Business owners

Connect your business wealth with the life you want.

Investment management and financial planning for owners who are growing a business, considering a transition or managing wealth after a sale.

Explore your situation Talk with our team

Your business and personal wealth

Your business plays more than one role in your financial life.

Your business may be your largest asset and your main source of income. But value held in private shares is different from money available for your personal plans.

We work with your existing advisers to assess what business decisions mean for your financial plan and investments.

A business owner working on a tablet beside office windows.

Questions to start with

How much of my future depends on my business?

What would a sale need to provide?

How do I turn business wealth into personal freedom?

What matters at your stage?

Growing and operating

Build wealth beyond the business.

Decide what to reinvest, what to retain in the company and what to invest outside it, alongside family spending and commitments.

Explore the growth-stage guide

Preparing for a sale or succession

Understand what the transition needs to provide.

Compare a sale, family succession or a gradual step back with the income, control and capital you want to retain.

Explore the pre-sale guide

After a sale

Put your wealth to work for what comes next.

Plan for spending and reserves, then consider what your wealth could make possible for your family, giving and future ventures.

Explore the post-sale guide

Owner Exit Studio

What could your business make possible for you?

You do not need to be ready to sell to start. Compare what your business could provide with what your personal plans require, while there is still time to consider changes.

Owner Exit Studio is our internal tool for comparing potential sale proceeds with personal funding needs. Payment terms, taxes and timing can reveal a shortfall or a surplus, and four paths to explore with you and your advisers.

Your exit outcome

Know what your exit could fund.

Connect business value with what you need after a sale.

Modeled owner outcome
Headline value$18.00M
Fees & debt−$1.05M
Ownership, structure & timing−$4.17M
Estimated tax−$3.46M
After-tax owner outcome$9.32M
Personal funding target$12.69M
Gap identified$3.37M shortfall

Hypothetical illustration. These amounts explain the comparison; they are not a valuation, tax calculation or client result. Actual outcomes depend on the circumstances and assumptions.

Owner Exit Studio

For owners of operating businesses considering a sale.

From transaction to personal wealth

Four paths from the comparison.

The result gives us questions to work through, not a single prescribed answer.

Improve the business before a process

Would stronger cash flow, less owner dependence or more time change the outcome? Explore the implications with your business and transaction advisers.

Keep more through structure

Review ownership, tax and wealth structures with your legal and tax advisers before transaction timing limits your options.

Revisit now, sooner and later

Test what proceeds could fund today, what may need to wait and whether timing or spending expectations need to change.

Decide what a surplus makes possible

Consider family support, giving or another venture, including who makes decisions and when capital will be needed.

We bring these choices into your financial plan and investment strategy with your advisers, and revisit them as your circumstances and goals change.

The Owner Outcome Brief + worksheet

A sale in your future?

Use the Brief and worksheet to record what you know, what needs checking and the questions to take to your advisers.

Get the Brief and worksheet

10-page PDF and optional online worksheet.

Wealth after the sale

When your portfolio replaces your business income.

Plan how received proceeds will fund spending, remain invested through market volatility and support the goals your wealth makes possible.

What is available now, and what still depends on the business?

How will spending be funded when employment income stops?

What should the remaining wealth accomplish?

When markets fall, we review your spending needs, available liquidity and what has changed before deciding whether the portfolio needs to change.

Explore the post-sale guide See our investment approach

Start with how you get paid

Illustrative seller-wide amounts before tax.

Cash at close$9.24M62.3%
Escrow$1.60M10.8%
Earnout$4.00M27.0%
Seller note$00.0%
Rollover equity$00.0%

Cash at close is available now. Escrow and earnouts depend on payment terms; seller notes and rollover equity retain business exposure.

Keep what your plan can use

Reserve for tax and commitments before investing.

Cash received at close$9.24M
Less tax & commitmentsSet aside
Usable capitalAvailable for your plan

Your reserve depends on your structure and circumstances. Later proceeds enter the plan as they become available.

Give your capital different jobs

Illustrative mix
Example mix
  • Equities50%Long-term growth
  • Fixed income30%Planned maturities
  • Alternatives15%Longer-horizon capital
  • Cash5%Near-term needs

Illustrative mix, tailored to your goals and risk tolerance. Private markets require a separate liquidity plan.

Support your spending

Plan withdrawals with cash reserves and bond maturities.

