Your personalized path to a successful business exit

Employee ownership can be a great exit strategy for you, but it doesn't rely on individual employees coming up with the capital. In employee ownership structures, the company itself facilitates the purchase, not individual employees.

For most ESOPs and EOTs the answer is "$0" financial contribution from employees. For worker co-ops, there is typically an equity buy in amount, but this will be decided on by the workers themselves democratically, and will typically be nominal.

EO transitions are a net new perk for employees, i.e they follow the structure of a leveraged buyout where the cash flow of the business is used to pay for the business. Overall, employee ownership can be a win-win situation. You get a successful exit strategy, and your employees gain a stake in the company's future, potentially boosting morale and performance.

Yes, completely. Zolidar is designed to guide you through the entire employee ownership journey, from initial exploration to final execution. Aha Planner is built to support the planning phase by analyzing financial feasibility, valuation scenarios, and EO viability for your specific exit-planning stage.

Coming soon: For owners who select employee ownership, Zolidar will help you form a team of experienced EO practitioners, align with financiers, and serve as your software platform for efficiently executing transitions to ESOPs, EOTs, or Co-ops. Contact Us to find out more.

You can also connect with other business owners exploring employee ownership and find experienced practitioners through The Grid, our free professional community.

Absolutely! Here's how Zolidar could benefit SMB / EO advisors:

• Access to Cutting-edge Technology: Advisors gain access to Zolidar's innovative software solutions, streamlining the evaluation, implementation, and management of employee ownership structures.
• Educational Resources: Zolidar offers educational content and training modules, keeping advisors informed about the latest trends, benefits, and best practices in employee ownership.
• Networking Opportunities: Zolidar hosts events, webinars, and forums, providing valuable networking opportunities with other professionals, potentially leading to new partnerships or opportunities with potential clients seeking guidance on transitioning to employee ownership

We recommend starting with the free Day Zero Guide to explore your exit options. Then dive deeper with the Aha Planner to understand your business valuation and assess the financial viability of each exit option.

You can also connect with other business owners and advisors in The Grid for additional support and community insights.

We founded Zolidar with the mission to increase the wealth of everyday Americans by building the easy button for employee ownership. The name Zolidar is inspired by solidarity and the outcomes it can drive by aligning incentives of individuals towards a shared purpose.We aim to create a seamless experience where owners, employees, and advisors can collaborate, plan, and execute successful transitions that preserve legacy, build wealth, and support thriving communities. We plan to continue expanding our features and partnerships to make employee ownership more accessible and widely adopted.

Zolidar promotes employee ownership by educating business owners and business advisors on the benefits of this exit path, offering tools that make it easier to evaluate and implement, and working closely with advisors and industry experts to create resources that simplify the transition. Our platform is designed to demystify employee ownership and make it a viable option for more business owners.

While Zolidar is passionate about employee ownership, we are committed to providing objective and personalized recommendations based on your business's specific circumstances. The Day Zero Guide evaluates multiple exit paths, including employee ownership, strategic sales, and financial buyers. The Aha Planner assesses the net sales proceeds, tax implications, and present value of payout structures for a third-party sale as well as employee-ownership. We help you understand the pros and cons of each, but ultimately, the decision is yours.

In certain scenarios, Employee Ownership will emerge as the best choice for an owner to exit their business regardless of other factors. As an example, exit through employee-ownership emerges as a winner in all cases where businesses that have a strong track-record of profitability, established processes, a concrete plan for leadership transition, and flexibility from owners on the timeline for receiving sale proceeds.

In short, Zolidar can help you explore and prepare your business for an exit even through a third-party sale. Further along the exit journey, our features focus on exiting through employee-ownership, however the underlying concepts apply to other exit paths too.

Zolidar's Day Zero Guide and Aha Planner help you evaluate all your business exit options, which fall into three primary options of employee ownership, strategic sale, or financial sale. Based on your business metrics, you will get personalized insights and tips relevant to any exit option you choose.

The Day Zero Guide tells you how each exit option aligns with your goals and then provides resources for you to explore any aspect in greater depth. With these insights, you can improve the feasibility of all three of these exit options. The Aha Planner then takes this further, providing insights that let you make a fair comparison from a financial perspective between employee ownership models, such as ESOPs, EOTs, and Co-ops, and a third-party sale. Together, these tools help you understand the pros and cons of each exit path so you can confidently choose a path and start building your future.

We do know that many businesses are not a good fit for third party sales (finding an outside buyer), given 4 out of 5 businesses never find a buyer. We believe that employee ownership is a viable and advantageous option for many of these businesses. Our next set of features will be focused on employee ownership and making it easier for these businesses to make this transition.

Every Zolid AI answer has thumbs up and thumbs down buttons. Tap one to rate the answer; you can add a comment or suggest what a better answer would have looked like. The team reviews this feedback to make Zolid AI better.

For anything beyond a single answer, like a bug, a confusing screen, or a feature request, use the Get in touch form at zolidar.com/contact, also linked at the bottom of most storefront pages.

The Zolidar Hub is our turnkey product for programs and institutions that support business owners facing succession decisions. It gives your organization a branded portal — your logo, your domain, your curated content — backed by Zolidar's full toolkit: the Day Zero Guide exit assessment, Aha Planner valuations, Zolid AI, and a directory of vetted advisors.

Typical Hub customers:

• State and regional employee ownership centers preserving local businesses and jobs through ownership transitions.
• SBDCs and small business associations bringing structured succession tools to their members.
• Banks and credit unions deepening relationships with business-owner clients before a transition becomes urgent.
• Training programs for buyers and searchers equipping cohorts with valuation and deal-analysis tools from day one.
• Fintech and corporate platforms embedding succession planning into workforce programs or supply-chain resilience initiatives.
• Place-based campaigns addressing the local business succession gap for a city, county, or region.

Individual business owners and advisors do not need a Hub — they use Zolidar's Business or Advisor plans directly. The Zolidar Hub is the institutional layer above those plans.

Yes! You can talk to real people for help. Here's how:

Contact Zolidar

Our team is here to help with technical support, product questions, employee ownership guidance, and exit planning. We can point you in the right direction and help you get started.

Ways to reach us:

1. Book a Call: https://calendly.com/sk-zolidar-euea/zolidar-demo?hide_gdpr_banner=1 to speak directly with our team about employee ownership options, get a product demo, or discuss how Zolidar can help with your exit planning needs.
2. Phone: +1 (650) 977-4744 - Calls go to voicemail, and we'll return your call. Please leave a detailed message with your name, contact information, and what you'd like to discuss.
3. Contact form: Fill out the Get in touch form at zolidar.com/contact for general inquiries or feedback. It's also linked at the bottom of most storefront pages.

We can help with:

1. Technical support and product questions
2. Guidance on using Zolidar's tools (Day Zero Guide, Aha Planner, Zolid AI)
3. General information about employee ownership and exit planning
4. Product demos and onboarding help
5. Connecting you with the right resources for your situation

Or Connect with Professionals in The Grid

If you want to explore working with advisors on your own, The Grid https://zolidar.com/grid is our community directory of professionals who specialize in employee ownership and business succession planning. You can browse profiles, search by expertise or location, and reach out to professionals directly.

Note: While Zolid AI can answer many questions immediately, it's an AI assistant, not a real person. For personalized guidance or complex situations, we recommend starting with our team—we can help determine the best path forward for your needs.