Selling Your Business – Plan Your Exit Strategy
Selling Your Business
It is easy to sit and daydream and imagine retiring early on your hard earned success. Does your imagination drift into the future where the stress and commitment of running a business has gone and your bank balance is looking healthy and robust? Do you consider being rewarded for the long hours and years of sacrifice when starting and growing your business?
If you regularly think about your business in a big way, have aspirations for your business and plans for your future success, you can make it happen.
Plan Your Exit Strategy
But have you ever really seriously considered your exit strategy? Many business owners only think about it when they are ready to exit. It should be something you think about at the very beginning of your business journey and keep it in mind all the way through.
You can build a business that can grow (or scale) into something big and valuable. It takes good planning and strategy, but it can be done.
A Family Business
Not everyone wants to create a business that can be handed down to their children (and maybe your children are not interested in getting involved in a family run business anyway). So what will be your future options? Have you thought that far into the future?
There are lots of considerations when thinking about selling a business. Does your business own lots of assets? Do you have a buyer in mind? Have you already had an offer? Do you have staff and contracts to consider? Do you have shareholders or investors? Do you have a natural successor within your business who may want to buy it from you?
Have you had your business valued? Have you created your business as a separate entity (so that you can sell it as a going concern and business) and the buyer has different income streams and is not just buying a database of your clients?
Exciting Times Ahead
Preparing and offering a business for sale is not straight forward, but it is exciting.
Life can throw you a curved ball (often) so selling when in a crisis is the best time or option, but planning and going at your own pace is, so that you know instinctively when the time is right, to exit.
Many entrepreneurs are not ‘wedded’ to their business emotionally and usually set up a business with the sole purpose of creating something successful, offering their business for sale, selling it and moving on to the next project.
Motivating Factors
Each individual business owner is motivated by different factors, some by money, some by success, some by ego, but nearly all want to achieve something BIG with their talents and skills. Many want to leave a lasting legacy of their ability to do something with their life that had purpose and intent.
So my advice is to work hard, create a successful business and then put up the sign saying ‘Business for Sale’.
