Exit Planning
(does not mean "Time to Sell")
Exit planning is a proactive approach to preparing your business for a successful transition to a successor, whether a family member, management team, or outside buyer, on your terms. For many owners, the business represents years of effort and most of their personal net worth, yet few have formally planned to ensure it is transferable, valuable, and resilient without their direct involvement.
​
Effective exit planning extends beyond selling the business. It strengthens key value drivers such as leadership depth, repeatable sales and marketing systems, customer diversification, financial clarity, and operational independence. This approach creates a more profitable, less risky, and more attractive business for successors, regardless of when an exit occurs.
​
Exit planning provides owners with clarity, options, and control, ensuring that a future transition is a strategic choice rather than a forced event.
Personal Vision
Defining your personal vision for life after the business is essential, regardless of your timeline or exit method. Not planning for the “Next Act” is a leading reason why 75% of former business owners report dissatisfaction one year after exiting, according to several surveys.
Financial Readiness
Financial readiness is a key aspect of exit planning, ensuring your personal and business finances align with your post-ownership goals. Many owners assume their business’s value will fund their next chapter, often without knowing how much they need, the true worth of the business, or the impact of an exit on taxes, income, and long-term security.
Business Readiness
Business readiness forms the foundation of a successful exit plan. It assesses how well your business can operate, grow, and transfer ownership without relying on you as the owner. Many businesses are profitable but not transferable, which creates risk for successors and limits value at exit.
​
Business readiness aims to build a company that is attractive, durable, and scalable. This involves leadership depth, documented processes, strong sales and marketing systems, diversified customers, reliable financial reporting, and operational consistency. The more independently the business operates, the more options you have when transitioning to family, management, or an outside buyer.
​
In exit planning, business readiness increases value, reduces risk, and gives owners control over the timing, structure, and outcome of their exit.