Founder Transition Advisory
Maybe you’ve talked to a broker or an M&A advisor. Maybe you’ve run the numbers yourself and have a rough sense of what the business could bring. Either way, you’re standing at the edge of a decision that feels enormous. And something is keeping you from moving forward.
Before you take another step toward selling (or talk yourself out of it again) you need one thing. Not more numbers. Not another outside opinion to tell you what you should do. A clear answer to what you actually want. Book the Clean Canvas Intensive.
You think it might be time to sell. You can’t quite bring yourself to do it.
WHY YOU’RE HERE
Something shifted.
You can feel it.
There was probably a moment—a health scare, a season of burnout, a conversation that didn't go the way you expected—when you realized that how you've been running things can't continue. The business that was supposed to give you freedom started to feel like the thing keeping you from it.
And it isn't just you. The last several years have asked more of business owners than any other period in recent memory. You led your people through COVID. You rebuilt for hybrid and remote work. You've watched AI begin to reshape your industry—and felt the pressure to have a vision for what that means—while still running the day-to-day. The fatigue of leading through constant transformation is real, and it compounds everything else.
You're not broken. You're not failing. You've arrived at a crossroads that most founders eventually reach—only yours is happening in the middle of the most disruptive era in business most of us have ever seen. The problem isn't knowing what to do next. It's that you've been circling the question without a safe, structured space to actually answer it.
“Wondering about selling your business doesn’t mean you want to sell your business. It’s quite common, just before transformation, to gut-check whether you want to be in or out. What matters is that you don’t let that question go unanswered.”
The Clean Canvas isn’t about pushing you through a door. It’s about helping you figure out, honestly and clearly, which door you actually want to walk through and building a path to get there.
Founders often start down the path of selling because they aren’t 100% sure what they want to do. When you’re not sure, the deal stalls. It’s often because the founder isn’t ready, the business isn’t ready to be sold, or both. This causes disruption, and costs you massive time and money. The reality is, there can be many options.
The Clean Canvas Intensive is a nine-week program (virtual or in-person) built around your schedule. It’s bookended by deep pre-work and follow-up integration. The intensive itself is two focused days at the center. You’ll finish with a clear, committed decision and a 90-day roadmap for wherever that decision takes you. The structure exists so you can be fully present for the hard parts.
This is one of the biggest decisions of your life. Treat it like that.
HOW IT WORKS
A journey in
three movements.
1
WEEKS 1—2 · 6 - 8 HOURS · SELF-PACED
Pre-Work: See Clearly First
Before we can decide, we need to see honestly. Four guided modules help you get everything out of your head and onto paper: a financial clarity audit, a tribal knowledge inventory, a stakeholder landscape, and a dream audit that asks the questions you may have been avoiding. You'll arrive at the intensive having already done the hard work of looking.
2
WEEK 3 · 2 DAYS · IN-PERSON OR VIRTUAL
The Intensive: Truth, Then Decision
3
Day one is about radical honesty—walking through the pre-work together and confronting what's real. Day two is about making the decision: transform or transition. Not "I think" or "I'm leaning toward." A real, committed choice. The final step of the intensive is to stress-test that decision, build scenario plans, and create your detailed 90-day roadmap.
WEEKS 4—9 · 6 - 8 HOURS · SELF-PACED & THREE 90-MIN SESSIONS
Integration: Momentum, Not Drift
The decision you make in the room is only the beginning. Three follow-up sessions over the final six weeks of the program help you stay grounded as reality sets in—clearing the obstacles that emerge, adjusting the roadmap where needed, and making sure the clarity you found in the intensive becomes the life you're actually building.
YOU ARRIVE WITH
Complete clarity on the business as it actually is—financially, operationally, and personally.
YOU LEAVE WITH
A clear, committed decision and a first draft of your 90-day roadmap for either path.
YOU END WITH
Sustained momentum, a refined roadmap, and a clear path into your next engagement—if you need one.
WHAT’S INCLUDED
Everything you need
to lead with clarity.
Decision Document
A written record of your decision, your reasoning, and your commitment—something to return to when doubt creeps in, because it will.
Four Pre-Work Modules
Financial clarity audit, tribal knowledge inventory, stakeholder landscape, and dream audit—completed before you arrive so the intensive can go deeper, faster.
90-Day Roadmap
A detailed action plan with 30/60/90-day milestones, built specifically for your path—whether you're transforming the business or preparing to transition out.
Three Integration Sessions
Three 90-minute follow-up calls across six weeks of integration. Not check-ins—real working sessions to keep momentum alive and clear whatever comes up when you get back to the real world.
