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Most business owners can’t tell you what their company is worth. That’s like starting a road trip without entering your starting point in the GPS.
Recorded live at the Exit Planning Institute Summit in Nashville, Kevin Saad, Senior Director of Client Success at BizEquity, sits down with longtime BizEquity partner Eric Togneri of NERI Capital Partners and Exit On Top. Eric explains why a business valuation is the best first step in any exit planning relationship, whether the owner plans to exit next year or a decade from now.
In this episode:
- How the 2008 recession changed everything. Eric’s transaction-based firm saw deals dry up overnight. The book The $10 Trillion Opportunity led him to become one of the early exit planning credential holders and shift his firm from “realize value” to “determine, build, and realize value.”
- Why valuation is “the most intimate hello.” For about $3,000, an advisor gets a deep look at a business, both quantitatively and qualitatively, and the start of a real relationship.
- Show the number last. Set the context first, reveal the number, then let the KPIs and exit-readiness tools drive the conversation.
- The owner’s mindset shift. Reinvesting earnings in your company is an investment. Owners should expect the same value-building discipline they’d demand from any company they invest in.
- Start earlier. Why “yesterday is over, so now is the best time” applies to valuation, and why exit planning should work like retirement planning.
- Valuation as a lead engine. How Exit On Top uses webinars, SEO, and generative engine optimization to put valuation at the top of the funnel.
- Scaling nationally. About 90% of NERI’s valuations happen in the Southeast. Eric is on pace for roughly 140 in 2026 and plans to expand into the top 24 U.S. markets over the next 24 months.
- The Silver Tsunami is here. Baby boomer owners are now in their 70s and 80s, and the “expiration on procrastination” has arrived.
Who should listen: exit planners, CPAs, wealth managers, M&A advisors, and other professionals who serve business owners and want to start more exit planning conversations. Business owners who want to understand what their company is worth, and why, will get a lot from it too.
Guest: Eric Togneri, NERI Capital Partners and Exit On Top
Host: Kevin Saad, Senior Director of Client Success, BizEquity
Chapters:
00:00 Welcome from the Exit Planning Summit in Nashville
02:12 How the 2008 recession led to exit planning
04:59 Scaling to 1,000+ valuations
07:04 Starting the valuation conversation with owners
10:25 Why valuation should happen earlier
13:32 Inside the report: KPIs, action plans, and exit readiness
16:07 Treating your business as an investment
19:17 Marketing valuation with Exit On Top
22:22 Democratizing valuation and scaling nationally
24:07 The Silver Tsunami and advice for advisors
27:46 Closing thoughts
