Business Exit Planning - Introduction

There may be few things in the life of a SME owner that are of more deep-seated concern than the subject of how and when to exit your business. In my personal experience, people who own small to medium sized business are a unique and hardy breed.

Getting on the corporate ladder and climbing requires some determination and some pretty sharp elbows, but in the end, the paycheque keeps coming and as long as you don’t disgrace yourself, the more time you spend, the higher you’ll climb and the more that paycheque will grow.

On the other hand, starting a business, or even buying an existing one from someone else requires a completely different set of skills and capabilities. For a start, no-one says that this is going to be successful apart from you and in the early stages of most businesses, the saying so can seem at odds with the reality on the ground.

You have to be resilient, self-motivated, have self-belief, be willing and able to learn new things and take people with you. Over the years you hone all these skills and some you’ll be better at than others, but ultimately, you develop a package of capabilities that allow you to thrive in the face of whatever comes next.

It leads to something else too. After all that time holding the world on your shoulders, what on earth could possibly take its place? If not this then what is your purpose in life. Being indispensable is like a drug. You may bitterly resent its importance in your life, but you are terrified about what might replace it.

This is a series of short articles looking at the key considerations that you will face in your journey from now to when you exit your business.

Just remember, you will exit your business. The choice you have is whether it’s going to be in a box or according to a plan you’ve made and enacted.