Fund what comes next

Family, giving and future ventures, on your timeline.

Ownership, tax and estate

Coordinate how wealth is held and transferred.

Giving and family support

Decide what to give, when and how much flexibility to keep.

Family decisions

Clarify who participates and prepare the next generation.

These decisions can begin before a sale. We review the plan with you and your advisers as payments arrive, income changes and family priorities evolve.

How we work with you

How we work with your advisers.

We work together across investment management, financial planning, exit planning and the personal decisions that come with a major transition.

Our team brings together Mark Parent’s Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) designation, Christopher Bowlby’s CFA and CFP designations, and Debbie Bongard’s mastery training through the Financial Transitionist Institute.

Our team

Together, we develop your financial plan and manage your investments, taking account of your goals and the advice of your other professionals.

Your existing advisers

Your accountant, lawyer and transaction advisers remain responsible for their areas of expertise.

Relevant BMO specialists

Banking, insurance, trust or succession expertise may contribute where it is relevant to your situation.

Explore our services Meet our team

Insights for business owners

Articles for business owners.

Browse all articles

Business strategy and exit planning, written by Christopher Bowlby.

7 selected articles

Business strategy · Capital allocation

From Operator to Capital Allocator

Christopher Bowlby · Oct 9, 2026

The shift from solving daily problems to deciding where capital and management attention should go.

Read the article

Business strategy · Owner dependence

Can Your Business Run Without You for 30 Days?

Christopher Bowlby · May 22, 2026

A 30-day absence test for decision-making, customer relationships and management depth, whether or not you plan to sell.

Read the article

Exit planning · Readiness and timing

The Best Exit Work Happens Before You’re Ready to Exit

Christopher Bowlby · Jun 26, 2026

What changes when planning begins before an offer arrives.

Read the article

Exit planning · Personal funding needs

Most Owners Don’t Know Their Real Number

Christopher Bowlby · Mar 20, 2026

Work out what life after the business needs to cost before setting a sale-price target.

Read the article

Exit planning · Liquidity and payment terms

Headline Deal Value Is Not Liquidity

Christopher Bowlby · May 1, 2026

Explore the difference between cash at closing, deferred payments, contingent proceeds and retained equity.

Read the article

Exit planning · Ownership structure

Bad Structure Can Undo a Good Outcome

Christopher Bowlby · May 29, 2026

Why ownership and entity structures need to be reviewed with legal, tax and wealth advisers before a transaction compresses the timeline.

Read the article

Exit planning · Funding gaps

A Gap Is a Planning Problem, Not a Failure

Christopher Bowlby · Jun 12, 2026

What to reconsider when expected proceeds fall short of the capital your personal plan requires.

Read the article

Frequently asked questions

Questions before we begin.

For shared questions about fit, fees and scope, visit our Services page.

Read our service FAQs
Do I need to be ready to sell?

No. We work with owners who are growing and operating their businesses as well as those preparing for a transition or managing wealth after a sale. Planning also considers what your family would need if you had to step away unexpectedly. With your existing advisers and relevant specialists, we consider how an extended absence or a co-owner’s departure could affect your family’s finances.

Can you work with my existing advisers?

Yes. We work alongside your accountant, lawyer and other advisers. Each professional remains responsible for their area of expertise.

How does Owner Exit Studio help with planning a business sale?

Owner Exit Studio is a proprietary tool developed for our team to compare potential sale proceeds with your personal funding needs. We examine how sale assumptions could create a shortfall or a surplus. From there, we work with you and your advisers on what the outcome means for your financial plan, investments and goals, including support for the next generation, family decision-making and charitable giving.

Is a business sale price the amount I can use for my personal plans?

A headline sale price does not tell you how much will be available personally or when. Ownership, debt, fees, taxes, payment terms and retained equity can affect the proceeds available for spending and investment. Those assumptions need to be considered alongside your personal financial plan.

What if my business has outside investors?

This page connects an operating business with personal wealth. The Founders route focuses on investor-backed ownership, dilution and investor terms. More than one situation may apply. Explore founder planning

Can I engage you just for a financial plan?

Financial planning is part of our investment relationship. We do not offer standalone financial planning engagements. Read about working together

Talk through what comes next.

In our first conversation, we discuss what you’re deciding, how your business supports your family and what planning you already have in place. We explain how we work with your existing advisers and whether our investment management and planning relationship fits your needs.