And Is Your Business Ready For Your Exit?
Why did you want to go into business in the first place? To make your own decisions? To take control of your destiny? Do you remember how much time and effort it took just to open for business? Well, now that you are operational, you can’t just count on cashing out whenever you feel like it. Your exit strategy takes as much thought and consideration as planning your grand opening – maybe even more.
Be sure to read: Succession Planning: A Must For Every Business Owner
Most people avoid putting together an exit plan because they prefer to avoid hard questions if at all possible. So instead of tackling the task, most business owners will sidestep the process and leave their exit strategy up to chance. Not only with this end up costing you dearly in the end, the hard questions you avoided years earlier will still need to be addressed – and if you don’t like the answer, it’s too late to make any changes.
Listen to episode 116, “Your Baby (Business) Is All Grown Up … So What’s Next?” on unsuitable on Rea Radio.
Exit Planning Strategy
If you have plans of enjoying life after business, you owe it to yourself – and your family – to start planning early. While I don’t have a crystal ball to predict the date and time of your departure, I would recommend holding off until you can at least answer these questions.
- What am I going to do with myself after I leave the business?
- How much money do I need from the business to retire?
- How will my decision to exit impact my family?
- How can I be sure the business will survive without me?
Once you have your answers, think about the best timing for you to exit your business, and what do you need to do to make your dreams a reality.
By Paul Weisinger, CPA/ABV, CVA, CEPA (Cleveland office)
Want to gain more insight into the complexities of exit planning? Check out these articles:
You Built A Business. You Grew Its Value. Now You Need To Protect It