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Why Develop An Exit Plan?

Guest post by: Anne Barr

Article Overview: This article discusses the importance of a well thought out exit plan and how its important to have an exit strategy when you start or purchase a business. It will save you time, stress and money down the road!

Why Develop An Exit Plan?

When buying an existing business, starting a new business, or purchasing a new franchise, you are making several important decisions including: What type of business do you want? What do you want the business to do for you? How much money are you going to invest? Where will your new business be located?

Oftentimes, how you plan on exiting the business is overlooked. How and when you are going to exit the business may influence some of the other decisions you must make. Are you going to work full time in the business? When will you bring in a manager to help with day to day operations? Deciding how you will exit the business early will save you time, stress and money down the road.

If you plan on selling, you must keep good books and records, claim all of your income, and keep your expenses under control. You may also want to put a manager in place to help with the business. This will help you sell faster, at a good price, and maximize your return on investment.

If your plan is to eventually turn the business over to your children or other family members, there are also factors to consider. Are you sure your children/family members want the business? How much training will they need before you turn the business over to them? Would they be better off if you had a qualified manager running the business?

So, when making the decision to go into business for yourself, remember to include the exit plan!

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Article Tags: business ownership, exit plan, exit strategy, franchise



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Business Innovation - Hi Simon If you can finish off the Business Plan and think about your strategic direction or how you are going to use your product to convince people it's a great idea, it will set the foundation for your programming project. You see, when you are looking for funding you will need a Business Plan and Strategic Plan that will convince companies to invest into your new idea. Has anyone achieved this idea before using another industry besides health and fitness that you know of? You should also design some mockups as a "preview" for your programming project. This will also help reduce your programming costs as everyone will know exactly what you want if you have detailed mockups already completed including any functionality you require. Starting mockups for websites and software applications on paper is the best way if you're not a guru in graphic editing software.
Re: Run when you can, walk when you have to, crawl if you must; - Hmmm nice, never beg while crawling But also look up "Exit Strategies" We cannot always be right, nor can we control all matters of business.. Sometimes we have to get off the horse before it dies under us I can recall offering data service to banks, mortgage companies, and others before the data became available on the internet. Even though I had a better mousetrap, I was not ready for the glamor of the internet and let my system die a natural death
Re: NEW VIDEO - How to improve your business plan - Ask Evan - Thanks Evan, great intro into how the VC's see business plan. I will take a look, but hope that this video as number 1 in a series. It is unfortunate that these types of errors, the most basic of errors as you point out here are common to too many business plans, having reviewed a few hundred myself from both a development and funding perspective. As a mentor and workshop facilitator for Business Plan development for a number of start-up IT and multimedia companies, your presentation help support and show how the VC's see and evaluate a plan Shameful, that too many don't take the time to learn how to properly prepare, present and defend their plans. Over the years, I have enjoyed Business Plan competitions, and help re-work some of the winning proposals
And This is Handy Too! - [quote:31wl64vf]Develop Fingerprints! Place a small wad of cotton, saturated with tincture of iodine, in a glass tube; blow against suspected fingerprints, and they will appear. [/quote:31wl64vf] Must be of use to all you entrepreneurs out there!
Question: What has been your biggest business challenge? - Regardless of the industry they may be in, it seems all small business owners and entrepreneurs face similar key challenges in growing their business and becoming as profitable as they would like. These can be grouped into the categories of "Time", "Team", "Money", and "Exit Strategy". What has been your most significant challenge, the one that seems to be your biggest hurdle to moving forward and achieving the level of business success (however you define that) that you would like to? If you could have one issue solved in your business, what would that be? Your insights are invaluable and I appreciate your honesty. Regards, Gavin


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