A live workshop is one of the strongest top-of-funnel tools an exit planning advisor has. Owners who would never book a sales call will sign up for a 60 to 90 minute session that promises to answer a question they think about often: is my business ready to sell, and am I ready to leave it. The workshop lets you teach, build trust, and let owners self-identify as ready to work with you.
This article gives you a full slide-by-slide outline you can copy and adapt. It is built for a room of privately held business owners, most of whom have never been through a transaction. Each slide includes the section title, the talking points to hit, and notes on what to show. The close uses a soft call to action, and the whole outline is written to stay inside the compliance lines that apply to advisors.
What this workshop is (and is not)
An owner workshop is an education-first event. Its job is to give owners a clear mental model of exit planning and to make the next private conversation feel like the obvious step. It is not a pitch deck, and it is not the place to project a sale price for anyone in the room.
Keep the promise narrow. You are helping owners understand the process, the timeline, and the questions they need to answer before a sale. You are not promising an outcome. That distinction matters for the content and, as covered below, for compliance.
The slide-by-slide outline
The structure below runs about 12 slides across roughly 75 minutes with time for questions. Use it as a skeleton and cut sections to fit your slot. Section titles are in bold so you can lift them straight into your deck.
Slide 1: Title and your standing to teach this
Talking points: name the workshop plainly, for example “Getting Your Business Ready to Sell.” Introduce yourself in two sentences. State how many owner transitions you have supported and the kinds of businesses you work with, without naming clients. Set the agenda and the running time so the room knows what to expect.
Slide 2: Why owners wait too long
Talking points: most owners start planning their exit when a buyer, a health event, or burnout forces the issue. Planning under pressure limits options. Frame the core idea: the best time to prepare is years before you plan to leave, because the value drivers you can influence take time to build.
Slide 3: The two readiness questions
Talking points: separate business readiness from personal readiness. Business readiness asks whether the company can run and grow without the owner. Personal readiness asks whether the owner knows what they will do, and live on, after the sale. Owners tend to focus only on the first. The workshop earns its keep by naming the second.
Slide 4: What actually drives value
Talking points: walk through the value drivers you can teach in plain language, such as recurring revenue, customer concentration, documented systems, a management team that is not the owner, and clean financials. Make the point that buyers pay more for a business that runs without the seller. Show the table below.
| Value driver | What buyers look for | Owner action |
|---|---|---|
| Owner dependence | Business runs without the owner day to day | Build and document a management layer |
| Customer concentration | No single client dominates revenue | Diversify the customer base over time |
| Recurring revenue | Predictable, repeatable income | Add contracts, retainers, or subscriptions |
| Financial clarity | Clean, reviewed statements | Tighten bookkeeping and reporting early |
| Documented systems | Processes that survive staff turnover | Write down how the work gets done |
Slide 5: The exit options menu
Talking points: lay out the common paths without recommending one for the room. Third-party sale, sale to a private equity buyer, transfer to family, sale to management, and employee ownership each have different timelines and trade-offs. The message: the right path depends on the owner’s goals, not on a formula.
Slide 6: How value is estimated (and its limits)
Talking points: explain at a high level how businesses are commonly valued, such as a multiple applied to earnings. Then set expectations clearly. A workshop room is not the place for a specific number, and any real figure requires a full engagement and current financials. Say that plainly. It builds credibility and keeps you compliant.
Slide 7: The exit planning timeline
Talking points: show a simple timeline that runs from early preparation through the transaction and into life after the sale. Emphasize that the preparation stage is the longest and the one owners control most. This slide reframes exit planning as a multi-year project rather than an event.
Slide 8: The team an owner needs
Talking points: name the roles involved in a well-run exit, such as the exit planning advisor, the CPA, the transaction attorney, and the wealth or financial advisor. Position yourself as the coordinator who helps the owner assemble and align that team. This is where your role becomes concrete.
Slide 9: Common mistakes owners make
Talking points: cover three or four failure patterns, such as waiting for a buyer to appear, running the business lean to hide profit, ignoring personal financial planning, and treating the first offer as the only offer. Each mistake maps back to a value driver or a readiness question from earlier slides.
Slide 10: A simple self-assessment
Talking points: give the room a short checklist they can score themselves against, for example five yes or no questions about documentation, management depth, customer concentration, financial hygiene, and personal plan. Let them keep the sheet. A worksheet they take home keeps you in mind after the room clears.
