Exit Planning Process
When you are ready to exit, the sale itself becomes a deliberate process. Pair the right buyer to your goals, structure a deal that protects what matters, and close on terms you actually want.
Gate 3 is the final gate of the Exit Planning Institute's Value Acceleration Methodology. By the time an owner gets here, the business has been valued (Gate 1) and prepared for value growth (Gate 2). What happens next is not a transaction. It is the execution of a plan the owner has been building since the day they decided exit was the goal.
When Gate 3 begins
There is no single right moment to move from Prepare into Decide. Most owners get here for one of four reasons:
Common Gate 3 triggers
- Score plateau. The Value Builder Score has climbed and stabilized. The remaining lift would take more time than the owner wants to invest.
- Owner readiness alignment. The personal financial plan, the business value, and the owner's life goals all line up. The owner is genuinely ready.
- Market window. Industry consolidation, multiples expansion, or a known strategic buyer showing up makes now the right time.
- A 5 D event. Death, Disability, Divorce, Disagreement, or Distress forces Gate 3 to run in compressed form. One of the strongest arguments for never delaying Gates 1 and 2.
The highest bidder is not always the right buyer.
The right buyer matches your personal goals, your team's future, and your legacy. They are almost always worth more in the long run, in earn-out reliability, in transition smoothness, and in what gets left behind.
How we run Gate 3
Our exit-execution process draws on IEPA methodology and runs alongside Duran's sell-side M&A practice. Six steps from confirmation to close.
Re-measure the Value Builder Score and confirm the personal financial plan still lines up. If anything has shifted, we resolve it before we go to market.
We formalize the engagement and document the ideal-buyer profile against your financial, personal, and legacy goals. That profile is the rule book for everything that follows.
We build the Confidential Information Memorandum, the data room, and the financial package. The business gets presented to buyers the way it would present in a clean, well-run state. By Gate 3, it is.
We work our proprietary buyer list, strategic acquirers, financial sponsors, family offices, and qualified individuals, against the buyer profile. Confidentially. We never broadcast.
Every serious buyer gets measured not just on price, but on cultural fit, deal structure, transition plan, employee considerations, and legacy alignment. We narrow to the buyer who actually matches.
Letter of intent, due diligence, definitive agreement, closing. We negotiate alongside your attorneys and accountants to land on terms that match what you set out to achieve in Step 1.
A note on methodology
Duran Advisors' senior leadership completed the IEPA Certified Business Exit Consultant (CBEC) education program and serves on IEPA's Membership and Education Committees. The firm's Gate 3 process draws on IEPA's exit-planning methodology and runs inside Duran Advisors' sell-side M&A practice and the EPI Value Acceleration framework. The result is one cohesive process, not a hand-off between disconnected advisors.
Gate 3 and Duran's sell-side practice
One firm, the full path.
For owners who arrive at Gate 3 having worked through Gates 1 and 2 with us, the exit is a continuation. It is not a new engagement with new advisors learning your business from scratch. We already know the value drivers, the operational levers, the team, and the goals. Buyers see a well-prepared business represented by an M&A advisor who has been inside it for years.
For owners who arrive at Gate 3 from somewhere else, we still run the full process. Gate 1 (a confirming valuation) and a compressed Gate 2 review usually come first, so we sell the right business at the right moment for the right buyer.
Begin your Gate 3 conversation
Tell us where you are. We will tell you whether you are ready, and what it would take to be.
Start the conversationCredentials & methodology authority
Duran Advisors' senior leadership has been making deals for 15+ years, valuing, growing, and selling businesses across Louisiana and the Gulf South. Gate 3 work pulls on the firm's M&A advisory credentials and its exit-planning methodology training.
- CM&AA
- M&AMI
- CEPA
- CBEC (Education)
- IEPA Board
- 15+ Years