Selling Smart: How to Monetize Your Business Without Leaving Money on the Table

Dear Business Owner,

You’ve done the hard part.

You built a business. You weathered the tough years, grew a team, earned your customers’ trust, and turned your vision into something real. That’s not easy – and no one handed you a playbook.

But now you’re thinking about what’s next.

Maybe you’re ready to step back. Maybe you’re just tired of carrying the whole thing on your back. Or maybe you’ve got succession figured out – and now you want to know how to get your money out.

Here’s what I want you to hear loud and clear:

Selling your business isn’t the only way to get paid.

And selling the whole thing, all at once, isn’t always the smartest move.

I’ve worked with business owners for more than 20 years. Most of them think they’ve got two options:

1. Sell the company to a buyer and walk away.
2. Keep grinding until they burn out.

That’s a false choice.

What Does “Monetizing the Business” Really Mean?

It means turning the value of what you’ve built into personal wealth – without wrecking the business or losing control in the process.

You can stay in the game, keep your title, stay involved with the team – and still take some chips off the table. You can structure a partial exit. You can sell over time. You can pull money out while you’re still at the helm.

You can create a future that works for you, not just your customers and employees.

But only if you know your options.

Private Equity Isn’t the Only Game in Town

I get asked about PE a lot. And for some owners, usually those with high-growth, high-margin, scalable businesses – it’s a solid path.

But for a lot of folks? It’s not the right fit.

Why?

Because PE usually comes with pressure. Pressure to grow faster, cut harder, hit investor timelines. It means giving up control, fast. And if you’re not ready to walk away — or change everything about how your business runs — that can feel like selling your soul.

You don’t have to do that.

Six Ways to Get Your Money Out

Here are six real-world paths owners like you are using to monetize – without blowing up what they’ve built:

1. Internal Buyout: Sell to a family member or key employees over time.
2. ESOP: Turn employees into owners through a structured plan.
3. Partial Sale: Bring in a strategic partner or financial buyer – sell part, keep part.
4. Dividend Recap: Use cash flow to pay yourself out while staying in control.
5. Asset Sale with Earn-Out: Sell core parts of the business, get paid over time.
6. Roll-Up or Merger: Join forces with others to scale up and sell big later.

Each of these has pros, cons, and timing considerations — and they all require planning. But they work. And they give you real leverage when you’re thinking about life after ownership.

Real Business Owners Are Doing This – You Can Too

• One client sold 30% to her leadership team and took a 5-year payout. She’s mentoring them now, and still drawing income.
• Another used a dividend recap to take $1.2M out of the business – without changing a thing about ownership.
• A third joined a roll-up, stayed on as CEO, and just closed on a sale worth double what he would’ve gotten five years ago.

These aren’t unicorns. They’re business owners who took time to plan and execute, and got rewarded for it.

But It Only Works If You Get the Business Ready

You can’t monetize chaos.

If your business still relies on you to function, it’s not ready for any of this.

Here’s what you need to have in place:

• A strong #2 (or better, a full leadership team)
• Clean financials and reporting systems
• Documented processes
• A business that runs on systems, not on your involvement
• A clear idea of what you want next

Get those lined up, and you’ve got options. And power.

Start with This

You don’t need to have it all figured out. But you do need to start asking the right questions:

• What do I want financially when I exit?
• Do I want to walk away, or stay involved?
• How ready is my team to take the reins?
• What’s my business actually worth — and to whom?

If you don’t have answers yet, that’s okay. That’s what planning is for.

📅 Join Andi for the Live Webinar:

Monetizing Your Business: Smart Exit Strategies Beyond Private Equity

🗓️ September 17th

🕐 1:00 PM ET

💻 Live via Zoom

We’ll talk about:

• Six ways to get your money out of the business — with or without selling
• How to know if private equity is a fit (or a trap)
• What makes a business truly valuable to a buyer
• How to align your succession plan with your financial goals

👉 Click here to register

This isn’t about theory. It’s about real strategies for owners who’ve built real businesses — and want to get paid for it without giving up everything they’ve worked for.

Let’s get you options.