Our roots go back to 1977, when BEI founder, John Brown, began working with business owners as an estate planning attorney. Soon John realized that while plenty of advisors focused on managing wealth, no one was helping business owners plan for the biggest financial event of their lives: exiting their businesses.

Determined to solve this problem, John developed what became the industry’s first structured Exit Planning process—tested and refined with hundreds of his own clients. Over time, he codified this approach into The BEI Seven Step Exit Planning Process™, laying the groundwork for what Exit Planning would become.

In 1996, John founded BEI to empower other advisors to serve business owners with the same clarity, strategy, and long-term impact. His books—including How to Run Your Business So You Can Leave It in Style and Cash Out Move On—have sold hundreds of thousands of copies and remain foundational texts in Exit Planning.

What started in a law office (and later, a garage stacked with pallets of books) has grown into a national network of advisors helping owners protect and realize the value of their life’s work.

Today, BEI is led by CEO Fletcher Brown—the owner of that garage, who thought he was simply doing his dad a favor by accepting a “few boxes” of books… only to find a full pallet on his doorstep. Fletcher soon found himself packing and shipping books by the dozen, and eventually building his own advisory practice using BEI’s methodology.

Under Fletcher’s leadership, BEI has evolved to meet the needs of modern advisors—offering advanced planning software, continuing education, and a collaborative community, all from our home base in sunny Denver, Colorado.

At the heart of BEI is a simple belief: advisors change lives. We’re here to help them do that—with smarter tools, stronger strategies, and a shared commitment to helping business owners plan for what’s next.