Wealth Management for Building or Selling a Business

By Space Coast Daily // May 28, 2025

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Running a business is both an opportunity and a challenge. It’s also critical for business owners to have the right wealth planning strategies in place. Otherwise, you could risk your personal assets, face a heavy tax burden or lose possible opportunities. But how can you secure your financial future while running a business or even pursuing a new venture?

Whether you’re starting a business from scratch or preparing to sell one you’ve built, taking proactive steps ahead of time can help you navigate the complexities of building, running and selling a business in a way that makes you stronger.

Building a financial foundation for your business

Creating a business is exciting, but from a wealth management perspective, it requires substantial financial planning, especially when it comes to funding your business, growing your personal wealth and protecting your assets.

Funding your business

There are many ways to fund a business, from starting with limited funds to securing venture capital. Self-funding, or “bootstrapping,” gives you full business control but at considerable personal financial risk. You’ll need to consider how much you can safely invest without jeopardizing your long-term financial goals.

Consulting with ESOP advisory firms can also provide alternative funding strategies while aligning employee ownership with your business growth.

Potential stakeholders can also offer venture capital as another funding option. In exchange, investors often get an ownership share and sometimes even an active company role, and you get funding.

A financial advisor can also help you structure deals that balance business growth with your personal financial goals.

Protecting your personal assets

While building your business, you might worry about the exposure of your own assets. A financial advisor offering wealth planning services could help with that. For instance, they may be able to offer advice on optimal business structures, such as an LLC or corporation, to make sure your personal assets are separated from your business assets.

Growing your business

Careful and strategic wealth management becomes even more essential as your business scales, helping you diversify your financial portfolio and protect against over-relying on the business itself for your wealth.

Diversifying personal investments

If your business represents a significant portion of your personal financial portfolio, your investments may not be diversified enough. You may want to consider rebalancing your portfolio with a diverse range of investments such as stocks, bonds and real estate to help make your finances more resilient to market swings.

Active business investment opportunities

You may also wish to identify high-potential investment opportunities for your business in line with its goals. These strategies might create additional revenue streams, complementing your company’s success.

Making the most of wealth during a business sale

Selling a business can be just as complex as building one. Proper planning is crucial to maximize your business’s value and manage the financial implications of a successful sale.

Valuing your business

Before you sell your business, you’ll need to determine its value. Valuation might include assessing tangible assets, such as inventory, and intangible ones, such as intellectual property, branding or your future revenue. Using the best business valuation calculators available can simplify this process and provide accurate estimates to guide decision-making.

Tax-efficient strategies

Selling your company is likely to create a tax impact. A wealth advisor could help structure the sale with stocks or assets like art or exchange-traded funds that may qualify as capital gains with lower taxes.

Managing your wealth after selling

Once your business sells, you might want to rely on experienced wealth management professionals to guide you in your journey to achieve everything that’s important to you.

Reassessing financial goals

After selling your business, your financial priorities could change. You may have more money, fewer expenses and more free time to pursue passions. It’s an important milestone and an exceptional opportunity to reassess your goals and plan for new directions, whether that means pursuing philanthropy, funding a new venture or focusing on your legacy.

Updating your estate

Selling your business is a financial milestone that also signals revisiting your estate plan. It’s a good time to realign your plan with your new level of wealth, create trusts, distribute assets, and take steps to preserve your wealth for future generations.

Enhance your business’s impact

Beyond business funding, sale strategies and asset diversification, personal wealth planning with an experienced financial advisor can help you create strategies to build your wealth and help preserve it for generations.

Sources:

usalearning[dot]gov/Planning/EstatePlanningOverview

sba[dot]gov/blog/7-tax-strategies-consider-when-selling-business

sec[dot]gov/resources-small-businesses/capital-raising-building-blocks/diversifying-risk

sba[dot]gov/business-guide/plan-your-business/fund-your-business

experian[dot]com/blogs/ask-experian/capital-gains-tax

This material is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended as investment advice or a recommendation that you take a particular course of action. As a firm providing wealth management services to clients, UBS Financial Services Inc. offers investment advisory services in its capacity as an SEC-registered investment adviser and brokerage services in its capacity as an SEC-registered broker-dealer. Investment advisory services and brokerage services are separate and distinct, differ in material ways and are governed by different laws and separate arrangements. It is important that clients understand the ways in which we conduct business, that they carefully read the agreements and disclosures that we provide to them about the products or services we offer. For more information, please review the client relationship summary provided at ubs.com/relationshipsummary or ask your UBS Financial Advisor for a copy. In providing financial planning services, we may act as a broker-dealer or investment adviser. When we act as investment adviser we charge a separate fee for the service and enter into a written agreement with you. The nature and scope of the services are detailed in the documents and reports provided to you as part of the service.