Business owner/operators across the Lower Mainland find themselves ready for retirement after having founded and developed successful businesses and are considering a number of options for exiting.
‘Times are a changing.’ It’s no secret that we’re now seeing a demographic shift across North America, with the baby boom generation retiring and giving way to the next generation of entrepreneurs. However, for many of these business owners, the best approach to exiting the business isn’t clear. Some have children to pass the business onto, but this isn’t an easy decision and often times isn’t the best decision for either the parents or the children. For example, children may have played a minor role in the business so far but don’t have the desire (or the skillset) to take the CEO role and manage the entire business. Or, the children have pursued other careers and are not interested in being involved with the business. Even when children are involved and eager to take on the management of the business, it can be very difficult to structure a transaction that meets both the children’s requirement for limited capital investment and the parents’ requirement for cash to fund retirement and the pursuit of other interests, including significant travel, the purchase of real estate in warmer climates and the purchase of a boat to enjoy our (occasionally) fantastic summers here in the Lower Mainland. At Krystal Financial we aim to provide a Vancouver-based private equity alternative for business owners of mid-sized business that would like to exit and retire. For those business owners that don’t want to immediately let go of something they spent most of their lives building, we often welcome (if not encourage) vendors to remain involved in a strategic capacity, or, if desired, in the pursuit of ‘special projects’ that don’t invovle day-to-day management of the enterprise. We are happy to partner with an existing manager if he/she is willing and able to take on the leadership position; if an internal candidate isn’t available or isn’t a fit, we’ll search our network for a new CEO with a business background that matches to the industry or, in some cases, matches the specific product/service lines of your business. Or, it may be that your son or daughter is a good fit for running the business and you’d like to sell to them. We can partner with your children to purchase the business from you and have them co-invest alongside us. In any case, there are a number of ways to structure a transaction to ensure it meets your goals. Give us a call today at 604-659-1700 or email us at info@krystalfinancial.ca if you’d like to learn more about how we can work together to make the successful sale of your business a reality.