Certified Business Exit Consultant® (CBEC®) Credentialing Program

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What You Will Cover
Prerequisite Work—CBEC Core Training (Online)
CBEC class attendees are to complete the International Exit Planning Association's (IEPA) online Core Training course (included in the cost of training) prior to the first class. The online course is the first 10 hours of training delivered through 12 online modules. The first class will review the pre-work as we prepare for our deeper dive into the certification content.

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Part 1: Program Orientation (Live Webinar)
This initial orientation class will discuss the format for the classes as well as review the content from the pre-work/online home study course. We will set goals and objectives for our study time together as well as do an overview of the CBEC curriculum and faculty who will present the material. In addition, an overview of Pinnacle Equity Solutions' membership program will also be provided for attendees who are interested in learning about the national network and licensing program which is an option to join once accepted into the CBEC class.

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Part 2: Private Capital Markets/Middle Market Strategies (Live Webinar)
Our first full-curriculum class will review the CBEC Private Capital Markets (PCM) online modules and lessons from the text. PCM is a foundational text on the private markets and a key component to the exit planning study materials. A strong compliment to the PCM studies is the Middle Market Strategies (MMS) book and teachings. Inside the reading and pre-work of MMS are insights that indicate how much the private markets have changed in the past decade and how we can effectively communicate these changes to our business owner prospects and clients to improve their understanding of the markets, as well as to enhance their exit plans.

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Part 3: Mental Readiness and Value Gap (Live Webinar)
The pre-work teaches us about IEPA’s second step in the exit planning process— addressing the issues of whether the owner can afford to exit, as well as the emotional process that the owner is going through. In other words, what does the business mean to the owner and what might prevent a successful exit? Our deeper dive CBEC content focuses on the mental and emotional state of owners with an emphasis on the fact that many owners are not prepared to exit today, but need to do some planning to make the transition fit their desires. We also calculate a value gap for our case study business owner so that we can better understand the second step in the IEPA process, financial and mental readiness, taught by faculty who authored the books on the topics presented.

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Part 4: Business Valuation (Live Webinar)
Our attention now is on how to expand our understanding of business valuations. The pre-work focused on the valuation of each exit option and why they vary. Our deeper dive on valuation will include lessons from the text and pre-work, as well as a case study review and how to value using different appraisal methodologies. The class is taught by faculty who wrote the text from the pre-work assignments.

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Part 5: Mid-Term Review and Quiz (Live Webinar)
This class will review and integrate all content covered to date. The review will be followed by a quiz that will be administered online. The quiz will follow the format of the final exam to serve as better preparation.

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Part 6: Growth Strategies/External Transfers (Live Webinar)
Here we focus on growth strategies. Today’s marketplace of owners not only have a low mental readiness for an exit, but a majority also have a low financial readiness to exit. As such, we want to focus on how owners can grow the value of their businesses to work to close that value gap. This class will expand on the five major transaction options with a focus on sale transaction, as well as the private equity group recap. We expand on and apply the external transfer options to our case study.

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Part 7: Internal Transfer/Employee Stock Ownership Plans (Live Webinar)
This class is on internal transfers, including advanced training on Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOP). The modules included in the pre-work/online home study course provided great details about the ESOP plan, including dedicating an entire module to the study of ESOPs and internal transfers. Beyond the ESOP, the management buyout and gifting options are likely to be considered by many owners who are looking for insiders to take over and run the business in the future—this may or may not include family members—an important consideration in this type of planning. Lessons include the tax inefficiency of internal transfers as well as faculty teachings on unique ways to structure internal transfers to align with owner goals and be more tax efficient.

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Part 8: Capstone Course and Creating a Transferable Business™ (Live Webinar)
Our final class covers the Capstone course material, which focuses on pulling together all of the concepts taught in the curriculum as well as teaching combination strategies. The combination strategies are ways different exit options can be combined in a very effective manner to provide highly sophisticated solutions to exiting owners. After completing coverage of the curriculum, there is a final session on the latest content titled “Creating a Transferable Business”. This content has been developed over the past few years to assist CBEC applicants and Pinnacle members with addressing the needs of the exiting owner’s business, particularly for the stay and grow owners, which are the majority of owners in the marketplace today. The Creating a Transferable Business intellectual property and platform provides an alternate form of consulting for applicants who complete an exit planning process with owners.

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Part 9: Pulling it all Together—Review/Exam Prep (Live Webinar)
This final class will include an expanded conversation around being part of an effective exit planning team in your local market. It explores “core” exit planning team members as well as how to go to market with the exit planning concepts. The final portion also reviews the materials covered as an initial pass at the in-person review that will be covered at the session in Canton, MA.

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Part 10: Review, Membership Discussion, Exam (Live Classroom with Live Webinar Option)
As a final step in the training process, some CBEC applicants will travel to Canton, MA for a live review, practice management, and networking session in preparation for the final exam. CBEC applicants also have the option to attend the review via webinar.
 

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