Launch of The Endgame Entrepreneurship™ Masterclass Empowers Business Owners for Successful Exits

    PITTSBURGH, PA, July 24, 2024 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Laurie Barkman, business transition expert, The Business Transition Sherpa®, announces the launch of The Endgame Entrepreneurship™ Masterclass to demystify business exits. This online course is for business owners, entrepreneurs, and family business leaders in the lower middle market who want to increase enterprise value and sell on their terms in the future.

Barkman, the former CEO of a $100 million annual revenue company that sold to a Fortune 50 firm, is a business transition expert, certified mergers and acquisition advisor, Amazon best-selling author of "The Business Transition Handbook: How to Avoid Succession Pitfalls and Create Valuable Exit Options," and host of the award-winning podcast Succession Stories. She guides business owners on how to plan successful transitions and avoid exit regrets.

Every entrepreneur will leave their business one day, yet having a successful exit remains elusive for many companies between $1 million to $10 million in revenue. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 45 percent of companies fail to celebrate their 5th birthday. Surprisingly, only 20 percent of small businesses that try to sell actually do. What's more, The Exit Planning Institute projects 4.5 million small businesses –worth $14 trillion– will face owner retirement over the next decade. With this significant wealth at stake, guiding entrepreneurs through succession has become a crucial imperative.

"Buyers want to acquire companies on their timing, but many sellers are not prepared. The Endgame Entrepreneurship Masterclass is developed for entrepreneurs who want to be more in control of their transition and improve opportunities to sell," says Barkman, an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business in Pittsburgh, PA. "The online masterclass provides immediate value to entrepreneurs to utilize the information now for value-driven growth with their future endgame in mind."

The Endgame Entrepreneurship Masterclass offers more than 70 lessons, 45 exercises, 10 tools and assessments, and 5.5 hours of short video modules and includes three courses:
- "Personal and Financial Readiness"
- "Measuring and Maximizing Value"
- "Scale, Succession, and Exit"

Participants can enhance their masterclass learning experience with a peer-to-peer online forum, live mentor training, and monthly group coaching and advisory sessions led by business transition experts. Access to these resources will be included for 12 months at no additional cost for a limited time.

Barkman said, "I approached the creation of this course for business owners and entrepreneurs from three perspectives. First, to provide a financial foundation and how the mergers and acquisition process works. Second, to share real-world experiences from other companies they can build upon. Third, to spotlight opportunities for growth and value creation that increase their marketability to potential buyers."

"We have included all of these aspects in the online course, with no content expiration, so you can learn at your own pace. If you own a small business and want to avoid falling into the 80 percent who fail to have an exit, this course is inherently unique and valuable for you, " says Barkman.

For more information about the Endgame Entrepreneurship Masterclass, please visit https://thebusinesstransitionsherpa.com/course.

For inquiries or interview requests, please contact:

Laurie Barkman, CEO
Business Transition Sherpa LLC
Phone: (412) 540-5161
Email: [email protected]

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