6 Common Exit Strategies for Contractors

Contracting is a capital-intensive and risky business with potentially volatile profit margins.

D. Brown Management Profile Picture
Share

The construction business is also amazing, with the owners making a good return on their capital. Management teams and employees earn a great living while building projects they can be proud of that will last for generations.

Succession: Six Common Exit Strategies for Contractors. Liquidation, Pass Down to Family, Strategic Sale to Outside Buyer, Merger with Similar Contractor, Sale to Management, Sale to Employees.

The majority of contractors are privately owned by a small group of people who are usually also managing the business. 

Over time, those owners need to: 

  • Reduce how much time they spend in the business
  • Get their capital out of the business
  • Reduce their risks

There are 6 common exit strategies for these owners:

  1. Wind Down / Liquidation
  1. Pass Down to Family
  1. Strategic Sale to Outside Buyer
  1. Merger With Similar Contractor
  1. Sale to Management
  1. Sale to Employees (ESOP)

Each of these strategies has different dynamics for the net valuation amount, time, and risk. Not every strategy is available to or right for every contractor.  

We will explore each of these in more detail with future posts to help you identify which might be best for your situation.  


6 Common Exit Strategies for Contractors
Continue building value in your business, yourself and your key team members with a good succession strategy....

6 Common Exit Strategies for Contractors
Continue building value in your business, yourself and your key team members with a good succession strategy....

ABC Daily Planning
Effective planning processes are the foundation for great production. The planning process can be seen as a series of tighter and tighter concentric circles with the bullseye being the daily plan. Daily feedback improves performance and mitigates risk.
Leveraging Geographic Expansion for Leadership Development
Geographic expansion is impacting all contractors whether it is major customers pulling them into new markets, new competition coming into their “hometown” or as a proactive strategic growth move by the contractor.
Project Income Projections
For a contractor to be effectively involved in the early stages of a project beyond understanding the whole project development budget, they must also understand the financing and cash flow of the project.