I’ll leave in 5 years: Is this your exit plan?
Leaving a business is sort of like giving up one of your children. I cannot tell you how many business owners I talk with who say they have a plan, but in reality their plan is to continue to kick the can down the road until they are faced with no options. Life and your business transition don’t have to end up this way and Exit Planning is one way to provide options for you as a business owner when you start to consider how to exit your business.
You have several allies when it comes to Exit Planning, but your biggest ally is time. The more time you allow for your exit, the better the probable outcome. There are certainly other issues to consider, but time, or lack of time, is typically the biggest challenge.
Here are other issues that need to be considered when you think about your exit:
- How will I exit; will it be a transition to family members, an internal sale, an external sale or will I close the doors?
- What am I doing now to make the business work well when I leave?
- Do I have a transition plan in place?
- Are there processes in place to help others understand how to manage the business?
- What am I doing to minimize my taxable issues when I leave the business?
- Who are my advisors in helping me with my transition?
- What do I want to do when I leave the business? Is there life after work?
- When do I want to leave and when will I begin the transition process?
I could add many more steps, but these are some of the most crucial ones you need to consider as a business owner.
Business owners need advisors to help craft and manage their Exit Plan and those of us with NAVIX Consultants are trained and experienced to help with this. As we enter the last month of the year maybe it is time for you to start thinking about what your final laps in the work race will look like. Do you want to see the checkered flag when you leave or are you afraid of the red flag?