The Coach Behind
The Roadmap
Eric Gilboord has spent 25+ years inside the heads of business owners. He built SYB4M because most owners only sell once — and deserve to do it right.
Eric began his career at major advertising agencies — Hayhurst, DMBB, Saffer, SMW and The Russo Group — spending two decades as an Account Director and Strategist. That experience led him to found SOHO Marketing Inc., where he spent another two decades providing business consulting, marketing strategy and creative services to small and medium-sized business owners.
He quickly learned the unique needs of entrepreneurs — so well that clients regularly told him he was "inside their head." That insight evolved into business transition coaching, and eventually into Warren Business Development Center Inc. (WarrenBDC), a boutique M&A firm that specializes in bringing buyers and sellers of SMBs together.
Today Eric works almost exclusively with Gen X and Boomer-aged business owners — founders who have built something valuable over 20 or more years and need a clear, practical path to selling it well. He built the SYB4M Roadmap to give those owners exactly that: a structured, jargon-free system that starts 3–5 years before they go to market.
He is the author of four books, a regular columnist, and a speaker who addresses business owner groups and podcasts across Canada and the US.
After years of working with owners who arrived at the sale process unprepared — businesses undervalued, deals falling apart, owners leaving significant money on the table — Eric realized the problem wasn't lack of intelligence. It was lack of a roadmap.
Most owners spend decades building their company and almost no time preparing to sell it. The people who do sell well have one thing in common: they started early and followed a structured plan. Eric built SYB4M to make that plan available to every owner — not just the ones who could afford a full advisory team from day one.
The SYB4M Roadmap covers all four dimensions of a successful exit: understanding the selling process, preparing yourself personally, making the company buyer-ready, and navigating the actual sale. It's 69 lessons, nearly 5 hours of content, and built for the way business owners actually think — direct, practical, no jargon.
The SYB4M Roadmap gives you the knowledge, the plan, and the tools. When you're 1–2 years from going to market, 1-on-1 coaching with Eric accelerates everything. He applies the Roadmap directly to your specific business, helps you identify your biggest gaps, and makes sure you're genuinely ready when it counts.
Coaching is available to owners with annual sales of $1M–$25M. Sessions are conducted by video call. Coaching fees start at $325/hour.
If you're not sure whether you're ready for coaching yet, start with the free Exit Assessment — it will tell you exactly where you stand.
Start with the Roadmap. Work with Eric When You're Ready.
The SYB4M Roadmap is free to explore. When you're closer to market, Eric is available for 1-on-1 coaching to make sure your exit goes the way it should.