I recently attended a fantastic 2-day conference on wealth management put on by the Southern California Institute (www.scinstitute.org).Here are some statistics - and you'll soon understand that this is a crisis: Baby Boomers own 63% of the businesses in USA. 80-90% of the wealth is in their business.76% wish to transition from their businesses in the next 10 years. This represents 4.5 million businesses, and +$10 trillion in wealth. However, only 49% have a transition plan.Of all the businesses that are put on the market to sell, only 30% are sold.Of all the businesses - only 30% of family-owned businesses make it to the 2nd generation and only 12% survive to the 3rd generation.The bottom line is this - very few plan and therefore are at significant risk of accessing the wealth in their business after sacrificing untold hours running their businesses. That's awful!How can business owners exit their business?There are 4 "inside" options and 3 "external" options.Inside: Intergenerational Transfer, Management Buyout, Sale to Existing Partners or Sale to Employees.External: Sale to 3rd party, Recapitalization, Orderly LiquidationWe are ignoring taking the company public (IPO) since that represents such a tiny percentage of companies.We urge all Baby Boomer business owners to strongly consider professional help with transitioning their businesses. Keep in mind that excellence in "exit planning" is simply excellence in business planning. The owner is growing the company, increasing profits, making it easier to run - so they benefit now but also so they have a much better chance of a good outcome in exiting the business.We have access to the best resources available today to business owners to help them have a successful, satisfying transition from their business.