Making a Plan to Exit Your Business

Many business owners plan how they are going to exit their business from the moment they first start building it. With an entrepreneurial mindset, business owners invest time and energy into building their business with a plan of selling their business to provide for retirement or their next business venture.

There are a few important things to consider when making a plan on how to exit your company. Make sure your exit strategy is sufficient by taking time to review the following.

Take Steps To Prepare For Your Exit

Before you start making an exit plan there are steps you should take to prepare to sell your business. Make sure your employees are prepared and more of your responsibilities are passed on to them. Having less influence in your business will make leaving the company easier.

Determine How You Want To Exit Your Business

There are multiple ways to exit your business. You can pass your company on to your children, sell your business, liquidate your company, or sell your company to an employee. The way you want to exit your business determines how you should approach your exit strategy.

The Best Way To Pass your Business On To An Employee Or Child

When you are trying to exit your business and have a person who is already involved in your company succeed you, you need to manage your exit carefully. When an employee or child inherits your business your primary focus should be on:

• • Transferring responsibilities to the new owner.
  • Showing absolute trust in their leadership.
  • Managing employee drama in the transition.

Managing internal drama is the last thing you want to deal with when the business succession process begins. That is why being prepared for this is extremely important

The Best Way To Sell Your Business

If you choose to sell your business there are multiple ways you can. You can sell it yourself or hire a business broker. A business broker is one of the best ways to sell your business so you can get the full value for your company.

Some of the benefits of hiring a business broker to sell your company is the valuating, marketing and sale process is managed by the business broker. This allows for you to focus on your internal exit strategy.

Things You Must Do When Exiting Your Company

No matter how you are exiting your business, there are a few things you must do.

1. 1. Make sure access to all of your company information is given to the next owner.
   2. Make sure you tie up all loose ends. You do not want to be enjoying retirement on a beach and receiving phone calls from your old work.
   3. Communicate that you are exiting the business internally. Letting your employees know must be done carefully.
   4. Communicate your exit from the company externally. You want to do this in a way that will not hurt your business. Calling business partners or simply updating your company’s website might be effective.

Make sure you have a business broker who can advise you on how you exit your company.