value range, and the drivers that move your multiple.
Add-Back WorksheetValue Range EstimatorRevenue Quality - S6
Exit routes and the Prioritized Action Plan
Compare realistic routes against your criteria and commit to the first 90-day sprint.
Exit Route Matrix90-Day Sprint Planner
Why this stage pays
of a business owner's wealth is typically tied up in the business, so planning around an unknown value is planning around an unknown future.
Exit Planning Instituteof owners surveyed had no transition plan at all, and nearly half did not know what their company was worth.
EPI State of Owner Readiness survey, via Central Penn Business Journal (2017)We build the value a buyer or successor will pay for, and protect it while we do. The personal and financial plans run in parallel so you are ready, not just the business.
- S7
Owner independence
Move decisions, relationships and know-how from you to your team; run a two-week absence test.
Owner Dependence Audit - S8
Management depth and retention
Identify who runs the business after you, and keep them through the transition.
Key Employee Retention - S9
Systems, processes and documentation
Document what depends on you; define the ten numbers a buyer will ask for.
90-Day Sprint Planner - S10
Revenue quality and growth story
Grow recurring revenue, reduce customer concentration, write a fundable growth plan.
Revenue Quality & Concentration - S11
Financial clean-up
Monthly closes, documented add-backs and personal guarantees removed before diligence.
Add-Back Worksheet - S12
Protection and continuity
A continuity plan, a funded buy-sell agreement and insurance matched to today's value.
Continuity Plan BuilderInsurance & Buy-Sell Gap - S13
Stakeholder and family alignment
A facilitated conversation on intentions, roles and fairness.
Family Meeting Planner - S14
Quarterly re-score and sprint review
Measure progress by pillar and decide: keep building value, or move to Decide.
Exit Readiness Index
Why this stage pays
higher offers went to businesses scoring 80+ on the Value Builder Score than to the average-scoring business, across an analysis of more than 30,000 businesses.
The Value Builder System, via ActionCOACH UKvaluation discount is typical when one customer is 20% to 30% of revenue; at 30% to 40%, most private-equity buyers walk away.
Iconic, customer concentration before a saleof exits are involuntary, yet more than half of owners surveyed had no contingency plan for an emergency.
EPI; CPBJis the sprint length the Exit Planning Institute recommends for turning value gaps into measurable progress.
Exit Planning InstituteYou choose the route, the timing and the terms that fit your goals, before a single buyer conversation and before you commit to transaction fees.
- S15
Route selection and readiness gate
Compare eight routes, from a strategic sale to an ESOP or family transfer, against your weighted criteria.
Exit Route MatrixWealth Gap - S16
Deal structure and terms strategy
See how cash at closing, escrow, seller notes, earn-outs and rollover change what you actually receive.
Offer Comparator - S17
Buyer or successor profile and communication plan
Define the right buyer or successor, and who learns what, when and from whom.
Buyer & Successor FitCommunication Plan
Why this stage pays
of businesses put on the market do not sell. Choosing the right route and buyer profile before going to market is what avoids a failed process.
Exit Planning Instituteis the typical full advisor cost of selling a $3M to $15M business, with M&A success fees of 1% to 6% of deal value. Decide first, then spend.
CT Acquisitions, cost of professional exit planning (2026)We keep you, your business and the deal on track through diligence and closing, then support the handover and the life you planned after it.
- S18
Data room and due diligence readiness
The 33 documents a buyer or lender will ask for, ready before they ask.
Data Room Checklist - S19
Evaluating offers and successors
Compare offers on risk-adjusted value and fit, not headline price.
Offer ComparatorBuyer & Successor Fit - S20
Owner support through diligence
Every two to four weeks: keep the business performing and decisions steady.
- S21
Closing readiness and announcement
Closing checklist, announcement sequence and Day 1 responsibilities.
Communication Plan - S22
The first 100 days
A clean handover, relationship introductions and clear role boundaries.
100-Day Transition Plan - S23
Next chapter: purpose and identity
Turn your life-after-business plan into a routine that works.
Life After Business Planner - S24
Wealth, legacy and engagement close
Confirm your wealth and legacy plans with your advisors.
Legacy PlanWealth Gap
Why this stage pays
of owners report profound regret within a year of selling. The difference is rarely the price; it is losing identity, purpose and routine without a plan to replace them.
EPI/PwC finding, as cited by the Exit Planning Institutefrom offers to closing in our illustrative example. That is time when the business must keep performing while you are also running a sale.
