Book Review
By California Broker Magazine
As a business owner, you know your business will eventually change hands. But will your transition occur on your terms and timeline? Financial advisors estimate that 80% of an owner’s net worth is locked in their businesses. Yet, when the time comes, most owners end up liquidating instead of selling because they lack a clear growth strategy. Veteran entrepreneur and CEO of the Exit Planning Institute Christopher Snider brought 40 years of experience in corporate finance and leadership to his five-star rated 2016 edition of “Walking to Destiny.” In this revised, updated, and expanded edition, he brings even more depth to his paradigm-changing work. While most business thinkers focus on the endgame, Snider demonstrates that your successful exit is based on what you do now to unlock the value trapped in your business. His Value Acceleration Methodology will give you the steps to accomplish the exit planning necessary to make you five to ten times wealthier.
His methodology walks you through:
– The present value of your business and its potential best-in-class value with an Attractiveness and Readiness Assessment.
– A Prioritized Action Plan—a three-to-ten-year vision of your chosen destination to close your profit and value gaps.
– 90-Day Sprints—processes and infrastructure to execute relentlessly and evaluate your results with a scorecard that measures value growth.
– The act of decision-making every 90 days to see if you want to keep growing or shift to exiting—keeping exit planning present tense and in your control.
– The “4C’s” of your knowledge capital and how to identify, protect, and build these intangible assets.
– The Strategic Value = Simple Math formula to raise your valuation. Align your business with your life with this systematic approach to quantitative growth. Whether you’re a business owner or a business advisor who works with business owners, “Walking to Destiny” will position you to build and preserve family wealth for generations.
Reviews/From Inside of the Book
“The perfect playbook for business owners. It shows how to build a significant business and life on their own terms to win big.”
– Kyle Danner, professional EOS Implementer ®
“A comprehensive playbook on how to win at nailing your exit. Every owner and transaction advisor can learn from the time-tested wisdom in this book.”
– Darren Cherry, CEPA® Area President, FocusCFO
“A comprehensive guide for owners looking to understand the exit planning process, packed with relevant and actionable content. So many exit planning books are theory-based, but this one is the real deal.”
– Julie Keyes, Exit Strategy, Collaborator, Author and Podcaster “Build Enterprise Value today, Exit on your own terms tomorrow, KeyeStrategies, LLC
“The magic of Walking to Destiny is it forces advisors and business owners to shift their definition of exit planning. After reading this book, it will be clear exit planning is not about getting out of your business in the future. You’ll immediately recognize the power of getting what you want out of your business—starting right now!”
– Greg Maddox, Senior Business Advisor, Cultivate Advisors
“I recommend this book to owners, family members, and executives of privately held companies. I use this book to coach business owners, teach the value enhancement theory, and normalize the cycle of ownership and business evolution.”
– Amy Wirtz, Family Business Consultant, The Family Business Consulting Group, Inc.
“There are foundational thinkers like Chris Snider to set the stage for progress and innovation far into the future. Walking to Destiny was written with owners in mind and provides a clear roadmap to accelerate business value. This 2nd edition provides even more help to owners to be successful and shows Chris’s continuing growth as a seminal thought leader.”
– Sean Hutchinson, Thought Leader in Business Value Acceleration & Transition-Readiness, Partner, Ready for Next Advisory Group
The single most influential book impacting my focus on business owners. The book has given me the knowledge, framework, process, and language to speak to business owners with confidence. The book teaches timeless and proven concepts that are essential to growing value in any business. Chris Snider is one of the most influential thought leaders about Exit Planning and Value Acceleration in the industry. Highly recommend Walking to Destiny!”
– Charles Jarrett, CFP®, CPWA®, CEPA®, CRPC®, ChFC, Private Wealth Advisor, Senior Vice President, Merrill Private Wealth Management
“I recommend this book to owners, family members, and executives of privately held companies. I use this book to coach business owners, teach the value enhancement theory, and normalize the cycle of ownership and business evolution.”
– Amy Wirtz
Christopher M. Snider, CEPA®, is a leading authority in exit planning, business growth, and value acceleration. As the CEO and owner of the Exit Planning Institute® (EPI), which he operates with his son, Scott Snider, Christopher has helped redefine how business owners prepare for transition and build lasting wealth. An award-winning author, speaker, and educator, Christopher first introduced his groundbreaking methodology in the five-star rated 2016 edition of Walking to Destiny: 11 Actions an Owner Must Take to Rapidly Grow Value & Unlock Wealth. In 2012, Snider and his son acquired EPI. Seeing a gap in how advisors and owners approached transition, he developed the Value Acceleration Methodology™, which is the proven, award-winning framework that integrates strategic planning, value growth, and succession readiness. He lives in Cleveland, Ohio, with his wife, Denice, and enjoys boating, golfing, hiking, and the outdoors.
Featured in our May 2026 Issue page 30 – Click here to download!