About Exit Authority
Built by an owner who has done it. Not just advised on it.
Exit Authority helps precision manufacturing and machining owners reposition their businesses before exit, combining structural value work with disciplined acquisition execution to move up the valuation ladder.
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We also selectively advise construction and skilled trades businesses with similar fragmentation dynamics.
Gerald Meunier
I have spent more than 30 years building, buying, selling, and restructuring small and mid-sized businesses.
Three companies of my own, exited. A business brokerage purchased, grown, and sold. Dozens of SME transactions facilitated across manufacturing, construction, and B2B services. Active relationships with SBA lenders, banks, and private capital sources that can fund the acquisitions I help clients execute.
I have seen firsthand what holds up under buyer scrutiny and what collapses. I have sat on both sides of the negotiating table. And I have navigated the financing conversations most advisors refer out.
What Makes This Different
Most exit planning advisors operate in one of two lanes. They either prepare businesses for sale (without being able to execute acquisitions), or they execute deals (without the pre-sale structural repositioning that determines how buyers categorize the business).
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This practice operates in both, by design.
Structural repositioning work includes:
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Removing concentration and key-person risk
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Strengthening reporting and diligence readiness
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Improving predictability and margin stability
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Building management depth
Acquisition execution work includes:
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Thesis development and disciplined target evaluation
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Financing coordination through SBA, bank, and private capital relationships
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LOI support, diligence pacing, and integration risk mitigation
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First-90-days execution structure
Every move is sequenced the way buyers underwrite risk. When an acquisition is the most direct path to a higher valuation category, it is executed with the same discipline as every other structural move, hands-on, through close.
This is not brokerage. There are no commissions. The role is to increase enterprise value before you sell.
The Exit Multiplier™ Methodology
A four-phase approach from owner-dependent operator to buyer-attractive platform:
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Phase I, Diagnostic Clarity: quantify valuation category, identify structural discounts, assess acquisition role in the plan
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Phase II, Structural Value Acceleration: remove buyer discounts, build transferable platform value
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Phase III, Strategic Acquisition Execution: when it shifts valuation category, execute with discipline, hands-on through close
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Phase IV, Platform Exit Preparation: enter market buyer-ready, diligence-proof, and positioned to negotiate from strength
This is the approach I wish I had before my first exit.
Who This Is For
Most clients:
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Generate $3M to $20M in revenue
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Operate in precision manufacturing or machining
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Are 2 to 5 years from exit
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Want a premium outcome, not just a completed transaction
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Are open to disciplined structural change, including acquisition execution when it is the fastest path to a higher valuation category
They are not looking for motivation. They are looking for a numbers-driven, buyer-aligned plan and an advisor who can execute it alongside them.
How We Work
Founder-led. Hands-on through execution.
Engagements begin with a structured Value Gap + Acquisition Readiness discussion and move into a sequenced positioning plan. When acquisitions belong in the plan, I am actively involved at every phase: thesis, target evaluation, financing, LOI, diligence, and first-90-days integration.
I limit active engagements to stay close to execution, particularly when transactions are involved.
What I Believe
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You should be paid for the platform you have built, not just last year's income
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Good exits are designed early, and sometimes the fastest design decision is a disciplined acquisition
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Structural clarity reduces anxiety
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Owners deserve advisors who have owned, acquired, and exited businesses themselves
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When an acquisition is the right move, you deserve an advisor who can take you through it, not just recommend it
If that resonates, we should talk.