‘Pst! Remember the Exit Strategy in Your Business Plan’ By Loz Antonenko

Image Credit: Loz Antonenko, www.LozAntonenko.com; Dean Publishing

Starting with the end in mind? When you say it like that, it makes sense but few of us ever do this. It doesn’t always feel comfortable. It can feel downright pessimistic and that’s not the mindset you’d want to bring into a new beginning. Think about weddings; the last thing you want to do is imagine splitting up and divorcing the soulmate you’re about to marry but this is good business. It doesn’t have to mean you believe the marriage is doomed, it simply means that you value your well-being enough to plan for the unforeseeable.

When it comes to business, the same applies.

"No one starts a business with the end in mind, it’s more typical to start a business with profits in mind but an exit strategy should be a fundamental part of your business plan."

Why Plan the End at the Start?

City National Bank is an enterprise that explores the experiences of women entrepreneurs to understand how to better support them. Their research reports that “Most women business owners find that their company becomes much more than a job. It’s an essential part of their identity. Most women business owners interviewed expressed feeling overwhelmed and stressed when it came to their succession strategy.”

You wouldn’t drive without a destination, and you shouldn’t start a business without a clear exit plan. Do you want to sell the business when you retire? Leave it to the next generation? No one wants to wind up a business when they’re ready to step down, yet, this is happening to 50% of female-owned businesses in Australia because these businesses weren’t set up for selling or because the owner isn’t sure how to go about selling.

An exit strategy at the start comes with unexpected rewards you’ll appreciate later.

Starting with the end in mind gives you a clear sense of direction, there’s no risk of complacency, and you can map out your milestones from the onset. Setting clear objectives and deadlines for your business guides you in making decisions that contribute to the overall success and value of your business.

Creating an effective exit strategy requires you to visualise where you want your business to be in the future — typically in five years — and this is a crucial step that is often left out. Having this vision and clearly defining it helps you reverse engineer the steps needed to achieve your goals, including understanding market conditions, competition, and potential buyers.

By creating an exit plan that also outlines potential buyers, a timeline for exit, and your expected return on investment, you ensure that when the time to exit comes, it won’t be overwhelmed and will align with your goals. Having an exit strategy from the start gives you greater control over how, when, and why you exit the business. It allows you to plan for various outcomes such as selling the business, bringing in a partner, or closing it down.

A well-planned exit strategy gives your autonomy longevity throughout any situation, planned or otherwise. When the time to exit arrives, you’ll recognise it because it was part of the plan. A positive wrap-up will leave you excited, satisfied and generally more relaxed than if there had been no planning involved.

Meet Our Contributor — Loz Antonenko
Loz Antonenko has helped 100s of people (including herself) get unstuck and become unstoppable through the transformative power of healthy habits and daily routines. Public speaker, author, and coach, Loz is reachable via her website: www.lozantonenko.com.