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Selling your company to a strategic buyer…Private equity…ESOPs…IPOs…There seems to be a dizzying list of different ways to exit from your company. You have likely heard of most of them, and perhaps you are considering one versus another. Yet there might be one undervalued exit tactic that you have not heard of and need to know about. It is called a “non-control recap” in short vernacular (recap is an abbreviation of recapitalization). Here’s how it works and why it may help achieve your exit goals.

The term “earn-out” usually sends a shiver down the spine of business owners. And for a good reason. Business owners seeking to sell their business at exit overwhelmingly prefer all-cash deals. Owners know that any portion of the purchase price held back at closing is at risk—you might never see those dollars. Despite owners’ overwhelming preference, most deals are not 100% cash transactions, but instead, include any number of mechanisms that pay additional dollars to the seller after closing only upon achieving certain results. One of the most common mechanisms is an earn-out. Here’s why owners seek to avoid earn-outs, and how to avoid getting burned by them if part of your deal.

Webster’s Dictionary defines a “partnerectomy” as “the procedure to remove a diseased or failing business co-owner.” Well, OK, that’s not true — it is a word that we made up. But sometimes partnerships need to come to an end. Here are the symptoms to watch for to determine if you have a business partner who needs to go.

Most business owners care about more than just money at exit. In addition to achieving their personal financial goals at exit, most owners have other objectives they seek to achieve, one of which is thanking those employees who contributed to the company’s success. While the desire to say thank you is common, most owners struggle with determining the right way to do it. Questions like “Who do I thank?” and “What’s appropriate?” may lack easy answers, especially when rushing to get everything else done shortly before exit. Plus, this issue contains potential landmines; overlook somebody, create perceptions of favoritism, or thank anybody in a manner he or she believes fails to recognize his or her contribution fully, and your best intentions can do more harm than good, adding fuel to the fire during an already sensitive transition. If you intend to thank at least some of your employees when you exit, here are four tips on how to do it the right way.

We occasionally hear business owners say something like, “My exit strategy is to hire a great management team to run the company, so I can step back and just collect a check.” Hiring quality leaders for your business is always desirable. Yet, this tactic on its own will not produce a successful and happy exit for these five reasons: