Exit Planning for the People Behind the Business

Betsy Grzybinski, CEPA® – Executive Coach and Certified Exit Planning Advisor, Founder of One Percent Today | St. Louis, Missouri

You have spent years, maybe decades, building your business. Somewhere along the way, your business became more than a company. It became your identity, your purpose, your structure, and your community. When the question of “what is next” starts surfacing, it rarely feels purely financial. It feels deeply personal.

Most exit planning advisors focus on the numbers: valuation, tax strategy, and deal structure. Those things matter. For most business owners, the hardest part of exiting is not the transaction. It is the transition. It is the question of who you are when this is done.


That is the work Besty does.

As one of the few CEPA® certified coaches in the St. Louis area, Betsy approaches exit planning from an executive coaching lens, helping business owners and their leadership teams get clear on what they truly want from their next chapter, align their personal goals with their business strategy, and lead through one of the most significant transitions of their lives with intention rather than reaction.

What Is a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA®)?

A Certified Exit Planning Advisor is a professional credentialed through the Exit Planning Institute, a leading organization in the business transition space. The CEPA® program is built around the Value Acceleration Methodology, a framework that brings together business strategy, owner goals, and exit readiness into one process.

To earn the CEPA® designation, advisors complete an intensive program and exam that cover business valuation, value growth, exit options, owner readiness, and building an advisory team. The designation tells business owners that this advisor understands exit planning as more than a single event. It is an ongoing process that touches the owner’s wealth, the business, and the owner’s life after the business.

The Part of Exit Planning Most Advisors Skip

Here is what the data shows. A high percentage of owners report some level of regret after they exit their business, often within the first year. That regret is rarely about the deal terms. It is usually about the personal side. Loss of identity. Lack of purpose. A calendar that suddenly feels empty.

Research on owner readiness shows that many owners feel emotionally unprepared for life after the transition, even when they feel financially prepared. Most exit planning conversations focus on what can be measured.

That includes:

  • The current and projected value of the business

  • Tax and legal structures

  • Investment and retirement strategies

Those pieces are essential, but they do not answer questions like:

  • Who am I once I am no longer the owner of this business

  • What am I moving toward, not just what am I stepping away from

  • What does a meaningful next chapter look like for me

These are coaching questions. They require time, reflection, and a trusted thinking partner. That is where Besty focuses.

A Different Kind of Exit Planning Advisor

Through One Percent Today, Betsy brings a coaching-centered approach to exit planning that focuses on the people behind the business as much as the transaction itself.

Betsy is not a financial advisor or a wealth manager. She does not manage your investments or design tax shelters. Her role is different. She is an executive coach with deep experience in environments where ownership and leadership are constantly evolving.

Her background includes work in venture capital, mergers and acquisitions, and private equity-backed organizations. She has been in rooms where companies are bought, sold, scaled, and integrated. She has seen what happens when owners and leaders are personally ready for the change and what happens when they are not.

Betsy is trained and certified through the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching. She brings together coaching methodology with the Value Acceleration framework from the Exit Planning Institute. The result is a blend of business fluency and human insight that is uncommon in the exit planning world.

She often works alongside your financial advisor, CPA, attorney, and M&A advisor. She also works directly with successors and key leaders, helping them step into new responsibilities with the mindset, skills, and support needed for the transition to hold.

Think of Betsy as the personal readiness and leadership specialist on your exit team. Others focus on what needs to happen on paper. She focuses on what needs to happen within you and within your leadership so that the transition works in real life.

How Betsy Works With Business Owners

Exit planning is a process, not a single deadline. True to the One Percent Today philosophy, the work focuses on small, consistent shifts in how you think, lead, and structure your business so that you are steadily more ready for whatever comes next.

Betsy typically works with companies whose owners are between two and seven years away from a possible exit or major succession. She also supports owners already in the middle of transitions tied to private equity, venture capital, or internal leadership changes.

Her work is grounded in the Value Acceleration Methodology, which looks at three connected dimensions of readiness.

The Three Legs of the Stool

  1. Personal Readiness
- This is about your life and identity beyond the business. Questions might include: What do you want your days to look like? What gives you a sense of purpose and contribution? What relationships and activities will anchor you when you are not at the center of the company?

