Professional Insights

You Can Exit By Design or By Default

05/20/2026

by Jane Panneton, CEPA®, VP & Managing Director, Transitions and Healthcare M&A

Earlier this month, I conducted a breakout session at the New England Home Care & Hospice Conference titled "Building Agency Value Through Intentional Planning: Beginning With the End in Mind". As I shared my own experiences, from agency ownership through transition, it brought back many memories and emotions from my journey.

When I first became an owner, I understood it would be demanding, but I didn’t fully realize just how constant and all-consuming it would feel.

There were hiring challenges, shift callouts, retraining of office staff, ensuring regulatory compliance, and, most challenging of all, a Department of Labor regulation change that required a complete operational model shift for both live-in and hourly services in order to begin paying overtime.

Before you know it, years can pass.

For me, I looked up eight years later and felt it might soon be time for a transition. What I didn’t realize then were the relatively simple things I could have done to maximize my exit valuation between that moment of considering a transition and my eventual sale two and a half years later.

At the time, I believed I had already created a best-in-class agency because we were growing, profitable, providing quality care, maintaining strict hiring standards, earning great reviews, achieving nearly perfect state surveys, and retaining long-term direct care and office staff.

Sounds great, right? But how did I achieve that? By controlling everything!

I had sufficient staff and management in every area from sales to accounting but I inserted myself as the main spoke in the wheel and the ultimate problem solver and decision-maker.

Care managers and client daughters had my cell phone number. My on-call staff knew that the moment they had trouble staffing a shift, they could call me and I would jump in. I did not create an operation that could function successfully on its own because, honestly, I never allowed it the opportunity.

To the buyer of my agency, the business was owner-dependent, one of the largest risks in any acquisition. Buyers discount purchase price to account for risks.

I was happy with my exit process, but I absolutely left money on the table because I failed to make some relatively simple changes, even just one year before the sale. At the time, I didn’t realize owner dependence was viewed as a negative.

I definitely wish I knew then what I know now!

According to the Exit Planning Institute (EPI), 60% of unprepared owners leave 30%–70% of value on the table.

Another alarming statistic: 50% of exits are involuntary due to death, health issues, disability, divorce, partner disagreements, distress, industry shifts, and other unforeseen circumstances.

Involuntary exits typically lead to lower valuations.

Most home-based care owners don’t intentionally avoid exit planning; most understand its importance but life simply gets busy.

Exiting by default is still a direction. It’s just a very expensive one.

Here’s the Straight Talk

Building your agency and preparing for exit are not opposites.

The most successful transactions I’ve experienced were not defined by the transaction itself, but by the preparation and intentional planning done by the owner(s).

A few thoughtful changes made before going to market can significantly improve valuation, reduce buyer concerns, and create a smoother transaction process.

Buyers look closely at:

• Owner dependence
• Leadership depth
• Operational stability
• Quality of earnings
• Referral, client, and payor concentration
• Compliance
• Payor relationships
• Workforce structure

So, focus on the following key areas to increase your agency’s value in the eyes of a buyer:

• Reduce owner dependence. Train or hire staff and implement technology or processes that ensure the business can operate successfully regardless of who owns it.  Click here to read a recent article I wrote on this topic.
• Document your processes so no critical function relies on one individual
• Clean up your financials
• Diversify your referral and payor sources whenever possible
• Address regulatory or potential Department of Labor concerns
• Tackle staff and direct care employee turnover rates, even though this may be one of the more difficult challenges.

The strongest agencies are not perfect businesses; they are prepared businesses.

The Bottom Line

Every owner exits eventually. The question is whether you will design your exit or drift into one.

A few thoughtful changes made in advance can significantly improve valuation, reduce stress, and create better outcomes.

Having conversations to educate yourself on how to maximize the value of your agency is not committing to selling, it’s giving yourself the tools to create the best possible outcome for yourself and your family.

For a confidential, no-obligation conversation, reach out to me directly at jp@corcoranconsultants.com if you'd like to set up a complimentary 30-minute chat.