Clarity Exit & Legacy Pathway, illustrative exampleHow the Pathway compares with the leading exit-planning methods
The Pathway addresses the same areas as the most widely used exit-planning methods, and adds five measures of its own.
| Method | Its structure | Comparable areas in the Pathway |
|---|---|---|
| EPI Value Acceleration Methodology CEPA credential | Discover, Prepare and Decide gates; 90-day sprints; business, personal and financial readiness; human, customer, structural and social capital | Stages 1 to 3 use a similar discover, prepare and decide sequence and 90-day sprints; business, personal and financial readiness are scored pillars |
| BEI Seven Step Exit Planning Process CExP credential | Exit objectives; quantify resources; build and protect value; third-party sale; insider transfer; business and personal contingency | Owner Vision Worksheet, Wealth Gap, Stage 2 value work, route matrix and Continuity Plan Builder |
| Value Builder System Certified Value Builder | Eight drivers of company value, scored out of 100 | The Business Transferability pillar and Stage 2 sessions address the same value drivers buyers look for |
Twelve calculators, six worksheets
Each tool saves as you work, prints to PDF, and sends results to you and to your coach. Results are planning illustrations, not valuations or tax, legal or investment advice.
What your next chapter needs, what a sale nets today, and the gap.
Stages 1, 3, 4Adjusted EBITDA and SDE, and which adjustments a buyer would challenge.
Stages 1, 2An indicative range from your earnings and an industry multiple range.
Stage 1A 0 to 100 independence score and what to hand over first.
Stages 1, 2Customer concentration, recurring and contracted revenue.
Stages 1, 2The cost of keeping key people against the cost of losing them.
Stage 2Shortfalls in buy-sell funding, key-person cover and reserves.
Stage 2Weighted fit of eight routes against your criteria.
Stages 1, 3Risk-adjusted value of up to three offers.
Stages 3, 4Actions, leads, dates and completion for each sprint.
Stages 1, 2Readiness across 33 documents in six categories.
Stage 4Weighted fit of up to four buyers or successors.
Stages 3, 4Worksheets: Life After Business Planner, Business Continuity Plan Builder, Stakeholder & Family Meeting Planner, Transition Communication Plan, 100-Day Transition Plan, Legacy & Next-Chapter Plan.
Harbor Point Precision: $2.7M on day one, $5.6M at closing
A South Jersey contract machining company: $9.5 million in revenue, 48 employees, an owner aged 61 and a daughter in sales who did not want to run the business.
- Stage 1, months 0 to 3. The Wealth Gap showed a sale that day would leave him about $0.9M short of his $3.6M need. Family transfer was ruled out early; the shortlist was a private-equity sale or a management buyout.
- Stage 2, months 3 to 24. Seven sprints moved decisions to a general manager, retained three key managers ($165,000 plan), lifted recurring revenue from 10% to 32%, documented every add-back, and closed a $1.2M buy-sell funding gap.
- Stage 3, months 24 to 26. With the Index at 82, he chose a sale and set walk-away terms in advance: at least 80% cash at closing, earn-out no more than 15%.
- Stage 4, months 26 to 31 and the year after. The data room was 94% ready before the first buyer request. After closing: a 12-month consulting role two days a week, a community bank board seat and a donor-advised fund.
| Offer | Headline price | Cash at closing | Risk-adjusted value today |
|---|---|---|---|
| A: strategic buyer, earn-out and seller note | $8.9M | 60% | $7.55M (85% of headline) |
| B: private-equity buyer, 10% rollover (chosen) | $8.2M | 85% | $8.15M (99% of headline) |
Designed around your business
Every engagement is scoped to your business and goals after your Exit Readiness Review, so you see the value before you commit to the program.
Exit & Legacy Assessment + Readiness Review
Three assessments, full reports, your first 90-day sprint and a 75-minute review with Jerry. Credited in full if you continue.
Your coached program
Most clients begin with a fixed-fee, 90-day Discover & Define stage (from $7,500), followed by a monthly advisory retainer through preparation, decision and transition. We agree the scope together after your Readiness Review.
Transaction, legal, tax and valuation services are provided and billed separately by your licensed advisors.
Start with five minutes
Take the free Snapshot to see where you stand today, or talk it through with Jerry first.
Jerry Covella · Founder & Master Coach · jcovella@claritypartnersinc.com · 609-364-6705