Every professional sports team chasing a championship understands one unbreakable truth: talent and effort alone are never enough. Even the most elite athletes, captains, superstars, and veterans, do not coach themselves. They play the game, while someone else watches it. Yet in business, owners routinely attempt the impossible: leading the team, making the plays, managing the pressure, and coaching the strategy, all at the same time. This is not a matter of intelligence or w

For most business owners, their company is far more than a source of income. It is their identity, their life’s work, and often their retirement plan. When the time finally comes to exit, the stakes are enormous. Yet one of the most common, and most expensive mistakes owners make is believing that value is created solely through strong financials, a good market, or a capable advisor team. In reality, the single greatest limiter (or accelerator) of exit value is the owner them

For most privately held business owners, deciding to sell is one of the most significant decisions of their life. The business is rarely just an asset, it is their income, their identity, their legacy, and often their retirement plan. Yet despite years of effort and good intentions, a majority of owners who attempt to sell their business never complete a transaction . This failure is not usually due to a lack of buyers or market interest. Instead, it stems from a disconnect b

For most privately held business owners, their company is far more than a source of income. It is their largest asset, their retirement plan, their identity, and often their legacy. Yet despite this reality, one of the most common, and costly failures in the advisory ecosystem is the collective silence around succession and exit planning. Accountants, lawyers, financial planners, insurance advisors, group benefits specialists, and other trusted professionals often serve busin

For most business owners, building a leadership team feels like an internal growth initiative, something you focus on to reduce your workload, improve execution, or prepare for “someday.” What many owners fail to realize is that the way they build, mentor, and empower their leaders quietly determines the quality of their eventual exit long before a buyer ever appears. When the time comes to sell or transition, buyers are not just evaluating financial statements. They are asse

For most Canadian business owners, their company represents far more than a source of income. It is their largest asset, their identity, their legacy, and often their retirement plan. Yet despite this reality, many owners delay serious exit preparation until they are forced  to act, as a result of age, burnout, health, market changes, or an unsolicited buyer knocking at the door. This delay is one of the most expensive mistakes a privately held business owner can make. Exit p

Most business owners do not decide  to procrastinate on exit planning. They simply stay busy. There is always another fire to put out, another customer to win, another year that “should be better than the last.” The business is profitable. Cash flow is decent. The owner is still capable. Selling feels distant, even optional. And that is precisely where the danger lies. Exit preparation is not something you do when you are ready to sell . It is something you do years before yo

As we head into 2026, many business owners are looking ahead wondering what the next few years will bring, what opportunities might emerge, and whether their business is truly ready for whatever comes next. And while the holidays often bring reflection, they also bring a gentle reminder: time moves faster than we think. In the world of business transitions, that truth hits especially hard. Too many owners wait until they want to sell to start preparing, only to discover that

Why the smartest sellers begin preparing long before they intend to exit With economic uncertainty, demographic pressure, and a rising wave of retiring business owners, the next few years will see accelerated activity in the private business market. Owners considering a sale between 2026 and 2029 must begin preparing well before they enter a formal process. Buyers are more selective than ever, premium valuations are awarded only to the most prepared companies, and due diligen

One of the most overlooked elements of succession planning isn’t on your org chart at all — it’s the successor’s ability to network . The leaders who can build rapport, open doors, and form meaningful business relationships are the ones who actually grow companies . They’re the rainmakers . If your future leadership team can’t confidently build a network, you’re not setting them up to lead your business. You’re setting them up to maintain it. And businesses that merely mainta

Premium-Value Exit Most growth frameworks help you run a better business. Some help you scale. A few will help you think more strategically, and others help you reflect on your role as a founder. But none of them were designed with one ultimate objective in mind: To transform a lifestyle, owner-dependent business into a best-in-class, scalable, transferable asset that a sophisticated buyer will pay a premium for, within a defined timeframe. This is where MExit Inc.’s BGTP © i

Many business owners underestimate the complexity of preparing their company for sale. They often engage their accountant once a year for tax filing and assume their financial house is in order. Yet, when the time comes to sell, they discover a painful truth, their financial story does not hold up under the scrutiny of a buyer or a valuation firm. This is where a Fractional CFO (Chief Financial Officer)  can make a transformational difference. A Fractional CFO does not just “

When it comes to growing an advisory practice, nothing, absolutely nothing, beats referrals. Referrals are the purest, most powerful form of business development there is. They come pre-qualified, pre-sold, and pre-trusted. But here’s the catch: you can either sit around waiting for them, or you can build a system that makes them happen . That’s exactly what we’ve done with the Client Acquisition Lifecycle™ (CAL) , our proprietary methodology for business growth and exit advi

Most business owners understand the value of increasing their company’s profitability and market worth. What many do not realize  is that early value acceleration unlocks one of the largest and most powerful financial opportunities available to Canadian entrepreneurs : the ability to multiply the Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption (LCGE)  and extract significantly more of the business sale proceeds tax-free . Starting early isn’t simply beneficial, it is a financial game-change

Every business owner dreams of the day they can confidently say, “The company no longer needs me.” It is the defining moment when your enterprise has become self-sustaining, a true asset that can outlive your direct involvement. Yet for many owners, that day never comes. They remain the hub of every decision, the keeper of every relationship, and the driver of every initiative. When they step away, the business stumbles. The reason? The organization never learned how to think

In this article I hope to raise awareness among you, the small to medium sized business owners, especially for those of you in the industrial/commercial services sector, of the emotional, identity-based, and behavioural obstacles that often derail a well-planned exit, so you can proactively address them (before it’s too late). The Hidden Obstacle: Letting Go is Not Just a Business Decision You built the business from the ground up. It is more than cash flow, more than EBITDA,

You Took the Risk - You Deserve the Reward You’ve done the hard work: you saw an opportunity, perhaps left a stable job, committed your personal capital, maybe guaranteed loans, worked long hours and navigated uncertainty so that your business could succeed. That’s risk. You did it not just for you, but for your team, your family and the community around you. Small- and mid-sized businesses are the engine of our economy: they provide jobs, spur innovation, and sustain local c

Most business owners think of growth and exit  as two separate conversations, one about driving performance, the other about stepping away. But they’re wrong. In reality, the two are deeply intertwined. A business that is systematically improving how it operates, leads, and measures success is not just growing, it’s becoming more valuable, more resilient, and more ready . That’s why the MExit Business Growth Transformation (BGT)  framework exists. It’s more than a method for

Across Canada, privately held small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of our economy. They represent 98% of all...

For most small business owners, the day they step away from their company will be the single most important financial event of their...