Planning an exit strategy for your business often doesn’t feel natural. After all, you’ve already been dedicating your time, attention, money, and energy to your business for years.

Once you decide to sell, isn’t it time to focus on other things?

Unfortunately, the final year you own your business will be crunch time. This is your last opportunity to iron out any issues with your workforce and records and set your buyer up for an easy transition.

Coming up with a business exit strategy is one of the most important steps you will take as a business owner if you want to make money on the sale of your business. Check out our planning tips to learn how to get started.

What is an Exit Strategy?

An exit strategy is a plan you create to sell your business for the maximum amount of money possible. Or, if your business isn’t doing well, it’s the plan you make that allows you to liquidate your business without major losses.

It often outlines steps you can take to improve your business, as well as incentives for employees that choose to stay, and maps out a path forward for the buyer.

What the Best Exit Strategies are Built On

For many business owners, planning an exit strategy doesn’t feel like a priority. But, it’s really something you should put a lot of thought into.

If you know what you need to do to get your business to the point of sale, it’s easier to create actionable steps along the way. An exit strategy can form the backbone of your business plan.

How to Create an Exit Strategy Business Plan

Ideally, before you even open your business, you should have thought about the day that you will sell it. That way, you can make the right growth an acquisition choices along the way.

You can also choose to make decisions that allow you to retain control or involvement in the business even after you sell it.

But if you haven’t made a plan yet, turning to a team of experts is the best way to ensure you take the right steps going forward.

The experts on your team will help guide you through the creation of an exit strategy business plan. Most business brokers have a process they take sellers through that allows them to map out a plan so that the seller can exit on their terms.

They will help you establish and learn:

• What your business valuation is
• How to prepare your records for the sale
• How you can improve your valuation in the next year
• What the market is like for your business
• What steps you can take to grow your business before you sell it

They will also prep you on what to expect throughout the sale process.

At Dolan Sales, we specialize in helping business owners along the road to retirement. We would love to help you create a plan for selling your business. Contact us today and lets talk strategy!

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