The Exit Story™

Built through years of hard work.
Sold for everything it is worth.

The best exit you will ever have is the one you prepared for.

The Exit Story™ works upstream of the transaction — building enterprise value before the deal team arrives, while there is still time to improve the outcome. Founders who invest in preparation enter the market with a verified, defensible business — and a transaction that reflects what they have built.

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76% plan to exit within the decade CFIB
Only 9% have a formal succession plan CFIB
$2T in Canadian business assets changing hands CFIB
Supriya Devgan — Founder, The Exit Story™
16+
Years Commercial Banking
MBA
Graduate Credential
BC & AB
Serving Founders
$5MM–$25MM+
Revenue Range
"A business does not sell for what it is worth.
It sells for what a buyer can verify, justify, and finance."
Before You Go to Market

Three dimensions of a prepared exit.

Every business has a story.

A business owner builds over decades and exits once. What a buyer pays for is not just what the financials show — it is the strength of your customer relationships, the depth of your team, the clarity of your operations, and the confidence that the business continues without you.

The number reflects all of it. The question is whether the story behind your business is told clearly enough for a buyer to pay for what it is actually worth.

Preparation writes the ending.

The gap between what an owner believes their business is worth and what a buyer will pay is rarely about the business. It is about how well the story behind it has been told. On a $1MM EBITDA business, the difference between a 3x and a 4x multiple is $1MM in your pocket.

Preparation is what moves that number.

The best stories start early.

Building a credible exit takes 3 to 5 years of deliberate work. Owner dependence is reduced over time. Financial clarity is earned, not assembled.

The owners who walk away with the best outcomes started earlier than they thought they needed to. The difference is never intention. It is timing.

Founders who work with The Exit Story™ enter the market with a verified, defensible business — one that has done the work upstream.

How We Work

Upstream of
the transaction.
Building enterprise
value before the
deal team arrives.

Every business has a story worth telling. We make sure yours is told with the clarity, rigour, and credibility that commands the outcome you deserve.

By the time a business reaches an M&A advisor or a transaction team, the preparation should already be complete. The Exit Story™ works alongside founders in the months and years before that moment — systematically strengthening the fundamentals that determine enterprise value.

01
Discovery & Preliminary Assessment

Every engagement begins with a complimentary discovery conversation — a structured dialogue across the key dimensions of your business: financial performance, revenue quality, customer base, legal and compliance standing, operational infrastructure, leadership depth, and market position.

We ask. We listen. We form a professional view grounded in 16 years of commercial banking judgment. We return with a preliminary assessment identifying where value drivers are strong, where gaps exist, and where enterprise value is being suppressed — and whether a retainer engagement is the right next step for both parties.

Complimentary · No documents required · Structured professional assessment
02
Retainer Advisory Engagement

The retainer engagement is where enterprise value is built. Over a structured six to twelve month engagement, we work systematically across the dimensions that determine transaction readiness: financial integrity and EBITDA quality, revenue defensibility and customer concentration, legal and compliance standing, operational infrastructure, leadership depth and management systems, and market position.

All findings are verified against documents — not owner-reported. Each dimension is addressed in order of its impact on enterprise value and transaction risk. Where specialist input is required — a Quality of Earnings review, succession and estate planning, independent valuation — we coordinate those engagements and brief the specialists directly.

Monthly retainer · Six to twelve months · Document-verified progress
03
The Exit Story™ Transaction Readiness Report

Every business has a story worth telling. The Exit Story™ Transaction Readiness Report tells yours — clearly, credibly, and in the language of the transaction.

The capstone deliverable of the retainer engagement. A comprehensive, document-verified profile covering financial integrity, revenue quality, customer base, legal and compliance standing, operational infrastructure, leadership depth, and market position — with a clear articulation of the growth story and the assumptions behind it.

Delivered to the business owner at the conclusion of the engagement. It does not replace the role of the M&A advisor, the broker, or the CBV — it equips them. When the transaction team takes the business to market, they begin from verified, structured information rather than discovery.

Document-verified · Delivered to the owner · Your story, told with rigour
Professional business environment
Background
16 Years Commercial Banking
Owner, Operator & Exited Founder
Education
MBA  ·  MSc
Experience
Regional Director, Mid-Market Portfolio
Crown Corporation · British Columbia
Serving
Founder-led businesses
$5MM–$25MM+ · BC & Alberta
Why This. Why Me.

Two sides of the same
table. One advisor.

You have built something significant. A business with real value — built through vision, persistence, and years of hard work that no spreadsheet fully captures.

I built and exited a business of my own. Then spent 16 years in commercial banking, working with mid-market business owners across BC and Alberta on capital strategy, risk, and deal structure — and that lens now works entirely for you.

My work is to ensure that the value you have built is visible, defensible, and fully recognised — and that the narrative you bring to market is yours, told with the clarity and rigour it deserves.

I assess your business, build your exit roadmap, and coordinate every specialist you need: your tax advisor, your lawyer, your estates planner. Each one briefed, aligned, and focused on one outcome. And when the work is done, I help you tell the story — clearly, credibly, and in the language of the transaction. You run your business. I orchestrate the exit.

When you work with The Exit Story™, you work with me.

— Supriya Devgan, Founder · The Exit Story™
Owner. Banker. Your Advisor.
Connect on LinkedIn → Watch: The 3-Minute Story Behind the Practice →
What a Prepared Exit Looks Like

Every great exit
is an exit worth
telling well.

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  • Financial statements a buyer’s accountant cannot pick apart
  • A business that runs and performs without you in the room
  • Every material risk identified, addressed, and documented
  • A story behind the business that a buyer can understand, verify, and justify

Founder-led businesses · revenues of $5MM–$25MM+ · BC & Alberta

Get Started

Start preparing
your exit.

Tell us where you are. We will be in touch within one business day to arrange a free one-hour conversation about your business, your timeline, and whether this is the right time to start.

Free · Confidential · No obligation · BC & Alberta