Have you planned for everything but your exit? As a business owner, you should be planning for this eventuality; regardless of how far out you are from your exit. Business owners typically don’t plan for this because business is good, and they can’t imagine ever wanting to stop working. Or they think they aren’t ready that they can’t even consider it. Then one day, all of a sudden…they want out. Now, what? Here are some tips to help you plan for your exit and succession.
Surround yourself with trusted advisors
In your long-term preparation for exiting, you must surround yourself with the right team. You may need any or all of the following: CPA, financial planner, business lawyer, personal lawyer, business coach, insurance advisor, valuation specialist, business broker, investment banker, regular banker and estate planning attorney. This team works together to make sure you have all your ducks in a row.
Get good at long-term planning
Some reasons business owners don’t plan are because they’re scared of the unknown, good at short-term thinking but not long term, they’re not sure what they want, they’ve been doing the same thing from 30 years…the list goes on. This plays into your personal vision. You must have an end goal in mind. Considering an exit strategy also forces you to question your identity and how closely it’s tied to the company. “If I retire, who am I?”
Questions to ask yourself
You are not the only one who can run the business. You may feel like you never want to retire. That’s okay! But, let’s walk through some steps in understanding what your exit might look like. Ask yourself:
- What are your objectives? For some it’s about selling price; for others it’s for employees to take over.
- Quantify your personal and business values—what do you need?
- What do you need to do to maximize the business value?
- Do you have family successors who will be taking over?
- Address business continuity—what will that transition look like?
- Address wealth management and estate planning.
Register for The Exit Bubble on April 22 from Noon-1:30 p.m. MST. Tensie Homan, co-author of The Exit Bubble, will be talking about preparing your business for sale and what that experience is really like. Join us for this BizSense with Blair™ event!
By Blair Koch
