The owner’s real number is the specific after-tax amount needed from a business exit to achieve financial independence, the personal financial target that every exit and value-building decision should be measured against.

Most business owners have a vague sense of what they want from the exit. The real number is the precise version of that sense, calculated from actual lifestyle costs, realistic investment return assumptions, longevity projections, and legacy intentions. It is the number that answers the question: how much is actually needed, after tax, for the exit to fund the rest of life on defined terms?

The real number changes everything about exit planning. It tells the owner whether the current business value is sufficient or whether additional value building is required. It defines the minimum acceptable deal, the floor below which no transaction makes financial sense. And it identifies the gap, the wealth gap, between current business value and the number the exit needs to produce. Without a real number, exit planning lacks a target. With one, every decision has a clear benchmark.

The real number is where exit planning gets specific. See how Wefinx approaches exit planning.

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