Craig West is a strategic accountant with over 25 years of experience advising business owners. Craig is now a strategic mentor for mid-market business owners and has written six critically acclaimed books on employee incentives, succession planning, asset protection, employee ownership and exit strategies. Craig has conducted numerous seminars and keynote presentations throughout Australia & internationally and is a sought-after presenter.Craig’s practice Succession Plus is Australia's largest Business succession and exit planning firm, with offices in every state and operations in NZ, the UK and the USA. It provides advice and strategy for clients preparing their business and finances for a successful exit. In October 2014, he was awarded the Exit Planner of the Year at the Exit Planning Institute Annual Conference in Texas, USA, for his innovative development of an exit planning process to help business owners maximise business value and achieve a successful exit.Craig’s proprietary structure—a Peak Performance Trust—has won the Australia-wide award for the Employee Share Ownership Plan of the Year twice in four years. Over 150 business owners now use this structure to attract, retain, and motivate key employees.In July 2022, Craig West received the Doctor of Business Administration award for his research thesis titled “Examination of the key factors driving business exit options in Australian Small and Medium Enterprises.” Craig is passionate about encouraging business owners to think strategically, maximise the value of their business and achieve a successful exit.Craig founded the software platform www.capitaliz.com to assist with business assessment, valuation and value acceleration - this platform is now used by over 250 advisers in eight countries. The underlying algorithm combines financial, non-financial and operational data and benchmarking to value privately owned companies.The Exit Planning Institute admitted Craig to the International Exit Planning Circle of Excellence in May 2024.