Exit Right: A Guided Tour of Succession Planning for Families-in-Business-Together by Mark Voeller, Linda Fairburn, and Wayne Thompson.  Toronto:  Summit Run Inc., 2002, 144 pp., 6 x 9, $15.00 US/$22.50 CAN paper. Business
ISBN 0-9687928-1-2

Over 80% America’s 18 million business are family-owned — including 37% of the Fortune 500 and 50% of all publically-traded companies. According to recent surveys, more than half of their owners will be reaching retirement age in the next ten years. Fewer than half of them have developed plans for leadership succession and ownership transfer!

Small wonder. Succession planning can seem overwhelmingly complex — thick volumes have been written on the legal, financial, taxation, investment and management aspects of the process.

Exit Right is neither thick nor technical — it’s written for business people, not academics. This is a quick and easy read, a “20,000 foot view” of the process designed to help business owners distinguish the forest from the trees and address the personal and family needs that their strategic and financial planning strategies must satisfy. It provides a practical step-by-step process for developing a plan that truly serves both the emotional and financial needs of the owner and his or her family as well as the long-term health of the business.

Exit Right will not replace expert advice. It will, however, help family business owners become more sophisticated consumers of the professional services they’ll require as they plan their “exit.”

Mark Voeller of Dallas Texas and Linda Fairburn of Guelph Ontario are family business advisors — an emerging breed of consultant specializing in helping families-in-business-together balance family harmony with business effectiveness. Exit Right is a distillation of their considerable experience in “quarterbacking” family business succession planning efforts. 

What people are saying about Exit Right

"Exit Right provides a road map of the issues, options, and resources to help business owners face succession proactively.

Each of the book’s seven main chapters is laid out in a clear and organized manner.  The writing is clear and concise, with a practical tone-ideal for the intended audience.  Within the seven main chapters, the format is to raise key questions, point out underlying issues, and then at the end of each topic, present the reader with a series of questions for exploration.  Finally, there are some suggested action steps to take.

The authors do a very good job of making this an easy-to-read book.  The book is accessible, clearly written, pragmatic, and raises the issues to consider when facing the succession process.  It has just enough statistics and research to give credibility without appearing too academic or theoretical.  The authors also do a good job of synthesizing and distilling much of the information from the field into short, clear chapters.  For example, they cover systems thinking in just over three pages, yet they do it well.  Likewise, they cover the topic of choosing a consultant or understanding lifecycles in fewer than two pages each. The book also succeeds in providing an overall framework to the reader by describing the pattern of the succession process.

Exit Right fulfills its objective of being a quick read in terms of content, format, and topic coverage, making it an ideal read for business owners both in substance and form."

Greg McCann. Family Business Review, vol. XV, no. 2, June 2002 (c) p.p. 161-162. A publication of the Family Firm Institute (www.ffi.org).

"Rarely does a book address a complex subject matter in such a way as to make it readily understandable to the reader — Exit Right is a rare book. In short, this is a great book to give your client and a great resource for consultants who need a checklist of areas to consider when working with a family business."

Alan C. Campbell, Ph.D., Family Business Partners, Mass Mutual

"Exit Right is breezily written, with chapters divided into key issues that an entrepreneur must consider, followed by some questions that will help him or her explore the issue and take steps to turn decisions into reality."

Harvey Schachter, The Globe and Mail

"Of all the succession planning books I've ever seen, I think Exit Right is the best one for business owners. It is comprehensive, yet crisp and to the point. A must read"

Rich Snebold