Austec Business Transitions, LLC

06/18/2026

Rain can delay a farmer's plans, but poor preparation can ruin them. The same is true when selling a business.

06/17/2026

If you neglect to fix issues in your company along the way, the day you decide to sell may end up looking a lot like a guy I knew who took his car to CarMax for an appraisal, crossing his fingers and hoping for the best.

06/17/2026

Most consider exit strategies to be for successful exits, however, exit strategies also exist for companies floundering and heading for bankruptcy.

1. Out-of-Court Restructuring
2. Sell the Business (Distressed Sale)
3. Orderly Wind-Down / Liquidation
4. Default / Closure (Last Resort)

06/16/2026

Another conversation I encourage owners at any stage to read.

https://prepareexittransition.substack.com/p/owner-conversations-life-after-the

06/15/2026

Often the “ahh ha moment” comes after the mistake is made. However, you can gain “ahh ha moments” by learning from the mistakes of others and avoiding the pain from self discovery.

06/14/2026

3 stages of a company before an exit:

1. Growth Phase – Build revenue, customers, and market share.

2. Optimization Phase – Improve systems, increase efficiency, strengthen margins, and reduce dependence on the founder.

3. Exit Phase – Present a clean, predictable, and scalable business that is attractive to buyers.

06/14/2026

I've learned one important lesson from gardening: you need to keep your boots in the garden. Otherwise, one day you'll wake up to find half your plants being eaten by pests or dying from fungus.

Great farmers don't wait until harvest to walk their fields. Neither should business owners wait until burnout to evaluate their business.

06/13/2026

Tom shrugged. “Honestly? Don’t know yet. Part of me wants to work till I drop. Other part’s thinking maybe my wife’s right. Maybe there’s more trips to take. More life outside the office.”

Learning From Conversations

06/12/2026

One study found that the typical business ownership lifecycle ranges from 13.2 to 20.4 years. Understanding this timeline can help you anticipate when burnout may occur or when you may feel a desire to pursue something new. With that in mind, plan accordingly.

06/12/2026

When I started in exit planning more than 10 years ago, I thought it was short-term work focused on preparing a company for sale or an internal transfer. But one day I realized that the ideal time to begin the process is when the owner is still 7 to 10 years away from exiting the business.