  2. Business Readiness
- This is about whether the business can thrive without you. Do you have a strong leadership team? How about your successor? Are systems, processes, and culture strong enough that value does not depend on you personally? A more transferable business is usually a more valuable one.

  3. Financial Readiness
- This is about what you need from the business to support the life you want after exit, and whether there is a gap between where you are and where you need to be. For investment and tax decisions, Betsy partners with your financial and legal advisors or introduces trusted professionals.

Depending on the situation, coaching may focus on you as the owner, on your named successor, on a group of key leaders, or on some combination of the three. The goal is not only that you are ready to step back, but that the people stepping up are truly ready to lead.”

Betsy’s coaching focuses on the first two legs: personal and business readiness. She helps you and your leadership team or successors build the clarity, self-awareness, leadership capacity, and organizational health that make a successful next chapter possible.

The Numbers Do Not Lie

Exit planning is easy to postpone until it feels urgent. The research suggests that waiting has a cost.

Key themes from national owner-readiness studies and exit reports include:

  • Many owners expect to exit within the next 10 years, but only a minority have a documented plan

  • A significant share of businesses brought to market never sell, often because they are too owner-dependent or lack transferable value

  • Many owners report that they felt emotionally unprepared for life after the exit even when financially secure

  • A large portion of owners report regret or dissatisfaction with the outcome in the first year after exiting

These findings highlight an opportunity. Owners who address both business and personal readiness early tend to have more options, more control, and more satisfaction with the outcome. Coaching is one of the most effective ways to address that personal and leadership gap.

Is Working With a CEPA® Certified Executive Coach Right for You?

This work may be a fit if you are a business owner who:

  • Is starting to think seriously about what an eventual exit, transition, or succession might look like

  • Wants to build a business that is less dependent on you and more valuable with or without you

  • Is in an environment such as private equity, venture capital, or M&A where ownership and leadership changes are common

  • Feels unclear about what you want your next chapter to look like, even if the business is doing well

  • Has financial and legal advisors in place, but senses that the personal side of this transition is not being addressed

  • Wants to exit or transition on your terms instead of reacting to burnout, health issues, or external pressure

  • Betsy’s background is in executive coaching combined with real experience in venture capital, mergers and acquisitions, and private equity-backed companies. She focuses on the leadership, identity, and human side of exit planning while collaborating with your financial and legal team.

  • In most cases, yes. A comprehensive exit involves financial, legal, business, and personal factors. Your financial advisor, CPA, and attorney each play essential roles. A CEPA® trained executive coach adds a different dimension by helping you integrate those professional plans with your goals, values, and relationships. Together they create a more complete and realistic path.

  • We combine a thoughtful, human-centered approach with clear communication and reliable results. It’s not just what we do—it’s how we do it that sets us apart.

  • Betsy often coaches both. In many engagements she works with the owner on personal and strategic readiness while also coaching the successor or key leaders who are stepping into larger roles. This helps ensure that the transition is sustainable on both sides: you are ready to let go in a healthy way, and your leaders are ready to take ownership of the business and culture they are inheriting.

  • Earlier is better. The Value Acceleration approach recommends starting three to seven years before you think you might exit. That gives time to build leadership bench strength, improve systems, and clarify your personal vision. Even if you are not sure when you will exit, starting the conversation can help you build a business and a life that are both more resilient and more flexible.

  • You are not alone. Many owners begin coaching with nothing more than a sense that “something will need to change” in the next few years. Coaching helps you clarify what you want, explore options such as family succession, management buyout, private equity, or sale, and align your decisions with what matters most to you. You do not need all the answers to begin.

  • Every engagement is tailored. A typical engagement includes regular one to one coaching sessions, structured reflection work, and practical tools for leading through change. Some owners also involve key leaders in select sessions or workshops to support the organization through a particular transition such as a sale, merger, or leadership change.

  • Betsy is based in St. Louis, Missouri and works with many local companies. But, she also works virtually with business owners across the U.S. Sessions can be held by video, which makes it easier to maintain consistency during busy seasons and complex transitions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Let’s Start the Conversation

If you are a business owner who is beginning to ask bigger questions about exit, succession, or your next chapter, or a leader about to step into someone else’s shoes, let’s talk.

There is no pressure and no commitment in a first conversation. You bring your questions, your situation, and your goals. Betsy brings curiosity, perspective, and the One Percent Today approach to helping you design an exit and a next chapter that actually fit you.