Personal Exit Readiness

A farmer cultivating a field with a blue tractor, representing the careful planning needed for a successful business exit.
Knowing when to harvest is crucial, both in farming and in business. A strategic business exit strategy ensures you reap the maximum benefits from your years of dedication. Don't leave your future to chance - start planning your exit today.

Push Factors Influencing Your Business Exit Strategy

Identify any company-related push factors that you can mitigate. A prospective buyer wants to come into the business and be happy and fulfilled. A buyer’s enthusiasm can wane if the existing owner is burnt out. Declining revenues also raise concerns. An expiring lease, coupled with a potential rent increase or even non-renewal, poses a significant risk. These factors can discourage potential buyers.

A well-designed business exit plan mitigates those push factors, effectively de-risking the business. But if these issues can’t be resolved, carefully controlling the timing of your exit and presenting a candid assessment to prospective buyers becomes crucial for keeping a deal on track.

Speaking of buyers, they’ll react negatively if they sense you’re simply bored or burnt out. Therefore, find a way to reinvigorate yourself and ensure your business runs smoothly until you’ve fully trained the new owner. This means sprinting to the finish line, using your time efficiently, and delegating tasks wherever possible. Give it your all! Think of this as your final performance—make it memorable.

Pull Factors and Your Business Exit Plan

After the sale of a business, if you are at a party of people who do not know you, how will you answer the question, “What do you do?” We have lost count of the number of business owners that rely on a vague plan for their retirement. Most have never really looked into the mirror and asked themselves how they will occupy an extra 50 hours a week. Consequently, lack of planning leads to an unhappy retiree.

Do not romanticize life after exit. Retirement can be extremely hard on a former go-getter business boss. Many business owners rely on the business and extended business circle for a big part of their social life. Who will be in your social circle once you leave your industry? How will you obtain a sense of purpose or enjoy recognition outside of your former career? For an owner in good health with good energy, hanging around the house gets old after about three weeks. What will you do to fulfill your days?

One Year After Exit

Did you know that one year after exit, 75% of business owners regret the sale of their business? That is a rather shocking statistic, but it does not have to be you. Owner regret often stems from a poorly defined business exit strategy that doesn’t account for the owner’s personal needs. Fortunately, with our program, you will know before you exit the impact the taxes will have on your sale proceeds. You will have considered, carefully, whether selling the business really makes sense for you. You will have considered whether changes to the business might make it enjoyable and reduce the pressure on you to retire. Maybe the business could be passed onto the kids, and you stay on in a reduced capacity.

Take time to consider your personal and professional options. Now is the time to think smartly about all aspects of your exit – personally and financially. Here is what you need to do: Become one of the 25% of owners who do not regret their sale by taking the pre-score assessment. Your successful business exit depends on it.