Business Owner & Exit Planning
Westlake Village, California
You spent decades building it. The sale is only the beginning of the next decision.
For business owners in the Conejo Valley, a sale isn't an endpoint — it's the moment your financial life changes shape. We help you plan the years before, during, and after, so the transition serves the life you want next.
At a Glance
Sorensen Wealth Management helps business owners in Westlake Village and the greater Conejo Valley plan the financial life around a business transition — before, during, and after a sale.
Who We Help
Planning for owners whose next chapter is already taking shape
Much of your wealth may still live inside the business. That makes the decisions ahead different from anything a portfolio alone can answer.
Owners a few years from selling
You're not on the market yet, but the horizon is real, and the choices you make now shape the timing, the tax picture, and what you walk away with.
Owners in an active transaction
A letter of intent is on the table or a deal is underway, and the structure of the sale is about to shape your finances for decades.
Owners after a liquidity event
The sale has closed. Now proceeds, taxes, and “what do we do with this” questions all arrive at once, and many of the old rules no longer apply.
Executives with concentrated positions
Equity compensation, a large single stock position, or deferred comp has created real wealth, and real complexity to work through.
The Arc of a Transition
A sale has three chapters. Often, planning only covers one.
The transaction gets all the attention. But the decisions that shape your life are spread across the whole arc — and the earlier they're considered, the more options you tend to have.
BEFORE
Preparing: Understanding what the business may need to provide, how timing and deal structure could affect the tax picture, and what “enough” would actually look like on the other side. Coordinated with your CPA and transaction counsel.
DURING
Deciding: As terms take shape, so do the financial consequences — cash versus earnout, timing of proceeds, concentration risk. We help you see how each choice ripples into the years that follow.
AFTER
Redeploying: Proceeds need a purpose. Income, taxes, family, giving, and what comes next all move from abstract to immediate — and in many cases, this is where a clear plan matters most.
The SWM Wealth Navigator
A relationship, built in five deliberate steps
I. Exploratory Call
A relaxed first conversation about where you are with the business, what's on the horizon, and whether there is a mutual fit. OBJECTIVE: CLARITY ON FIT AND THE RIGHT NEXT CONVERSATION.
II. Connection Visit
We map the people, priorities, and decisions already shaping your financial life so the relationship starts with context. OBJECTIVE: A CLEARER PICTURE OF WHAT MATTERS MOST RIGHT NOW.
III. Possibility Session
We examine what a transition may make possible and where the biggest planning choices or tradeoffs live. OBJECTIVE: A MORE CONCRETE SENSE OF WHAT MAY BE POSSIBLE.
IV. Vision Meeting
Planning, investments, and next-step priorities are aligned around the life your wealth is meant to support after the sale. OBJECTIVE: A MORE INTENTIONAL PATH AND CLEARER DECISIONS.
V. Ongoing Relationship
As life evolves, the work continues through reviews, planning decisions, and thoughtful coordination over time. OBJECTIVE: CONTINUITY, CONTEXT, AND A STEADY DECISION PARTNER.
Business Owners Might Face The Following Questions
“What happens after the business sells?”
A liquidity event creates options and complexity at the same time. Thoughtful sequencing, before and after the sale, shapes everything that follows. THEME: TRANSITION · Finding steady ground when everything changes at once.
“Who am I when I'm not running it?”
For many owners the business is identity as much as income. The financial plan is only part of it; the harder question is what the next chapter is meant to hold. THEME: IDENTITY · Planning for the life, not only the money.
“Will the proceeds actually last?”
Wealth that arrives all at once feels different from wealth that accrued slowly. We can help you see what possibilities exist for you in the decades ahead. THEME: LONGEVITY · Exploring ways to turning a one-time event into long-term income.
“How do I take care of the people I care about?”
Family, key employees, causes that matter. A sale is often the moment these intentions become concrete. We help you think them through alongside your attorney. THEME: LEGACY · Aligning the outcome with what matters most.
FAQ
A: As early as you're willing. Many of the choices that shape the tax picture and your options later are made before a deal closes, sometimes years before. Planning after the sale is still valuable, but starting earlier tends to leave more paths open.
A: No. Those professionals are essential, and we work alongside them, not around them. With your permission, we coordinate so the financial planning, tax, and legal pieces are considered together rather than in isolation. We do not provide legal or tax advice.
A: Yes — planning around a business transition, before, during, and after a sale, is part of the work we do. A liquidity event raises questions about timing, taxes, spending, and what comes next, and those questions deserve to be thought through as one picture.
A: That's often the best time to begin. The years before a transition are when preparation has the most room to work — from understanding what the business may need to provide, to how structure and timing could affect the eventual outcome.
A: Fit is less about a single number and more about complexity, responsibility, and the desire for a deeper advisory relationship. The Exploratory Call is how we find out together.
A: The Exploratory Call is brief and unhurried: you tell us where things stand with the business and what's on your mind, we describe how we work, and we both decide whether a Connection Visit makes sense. Nothing is prepared for you to buy.
Begin with a conversation, not a commitment.
Whether a sale is years away or already underway, the decisions ahead are easier with a steady partner in the room. An Exploratory Call is the natural first step.