The Business Bulletin
How do I put together an exit strategy for my business? Most business owners are passionate about their businesses and love being involved in growing and developing their companies. At some point though you will need/want to exit your business, so you will need an exit strategy. What’s one of those?
An exit strategy is a plan that you put in place with the ultimate goal of removing yourself from the business, after all you are going to have to ‘retire’ at some point aren’t you? So, how do you put a plan together? The best place to start is with your end goal and then work backwards.
Step one – start with your exit date? Look ahead 5, 10 or 20 years in the future, or maybe less if you have left it a bit late. Having an exit date will help you to start to think about what you want to do with the business and what you will need to have in place to allow that to happen.
Step two – decide what you want to do with your business? ■ Is a Management Buy Out (MBO) right for your business? If this is your exit plan then you need to think about the steps you’ll have to have in place in order to make it work. The starting point is to make sure you have a strong senior leadership team in place. Doing this will allow your team to gain valuable experience before they take over, and you’ll be on hand should they need advice. With the day to day tasks covered,
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you’ll also be able to finalise your exit strategy in detail. ■ Do your children wish to take over? Whilst this might be your preferred solution, my advice is not to let your heart rule your head. If they’re already working in the business and have a good
