Exit planning toolkit introduced for small business owners

(The Center Square) – The Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs at Western Illinois University has unveiled a new toolkit for small business owners.

The Small Business Exit Planning toolkit is designed to help small business owners plan a business exit strategy and access resources to help execute that plan.

Chris Merrett, dean for Innovation and Economic Development and director of the IIRA at WIU, said the toolkit can help business owners get a fair market price when they go to sell.

“We also want the business owner to find a viable buyer and then to make a transition plan that is successful so that that business succeeds to the next generation. This toolkit is designed for the current business owner. It’s also a toolkit for local economic developers, who are rightfully worried that a bad business plan or a nonexistent business plan when that person goes to sell their business could mean a failed business succession, an empty storefront. It could mean employees that no longer have a job, and sort of an erosion of the community business ecosystem,” Merrett said.

Merrett said the toolkit was not developed only for existing business owners.

“It’s about keeping jobs. It’s about promoting the broader economic sustainability for the community,” Merrett added.

Merrett said many business owners don’t have an exit strategy in place.

Citing data from the U.S. Small Business Administration, Merrett said a higher proportion of the economy is reliant on small businesses in Downstate and rural parts of Illinois.

“It’s really the economic foundation of many communities, the mom-and-pop shop, the restaurant, but also, this toolkit is also very suitable for farms,” Merrett said.

The Small Business Exit Planning toolkit is free to use. Merrett said it’s a first step, but there’s a caveat.

“We would say a business owner should never undertake a succession on their own,” Merrett said.

The Small Business Exit Planning toolkit can be found at https://iira.org/small-business-exit-planning/.

Merrett said the project was supported by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

In August, business network Alignable released the survey results from over six-thousand small business owners around the country and found that 73% are generating less income in 2024 than they did in 2023.

Merrett said the IIRA is very interested in the Main Street economy.

“I think it’s always a challenge, but you’re right, we’re in tumultuous times. It’s a challenge in smaller towns, although it’s an issue everywhere,” Merrett said.

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