Helping Founders Build Better Businesses Before They Transition Them
We help founder-led companies increase enterprise value, accelerate growth, and prepare for successful ownership transitions.
We believe the best transitions begin years before a sale.
Most business owners spend decades building a successful company, yet many wait too long to prepare it, and themselves, for what comes next.
Whether the goal is transferring ownership to family or employees, selling to a strategic buyer, pursuing an acquisition strategy, or simply creating a business that operates with less owner dependence, the work begins long before a transaction.
Our role is to help owners build businesses that are stronger, more transferable, and more valuable.
Our Philosophy
We believe:
Great businesses create options.
Enterprise value is built, not discovered.
Growth and transition planning should happen together, not separately.
A business should be able to thrive without depending on its founder.
The most successful exits happen because owners prepare, not because they time the market.
Every recommendation we make is grounded in one question:
Will this make the business more valuable, more scalable, or more transferable?
Our Approach
Business Transition Sherpa combines strategic growth advisory, business value acceleration, succession planning, and M&A expertise to help founders make better decisions throughout the life of their business.
Our team works alongside business owners to improve the drivers that matter most:
Revenue growth and go-to-market strategy
Leadership and owner dependency
Cash flow and profitability
Business attractiveness and transferability
Succession and continuity planning
Acquisition and exit strategy
Personal transition readiness
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We focus on building a business worth buying.
For Business Owners
We help founders and privately-held company CEOs create more choices.
Together, we'll identify opportunities to increase enterprise value, reduce risk, strengthen leadership, and align your business with your personal goals, so when the time comes, you're prepared on your terms.
For Financial Advisors
Business Transition Sherpa partners with financial advisors, wealth managers, CPAs, attorneys, and exit planning professionals who serve business owners.
Through strategic consulting, education, and our proprietary B.U.I.L.T. By Design™ framework, we equip advisors to have meaningful conversations about business value, owner dependency, succession readiness, and long-term planning—well before a transaction.
When advisors help clients build stronger businesses, they build stronger relationships.
For certifications, you may earn Continuing Education (CE) Credits for EPI and CFP Board.
Why Business Transition Sherpa?
Our perspective is different because we've been in the owner's chair.
Our team brings experience leading companies through growth, acquisitions, and successful exits, advising founders on multi-million-dollar transactions, and building commercial growth strategies for global technology and industrial organizations.
Together, we combine expertise in:
Business value acceleration
Go-to-market strategy and commercial growth
Succession and leadership transition
Mergers and acquisitions
Strategic planning and execution
Founder coaching and advisory
Our MISSION is simple:
Help founders build businesses that create freedom, opportunity, and lasting value. For themselves, their families, their employees, and the next generation of owners.
Laurie Barkman
Business Transition & Deal Advisor
Helping founders increase enterprise value, reduce owner dependency, and transition on their terms.
Martin Barkman
Growth & Go-to-Market Advisor
Helping founders build scalable revenue engines that accelerate growth and increase business value.