Exit Strategy Planning

You have spent years carefully planning for the growth of your business. How much time and consideration have you given to what happens after you leave?

The number one reason business exits fail is due to a lack of planning on the owner's part. Most business owners are reactive and "forced" to sell because of burnout, health issues, marital problems, or business conditions without having the time to prepare. As a result, many business owners exit their companies at the worst time possible.

Your exit plan is just as important as other parts of your business plan. No one plan fits everyone's needs but a well-developed process, planned well ahead of its actual execution, helps ensure each part of the exit plan is identified, discussed, and included.

To ensure the survival and continued growth of their business, every business owner should have a succession and exit plan.

According to a recent Exit Planning Institute survey of business owners:

• 76% plan to transition their business within the next ten years

• 83% have no transition plan or do not know if they will sell to an internal or external buyer

• 40% do not have a plan covering a forced exit (illness, death, etc.)