Stakeholder Templates
Scripts and frameworks for the conversations that come after—how to tell your team, your family, your partners, and your advisors what you've decided and why.
Priority Access to What’s Next
Priority access to our transformation support or exit preparation programs when you're ready to move from decision into execution—on your timeline, not ours.
FROM CLIENTS
What it feels like
to finally know.
I came to Kathleen when my family went on their fifth vacation without me. I owned multiple businesses and couldn't step away. I thought it was time to sell. After working with Kathleen, I realized I didn't want to sell — but I did need to make some big changes. We built a transformation plan and then she helped me as I executed it.
— Business Owner, Multiple Businesses
Took the Transformation Path
I thought I wanted to sell and even had a buyer. At the last minute, the sale didn't go through. I was actually relieved, which was so confusing. I called Kathleen and she helped me see what I really wanted. We built a transition plan and now I'm happily "retired".
— Founder & Partner, Creative Technology & Production Company
Took the Transition and Exit Path
Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA)
Former KPMG CPA
Certified Emotional Intelligence Facilitator and Coach
Entrepreneur since 2008
THE FACILITATOR
Kathleen Riessen
FOUNDER, CANOAN STRATEGY
If you've built a business over a decade or more, you know that the decision to sell — or to transform and stay — is never just a financial one. It's personal in ways that are hard to explain to people who haven't lived it. I have. I've exited my own businesses, facilitated the transformation and sale of others, and spent years studying the intersection of business value and human decision-making. Part of that work is identifying the hidden value most founders can no longer see in what they've built — the relationships, systems, and untapped opportunities that can meaningfully change the outcome on either path. As a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) and former CPA, I bring the financial and strategic rigor this decision requires. As someone who has stood exactly where you're standing, I bring something most advisors can't: I know what this actually feels like from the inside.
I do this work because I know what it costs to make that decision without the right person beside you. When I sold my first business, I was in crisis — physically, emotionally, professionally. I didn't have an advisor who would slow me down, ask me the hard questions, and challenge me on what I actually wanted. I made the biggest decision of my business life in less than a week. It was a mistake I couldn't undo. What I know now is that the business didn't need an exit. It needed a transformation. And so did I. I am the advisor today that I wish I'd had then — someone who will ask the questions most advisors skip, stay with you until you have a real answer, and help you turn that answer into a plan you can execute with confidence.
Get the clarity you’re looking for.
The Clean Canvas Intensive isn’t for everyone. You need to have a cash flowing business and be ready to do some hard work that will take you out of your comfort zone.
Take this short assessment to find out if you qualify. If you do, it will be incredibly rewarding.
Frequently Asked Questions
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No. Brokers and exit planners handle a transaction in which you are no longer the owner of the business. Many owners THINK they want to sell, so they contact a broker or exit planner. However, only 20-30% of businesses listed for sale actually sell. Issues with valuation, owner dependency, and client concentration are the key problems. Canoan Strategy does the work before an exit planner or broker so you can be confident in your decision and get the most value out of your business. Then, when you are ready to sell, the process will be easier and you may get more for your business.
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That’s exactly who this is for. Clean Canvas through Canoan Strategy doesn’t presuppose an exit. It ends with one of two outcomes: a clear decision to sell, or a concrete plan to transform the business and re-engage with it on different terms. Both are legitimate. The goal is a decision, not a particular direction.
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Most coaches and consultants help you run your business better. Clean Canvas is specifically for founders at a crossroads: people who are questioning whether they want to keep running it at all. It’s a defined engagement with a defined deliverable: a decision and a plan. Not an ongoing coaching relationship.
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Clean Canvas is a focused intensive, not an open-ended engagement. The timeline is structured and bounded. This is not a months-long retainer. The specifics are discussed on the discovery call, where Kathleen can tailor the scope to where you are and what you need.
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Yes, and often this is the best time to do it. Founders who wait until the business is struggling have fewer options and less leverage. The crossroads question isn’t about performance; it’s about whether you still want to be the person running this. Many of the founders who get the most from Clean Canvas are running profitable businesses. They’re just exhausted, or no longer sure it’s what they want.
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It depends on the decision you make. If you’re selling, Kathleen can introduce you to the right advisors (brokers, attorneys, wealth managers) with a clear brief and direction on what you’re looking for. This helps speed up the process and you often have more options and leverage. If you’re transforming the business, you leave with a concrete plan and accountability for the first phase of executing it. In either case, you have a solid direction. We offer additional services to support your decision and will discuss those with you as needed.
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The Clean Canvas is not a small investment. Your business should be cash flowing or you should be personally able to invest. Our clients typically have a substantial ROI on their investment in the form of increased enterprise value.