When I teach business growth classes one of the first sessions includes a discussion about Exit Strategies.

What most entrepreneurs fail to realize is that how they plan to end their relationship with their business is perhaps even more important than how they start it.

Exit strategies are a critical aspect of any business growth plan because the way in which you leave your business shapes key activities, priorities, and decisions all along your path.

Some common business exit strategies include:

Legacy:

Leaving your business to kids, other relatives, or friends

• This means you need to train your people to take over and institute operating procedures so the business can continue to thrive without you, which starts years before you hand over the keys.

Acquisition or Sale:

Selling your business or assets

• This means you have to ensure you're adding value to your brand as well as making your business as attractive as possible to your target buyers, which takes time and planning.

Conversion to Employee-Owned:

Sharing ownership with your employees

• This means you need to recruit and retain the right team and develop the appropriate infrastructure to ensure the business you build remains healthy and prosperous once it becomes community property.

Shuttering:

Ceasing operations

• There's more to going out of business, than stopping what you're doing. You need a plan to protect your IP, shut down business accounts, communicate your closure to all the right parties and avoid fees, penalties, or worse.

Recent research shows that it typically takes 3-7 years of strategic preparation for successful business exits—that's time spent doing what needs to be done and not just thinking about it—to ensure owners walk away with the outcome they want, financially, emotionally, and otherwise.

30% of founders experience depression after they exit their business, but owners who engineer their own exits experience a greater sense of accomplishment and closure than those who don't.

We live in a culture that loves to focus on the new and the next but spending some time thinking about the end of your relationship with your business today will only serve to focus you on the right things ever after, ensuring your final act is the one you want rather than simply what's available to you at the time.

There are 3 key questions to ask yourself when starting to plan your exit strategy. If you're interested in getting started, schedule some time with me and we'll go through them together.
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Until next time,

PS -If you missed it, last month I was celebrating Happy Anniversary to Me with a gift for you.
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"We had our best year after working with you, leading to our being acquired. We couldn't have done any of it without you." Laura Varacchi, Founder, LVCK Design Schedule a free strategy consult

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