How to Make Your Business Exit-Ready

How to Make Your Business Exit-Ready

How To Make Your Business Exit-Ready

 You’ve Taken the First Step to Make Your Business Exit-Ready!    

Congratulations on taking the first steps to make your business exit-ready. We recommended you start to plan your exit  at least 2-3 years before you plan to exit. The sooner the better

This advice applies equally to senior executives of private or listed companies who may have a substantial percentage of their retirement savings tied up in shares in the business they manage. If this is the scenario that would apply in your case, you will need to keep the board, or the owners fully informed to avoid a potential conflict of interests.

Most family businesses will have a “Shareholders Agreement” in place that will include a succession plan for the CEO & Senior Executive positions.

Your exit plan will need to be kept up to date, at least annually, or when unforeseen events occur. But at least you will have a plan structure already in place as a starting point to update.

Preparing your exit-readiness plan doesn’t mean you will go ahead in the near future, but you need to be prepared – just in case. You never know what the future holds, and if something happens, and you are no longer able to operate your business, or you get an offer you can’t refuse, you need to be exit-ready to make sure you maximise the sales value.

Even experienced business owners and senior executives can become completely absorbed by the day-to-day operations of their business and tend to forget that one of the most important parts of owning a business or having a substantial shareholding is to plan and prepare for your exit or divestment in advance.  

But, don’t be too concerned if you have been in business for a while and don’t have all of those important things in place.

The good news is that our “Exit Readiness Program’ has been designed to enable you to either:

– Start preparing your business for sale well in advance, because preparing it thoroughly involves a lot of research and work and will take time, or

– If you don’t have an up-to-date plan, should it be necessary for some reason, you can fast-track all the action steps and processes you will need to put in place to be ready to sell your business or divest your shares in a shorter timescale.

Either way, Many Companies will retain an experienced business coach or consultant to oversee the process.

Your external expert should have extensive experience and skills (Ideally at “C-Suite” level).

Exactly how long that would take will depend on a number of factors, including the size & complexity of your business, the industries you serve, the current health of the business, it’s financial performance, systems and processes, the quality of your people, and on your commitment to do what it takes to make it happen.

Either way, this program will give you the tools and a step by step action plan, and you will have your mentor or coach to guide you through the 9 chapters of the program and, if required, they will be available to assist or advise you on other aspects of your preparation at any stage of the plan development or sale process.

Preparing Your Business for Exit. Is Your Business Ready to Sell?

You’d never hail a taxi or Uber car if you didn’t know where you wanted to go. Similarly, you should never launch a business without having a plan to one day exit it.

So, what’s your end goal for your business? Because there is no safety net if things go wrong, and there is no redundancy payout if it doesn’t work out.

The good news is that this Exit Readiness Program has been designed to enable you to fast-track all of the action steps and processes you will need to put in place to be ready to sell your business or divest your equity.

Ultimately, how quickly you get all the elements in place will be entirely in your hands. With this program and an experienced Coach or Consultant available to take you and your team through it step-by-step, and to work with you as an ongoing advisor if you choose, you have all the tools and advice you need to be exit-ready quickly.

All you need to do is to take the actions required in a timely manner.

It is also important to bear in mind that on average in Australia it takes six to nine months to sell a business, but it can take even longer!

The time it takes to sell a business is impacted by events on both the seller and buyer side.

Finally, emotional and psychological factors can also play a part, such as the sense of scarcity, to the presence of rival bidders, and the sense of urgency in a seller’s behaviour.

The Business Exit Readiness Program covers all of the above and much more.

But, of course, you also have a business