In this promotional interview, host Tina Corner Stolz (Speaker A) introduces Erik Owen of Oak Hill Business Partners (Speaker B), who will present on October 18 at Live Exchange 2024. Erik explains what exit planning entails—a comprehensive process for business owners and their advisors to prepare for eventual departure, whether through retirement, sale, or unexpected events. He emphasizes that many owners neglect this planning, likening it to never starting a 401(k) until retirement, which can leave them unprepared when the time comes. The conversation then shifts to the unique role of peer‑group moderators (e.g., Marty Griffin) in conveying exit‑planning knowledge. Because moderators operate in trusted, deep‑relationship settings, they can surface critical information that owners might otherwise miss amid a noisy market of sellers and advisors. Erik outlines several scenarios that make exit planning essential, such as unexpected acquisition offers, health or life events, and the uncertainty of reaching a planned retirement horizon. The interview closes with an invitation for listeners to attend Erik’s session at Live Exchange 2024.
Chapters
Hello everyone, I have Eric Owen here of Oak Hill Business Partners, and I'm excited that he is speaking at our conference this October on day 2. So it's October 18th at Live Exchange 2024, but the topic that Eric is speaking about is so, so important. So Eric, will you share with the audience what your topic is?
Sure, we're, uh, we're going to spend a little time talking about what is exit planning. Um, it's, uh, You know, it's not a complicated description, right? Exit and planning. But there's a lot packed in there and a lot for business owners and their advisors to think about. So I'm excited to have a discussion with the audience about what does it mean to do exit planning and how do you do that?
So great. And so let's break that down real quick for for those listening as to why is it important for a business owner or CEO running a business to hear about this topic?
Yeah, it's— Tina, it's a fantastic question. I think the biggest reason is because we don't spend any time thinking about it. We spend all our time in the weeds running our business, getting our— the day-to-day stuff done, and 20, 30, 40 years sneaks up on us and all of a sudden we're at the end and we want to get out and we haven't done any planning for it. It'd be the equivalent of not ever starting a 401(k) and then getting to the end of your career and saying, oh yeah, I want to retire. Maybe I should start saving. And so that's why it's important. You know, I could rattle off 20 reasons, but that's really the fundamental thing. It's about being ready.
Excellent, succinct answer there. And I'd like to ask you also, why is it important for a moderator who is running peer groups about hearing this topic? Because, Eric, you participate in one, so you can actually talk now from both sides since you are a member of a group.
Yeah, Marty Griffin is my moderator and he's fantastic. And I get a lot out of that group. I get a lot out of my group because we, we know each other, we go deep, we trust each other. And I can't think of a better place, honestly, for your moderators to understand that they need to share this really important information with a business owner because If they don't, they might not be hearing it anywhere else. One, two, they might not trust the people that are presenting to it because everybody's trying to sell them something. Everybody's out there knocking on their door trying to sell them something, and they don't know who to trust. And one of the key components of that, of your peer groups, Tina, and, and ours for sure, is that trust factor. So if Marty came to me and said, Eric, you really need to understand this, this is important to you, my ears perk up and I'm listening really deeply. And there's a million reasons why it's important for it to be shared, right? Again, the preparedness, the fact that they're, We don't know if we're gonna make it all the way to 30 or 40 years. We don't know what's gonna happen between now and then. What happens when something bad happens? Or what happens when something good happens? Somebody brings you an offer early, and how do you know if that's the right offer, if that's what you wanna do, if you haven't been doing any thinking about it? So there's a lot of reasons why doing this discussion in a really trusted space with your moderator in your LX Council group is a great idea.
Excellent. Well, I can see why anyone listening to this should take this topic seriously. And to everyone out there, we hope that you join us on October 18th and hear Eric. Thank you, Eric. We'll see you soon.
