How to Work With Business Owners: Starting the Exit-Planning Conversation (Part 1 of 4)
Part 1 of “How to Work With the Wealthiest Segment of the Population” — a four-part series from The Advisor’s Fuel Podcast with Adam Koós, CFP®, CMT®, CEPA.
The wealthiest segment of the population in the United States isn’t doctors, lawyers, or executives. It’s business owners. And it’s also the most underserved.
That combination — enormous wealth, almost no planning — is the single biggest opportunity most financial advisors are walking right past. This series is about how to capture it. Over four parts we’ll cover the full arc: starting the exit-planning conversation (this post), building the financial plan for the owner and spouse, how to prospect for and find owner clients, and a bonus round of growth-marketing ideas with some genuinely surprising results.
Part 1 answers the question that stops most advisors before they start: once you’re sitting across from a business owner, what do you actually talk about?
Start with the numbers, because they make the case better than any pitch could. According to the Exit Planning Institute:
That last pair is the whole story. Eighty percent of their wealth sits in one illiquid asset, and four out of five have no plan for converting it. When you show an owner that first stat, watch what happens: they’ll glance up, run the math on their own situation, and nod. That sounds about right. It resonates because it’s true, and most of them have never said it out loud.
There’s a common myth that this segment is already taken care of — that the big advisors have all the owners, that owners are high-maintenance, that the 401(k) work isn’t worth it. That’s the wrong read. The opportunity isn’t just managing money after a sale; it’s helping owners increase the value of the company, exit well, and plan for the life that comes after. And most of them have done none of that.
Here’s where it goes from “opportunity” to “someone has to help these people”:
If those don’t fire you up, nothing will. For an owner, the business is their baby; their identity is wrapped up in it. Selling without a plan for life after is like a pro athlete with no idea what comes after football. “I’ll move to Florida and play golf” is not a plan.
This is the part advisors dread, and it’s genuinely the easiest part. You don’t need years of exit-planning experience. You just need the truth.
When you sit down — lunch, breakfast, happy hour, doesn’t matter, everybody eats — get the personal stuff out of the way first, then get to business with something like this:
“The reason I wanted to sit down is that we help businesses grow and, ultimately, sell someday. You don’t have to be looking to sell in the next few years to work with us. But here’s why I do this: about 80% of a business owner’s net worth is tied up in their business.”
They’ll nod. Then you keep going:
“You might not believe this, but 80% of all companies never sell — they dissolve, and those owners lose that 80% of their net worth. And of the 20% that do sell, three-quarters sell for less than market value. Then, a year after selling, most owners say they regret it — because they never had a plan for what came next.”
By the second or third stat, they’re paying attention in a way they weren’t before. That’s the entire opening. No pressure, no product — just facts that matter.
Once you’ve got their attention, shift to what you typically see. Again, you don’t need a track record here — you can speak from the research. “A lot of the owners we see…” and then run down the list:
By the third or fourth bullet, they’re nodding at every one. That’s me. That’s me too. You’re not selling — you’re naming problems they already feel but have never had language for. That’s what makes the conversation easy, and it’s what makes them want your help.
Adam tells a story from 2008 that explains why he takes this so seriously. During the crash, he’d come home, kiss his wife, sneak into his home office, and hunt for things to sell on eBay so he could make the mortgage — because there wasn’t enough to cover both payroll and the house. Now imagine reaching the end of a whole career and having nothing to show for it because the business never sold.
That’s what’s on the table for the 80% who never plan. Helping an owner avoid that outcome isn’t a transaction. It’s the most meaningful work an advisor can do — and it happens to be the most lucrative and underserved niche in the profession.
If this series is sparking ideas for your own practice, here’s how to go deeper:
Stay tuned for Part 3, where we get into prospecting — how to actually find and win business owner clients.
Listen to the full episode and use these talking points in your next business owner conversation.