Slide 11: What good preparation looks like
Talking points: describe the first 90 days of a preparation engagement in general terms. A readiness assessment, a gap list, and a prioritized action plan. Keep it descriptive, not a promise of results. The point is to show that the process is structured and that owners do not have to figure it out alone.
Slide 12: Close and next step
Talking points: recap the two readiness questions. Thank the room. Then make one soft offer, described in the close-slide section below. Keep it low pressure. The workshop has already done the persuading.
The soft CTA slide
Your final slide should offer a single, easy next step rather than a hard sell. A clean version reads: “Want to see where your business stands? I offer a complimentary readiness conversation. Scan the code or take a card, and we will find a time.” Offer the take-home self-assessment as a second option for owners who are not ready to talk yet. Give them a way to stay in touch, such as a short email series or a follow-up newsletter, so the relationship continues past the event.
Avoid any language on this slide that implies a guaranteed sale, a guaranteed price, or a specific return. The offer is a conversation, not an outcome.
Compliance guardrails to build in
This is general marketing guidance, not legal or investment advice. Confirm the specifics with your own compliance counsel. A few lines apply directly to how you present a workshop.
- SEC Marketing Rule (if you are an RIA): the amended Marketing Rule governs how registered investment advisers advertise. If any part of your workshop touches your advisory services, avoid untrue or unsubstantiated statements, present benefits and risks fairly, and be careful with testimonials, endorsements, and any performance references, which carry disclosure requirements.
- M&A broker framework: if you facilitate the sale of a business, understand where the federal M&A broker exemption applies and where broker-dealer registration questions arise. Keep workshop content educational and do not position yourself in a way that oversteps your registration.
- No performance guarantees: never promise a sale, a timeline to sell, or a specific outcome. Frame everything as preparation that improves readiness.
- No misleading valuation claims: do not put a price on any attendee’s business in the room. State that real valuation needs a full engagement and current financials.
- Client confidentiality: use anonymized or composite examples. Never name a client or share identifying deal details from the stage.
How this fits your larger marketing plan
A workshop is one channel, and it works best when it feeds a system: a landing page to register, a follow-up sequence, and a clear path to a consultation. If you want to see how the workshop connects to the rest of your funnel, our marketing plan for exit planning advisors shows how to turn one-time events into a steady pipeline. The outline above is the top of that funnel, and the next step is deciding how owners move from the room to a first conversation.
Close
Use this outline as a starting frame and make it yours: your voice, your examples, your local market. Keep the promise educational and the close soft, and the workshop will do the qualifying for you. If you want help building the registration page, the follow-up sequence, and the offer that turns attendees into clients, book a call with CO Consulting or start with the hub above.
Frequently asked questions
How long should an exit planning owner workshop be?
Plan for 60 to 90 minutes, including time for questions. The 12-slide outline here runs about 75 minutes of content. Keep it tight enough that owners stay engaged and leave wanting a follow-up conversation rather than feeling pitched.
Can I show a business valuation during the workshop?
Explain how valuation generally works, but do not put a specific number on any attendee’s business from the stage. A real valuation requires a full engagement and current financials. Setting that expectation openly builds trust and avoids misleading valuation claims.
What compliance rules apply if I am a registered investment adviser?
The SEC Marketing Rule governs RIA advertising. Present benefits and risks fairly, avoid unsubstantiated statements, and follow the disclosure requirements around testimonials, endorsements, and performance. This is general guidance, not legal advice, so confirm specifics with your compliance counsel.
How do I make the close feel soft instead of salesy?
Offer one easy next step, such as a complimentary readiness conversation, plus a take-home self-assessment for owners who are not ready to talk. Give them a way to stay in touch. The education has already done the persuading, so the close only needs to lower the barrier.
Should I use real client examples in the deck?
Use anonymized or composite examples only. Do not name clients or share identifying deal details. This keeps you inside confidentiality obligations and still lets you illustrate points with realistic situations owners recognize.
What is the single most important slide?
The two readiness questions slide. Separating business readiness from personal readiness reframes the whole conversation and surfaces the gap most owners have not considered. It is the idea attendees remember and the reason they book a follow-up.