Multi-Year Advisory · Not a Listing Pitch · Real Preparation – BetterExits Certified™
START PLANNING YOUR EXIT AT LEAST TWO – THREE YEARS BEFORE YOU WANT TO SELL
The owners who sell well are almost never the ones who decided to sell last Tuesday. They prepared. The ones who didn’t — the ones who listed when they were ready to be done — left money behind that they can never recover.
Why early planning matters —–
The biggest mistakes happen
before the listing agreement is signed
Most childcare business owners start thinking about selling when they are mentally ready to stop working. At that point, the financial decisions that most affect the sale price have already been made — or left unmade. The books reflect what they reflect. The lease is what it is. The staff structure, the payer mix, the quality rating — all of it is baked in.
Exit planning is the work of changing those variables before it’s too late. Owners who engage with the process 2–3 years before their target sale date consistently achieve better outcomes than those who list when they’re ready to retire. The difference is not small.
Exit planning is not a sales pitch for a listing. Donna offers it as a standalone advisory service because preparing well is genuinely in your interest — whether you sell next year or in five years. It is also how she builds the kind of long-term relationship with clients that produces the best results at closing.
What exit planning includes —-
Six areas where advance preparation
produces measurable results
Valuation Benchmarking
Establishing your current value — and tracking it annually — gives you a baseline and tells you where improvements will have the most impact. You cannot manage what you cannot measure.
Financial Record Clean-up
Three years of clean, well-documented financial statements are the foundation of any credible sale process. Undocumented income, personal expenses on the business books, and inconsistent reporting all suppress your valuation and create buyer skepticism. Donna works with you and your accountant to address these issues before they become deal problems.
Lease review and Real Estate Strategy
If you lease, your lease terms significantly affect your value and saleability. If you own your building, the decision about whether to sell it with the business, retain it, or structure a sale-leaseback requires careful planning well before any listing. These decisions cannot be optimized in the middle of a transaction.
Enrollment and payer mix optimization
Growing private-pay enrollment and reducing subsidy dependence in the 12–24 months before a sale can meaningfully increase your valuation multiple. So can trending enrollment upward rather than flat or declining.
Management Structure and Key Person Risk
A buyer pays more for a business that will continue to function after the owner leaves. Building a management layer — a strong director, key staff under contract, documented procedures — reduces buyer risk and supports a higher price.
Timing the Market and Buyer Landscape
PE acquisition activity, interest rates, and buyer demand in the childcare sector all fluctuate. Donna tracks the Southeast childcare M&A market continuously. Part of exit planning is understanding when conditions favor sellers — and being ready to move when they do.
Workshops and Resources —-
The ChildCareOwner exit planning workshop
Donna runs exit planning workshops for childcare business owners throughout the Southeast — currently in NC, SC, and GA, with expansion into VA, TN, and FL in 2026. These workshops cover valuation fundamentals, financial preparation, understanding buyer types, and what to do if you receive a direct unsolicited offer.
Space is limited to ensure meaningful participation. Dates and locations are announced through the Solutions4ChildCare newsletter and ChildCareOwner.com.
Donna also publishes the Solutions4ChildCare Newsletter — an eight-page print newsletter mailed six times per year to approximately 1000 large childcare business owners in NC, SC, and GA. Covering exit planning, valuation, M&A market conditions, financial management, and SE deal activity. View the newsletter archive →
READY TO BUILD YOUR
EXIT PLAN?
The first step is a conversation about where your business is today and where you want it to be at closing. No obligation — just a plan.
(336)617-3181
donna@solutions4childcare.com