According to the Exit Planning Institute, 73% of privately held U.S. businesses were expected to transition through an exit between 2023 and 2033, representing a $14 trillion opportunity, and with 58% of baby boomer business owners in 2023 hoping to exit by 2028, the transition is already unfolding.
For advisors, that represents more than a macro trend. Given that many of these business owners will need trusted guidance on how to manage their liquidity after exiting, there’s a significant growth avenue for wealth advisors ready to assist.
By applying the same principles that drive sound financial planning — education, goal alignment and coordinated execution — most advisors can offer exit and succession planning without reinventing their practice.
Why Business Succession Belongs In Every Advisor’s Planning Toolkit
Advisors who help business owners understand the importance of a formal exit strategy can create a powerful win-win for both client and advisor. Every owner will eventually leave their business, whether through a transition to their family, an agreement with their employees or sale to a third party. Framing this reality early can help owners recognize the benefits of proactively implementing their exit plan — one of life’s most consequential decisions.
When advisors position succession as an extension of retirement and estate planning, clients may be more apt to see it not as a complex business transaction but as an essential part of their overall wealth strategy. That conversation alone can open the door to a deeper advisory relationship built on foresight and trust. Advisors who establish trust with owners before they exit are more likely to retain their trust in managing their clients’ post-exit liquidity. This introduces opportunities for increasing assets under management (AUM).
Aligning Goals, Priorities And Timelines
Much like personal planning, succession planning begins with helping clients pinpoint their goals and desired legacy. Advisors are naturally skilled at these types of conversations because they draw from the same soft skills advisors use every day.
Asking clients what they want to prioritize during a future exit opens a conversation around topics many advisors are already well-versed in — maximizing financial outcomes, protecting continuity, maintaining control or stepping away completely.
By helping clients think through their priorities early, advisors are better equipped to connect business outcomes to long-term personal objectives and ensure the client’s exit path is aligned to their goals. This can also aid in preventing hasty, emotion-driven decisions that can potentially erode value or increase tax exposure.
Explore Options, Then Coordinate
Once priorities are clear, advisors can introduce clients to the range of available exit paths and evaluate which ones best support their objectives. Much like personal financial planning, it’s important that advisors make it easy for clients to see and compare the key characteristics and trade-offs of each of the potential paths forward.
It’s important that advisors make it easy for clients to see and compare the key characteristics and trade-offs of each of the potential paths forward.
At this stage, advisors with access to the right resources act as coordinators — bringing together CPAs, attorneys, business consultants and other professionals to ensure each component of the plan works in concert. Acting as the quarterback of a team of professionals, advisors create cohesion across a client’s broader financial strategy while expert specialists handle the detailed execution.
This collaborative model mirrors how many advisors already approach estate or tax planning today and allows advisors to strengthen these centers of influence without having to add specialized expertise to their own personal skillset.
Maintain Accountability And Momentum
Exit planning isn’t a single event — it’s a multi-year process that should evolve alongside business performance and the owner’s personal situation. Annual check-ins around personal planning should include tracking progress against exit planning action items as the exit date approaches. These conversations naturally fit into regular touchpoints on investment strategies, retirement projections or estate objectives.
Advisors who maintain a regular review cadence with their business owner clients can strengthen their relationships, gradually earning their trust and potentially the opportunity to manage their liquidity after exit.
The Emotional Side Of Exit Strategy Planning
While the financial implications of a business exit are significant, the emotional side can be equally complex. For many owners, their company represents decades of effort and identity. Advisors who take the time to discuss life after the business — whether that means philanthropy, new ventures or simply more time with family — can help clients navigate the transition with confidence and purpose.
Owners who have tangible goals beyond the exit are more likely to be satisfied and more proactive in their planning.
Asking how the client plans to spend their time and how involved they want to be in the business during and after a transition starts key conversations closely aligned with retirement and estate planning. Owners who have tangible goals beyond the exit are more likely to be satisfied and more proactive in their planning, and advisors can use these goals to directly inform the broader financial plan.
Leading these discussions with an empathetic, forward-looking approach can turn a difficult conversation into one of the most rewarding aspects of an advisory relationship.
Tools That Bring It All Together
As demand for succession and exit planning grows, advisors no longer need to build these processes from scratch.
New technology and planning platforms can help streamline assessments, visualize potential outcomes and generate actionable next steps — allowing advisors to stay focused on what they do best: clarifying goals, guiding clients and coordinating strategy.
By combining human insight with structured, technology-enabled planning, advisors can make succession conversations more approachable and impactful — without the need for any additional training or technical expertise.
A Natural Addendum To What Advisors Already Do
Succession and exit planning aren’t new offerings — they’re natural extensions of comprehensive financial planning. The same principles that guide retirement, wealth transfer and estate planning apply seamlessly to business transitions.
For advisors who engage, the benefits are mutual: Owners gain clarity and peace of mind, while advisors deepen relationships and expand reach in a market poised for historic wealth transfer.
Helping business clients plan their next move doesn’t require advisors to reinvent themselves.
Helping business clients plan their next move doesn’t require advisors to reinvent themselves. It only leverages the same skills that make great advisors invaluable at every other stage of the financial planning journey.
Alex Michaels is Head of Product at RISR, a platform designed to help advisors grow their practice with business owners.
