Tweet

Ready, Aim, EXIT! Why Exiting Planning NOW Will Benefit Your NOW

Written by: George C. Huang

Article Overview: Exit planning is an integral part of a successful, comprehensive business plan. But most business owners are so busy growing their business that the last thing they stop to consider is their Exit Strategy. If you really want to build your company to be all that it can be and more, you need to establish right up front what you’re going for and what it means to you when you get there.

Ready, Aim, EXIT! Why Exiting Planning NOW Will Benefit Your NOW

Exit planning is an integral part of a successful, comprehensive business plan. But most business owners are so busy growing their business that the last thing they stop to consider is their Exit Strategy. If you really want to build your company to be all that it can be and more, you need to establish right up front what you’re going for and what it means to you when you get there.

To be clear, effective exit planning focuses on, “When is the best time to leave this business?” not “When is it time for you to get out of the business or retire?”
Having a plan doesn't mean that you have to be old and exhausted to act on it.
In fact, the best time to exit may be when you are at the top of your game!

In increasing order of desirability, there are six ways to exit a business:

1) Bankruptcy
2) Liquidation
3) Sell a job
4) Sell to a family member
5) Sell to a financial buyer
6) Sell to a synergistic buyer

A seventh way—IPO—is a glamorous notion, but it's not usually realistic for most privately-owned businesses.

Simply put, an Exit Plan allows you to sell your business at the highest reasonable price and, equally important, actually receive that purchase price.

Entrepreneurs typically don't make Exit Planning a priority because they don’t realize how critical it is to have a plan well before they'd ever need it. They believe that exiting is something that may happen in the future; making money is something that must happen today. Of course, making money today is important. But a well-crafted exit plan will actually make money for you long before you execute it.

You know how tough it is to deal with the urgencies and emergencies that are in front of you right now, right? You don’t want to spend valuable time on something that's way off in the future, lumped in there with retirement planning in the land of "someday.”

Investing time and energy in crafting your Exit Plan isn't going to save the day immediately, right?

Wrong.

A properly crafted Exit Plan can provide tangible benefits now, and an even bigger payoff later.

NOW:
• More profit
• More cash
• More time
• More fun
• Less risk
• Less stress
• More clarity and confidence

LATER:
• Double the value of your business
• Receive that value in cash
• Be ready to take advantage of unexpected opportunities
• Enjoy your freedom
• Do it again – if you want to


The impact of having an exit plan hinges on the Power of Intention.

1. When you maintain an awareness of the bigger picture, even while you are dealing with daily challenges, you naturally raise your level of energy, enthusiasm and intentionality.
2. Spurred by your intentions, you naturally incorporate the appropriate structures, strategies, and systems into your business to best achieve your exit objectives.
3. As a result, a cascade of interrelated events and resources comes together to make your vision of the future a reality.

Building value into your business is what an exit strategy is all about. You can wait until later to build value, but cannot recoup tomorrow the value that you failed to build today. An Exit Plan helps you to build stability, expandability, and scalability in to the operational design of the business as you:

• Build tangible value in to your business while providing outstanding value to your customers.
• Build the structure that helps you to realize the optimal potential and worth of the business.
• Build systems that will allow you to focus on what you enjoy and do best and on where you can make the greatest impact.

ACTION PLAN:
If you intend to build maximum value into your business every step of the way—rather than several years (or worse, several months) before you want to exit— here's what to do:

1) Schedule one hour a month to developing your Exit Strategy in your calendar and honor it.
2) During your first hour of exit planning, write down all the reasons why you want to avoid dealing with exit planning.

Related Articles
  Exiting Your Company Gracefully
  The End Starts at the Beginning
  Severance and Separation Agreements
  Business Exit Planning - Can Your Business Survive If You Could No Longer Manage It Tomorrow?
  Why Develop An Exit Plan?

Article Tags: bankruptcy, best time, business owners, comprehensive business plan, emergencies, exit plan, exit strategy, exiting, family member, financial buyer, game, ipo, job, liquidation, making money, notion, priority, retirement planning, six ways



Related Forum Posts
Re: How do you make the most of your day? - Planning, To Do lists, and deadlines all help me. Also being self critical of my own time management helps me raise the bar. I still check email too often though.
Re: What or Who Sparks Your Business Interest - It's interesting to see what the different motivations are by Age Category. I've noticed this around me: 20 to 29yr olds: Motivator: Money 30 to 39yr olds: Motivator: Success/Ambition 40 to 49yr olds: Motivator: Family comes first 50 to 59yr olds: Motivator: Leaving a legacy i've only gone that far in my analysis. Of course this is a braid generalization but I find that it helps direct my marketing to individuals in different age brackets. The product/service can be the same but the Marketing message (Benefit Statement) to a 20 year will revolve around "Money" vs. a 30-something would be on their "Self Image"
How can I best help you? - I'm looking forward to sharing my ideas and insights here about taking your business to the next level. Before I jump in, I'd love to find out what would be most helpful to you. So, I'd appreciate hearing your responses to: How can I best help you to take your business to the next level? What are you struggling with at the moment? What would you most like to learn? and I'll do my best in responding to you Ready, get set, go . . . Wendy
Re: Success - I think it was Gary Player who said the harder I practice the luckier I become when it came to his success as a world class golfer. Planning and dedication to a task can make all the difference between success and failure. MichelleJ
Re: Quote of the Day - "If you hesitate, some bolder hand will s - Excellent quote, Evan. This reminds me of the saying, "The early bird catches the worm." It's important to act on impulses, rather than hesitate and plan. Planning isn't a bad thing and is warranted in certain cases, but those who act quickly will get a step ahead of the competition.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Making the Most of Your Trade Show Experience

TOP Level Selling

Five keys to business success

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.