Exit Factor

A business advisory franchise helping owners improve company value, reduce owner dependence and prepare for an eventual sale or succession.

Many business owners spend decades building a company without spending much time preparing for the day they eventually want to leave it.

Exit Factor works on that problem.

Founded by entrepreneur and business broker Jessica Fialkovich, the company advises owners on improving the value and saleability of their businesses before an eventual exit. That can involve examining profitability, recurring revenue, dependence on the owner, operating processes and other issues that could affect what a buyer is prepared to pay.

The timing is what distinguishes the service from conventional business brokerage. A broker is normally involved when an owner is preparing to sell. Exit Factor can begin working with that owner years earlier, when there is still time to change the company.

A business that relies heavily on its founder, for example, may be perfectly capable of generating a good income for that person while still being difficult for somebody else to acquire. Improving management, documenting processes or reducing owner dependence can therefore affect both the quality of the business and its eventual value.

Franchisees work directly with business owners, making this a professional B2B advisory operation rather than a retail business. Clients may include entrepreneurs approaching retirement as well as younger owners who simply want to understand what their company is worth and how to increase that value.

Local professional relationships can play an important role in finding those clients. Accountants, lawyers, lenders, wealth advisers and business brokers regularly meet owners facing succession or sale decisions and can become valuable referral sources.

Exit Factor is part of United Franchise Group, giving the concept a larger franchise organisation behind its development. For the individual franchisee, however, credibility remains personal. Owners need to be comfortable discussing finances, challenging assumptions and working with entrepreneurs who may have a substantial portion of their wealth tied up in the company.

It is a franchise built around a problem that is easy for business owners to postpone. Exit Factor's job is to make the business more valuable before the owner reaches the point where postponement is no longer an option.