Exit Planning refers to a plan of action undertaken by a business owner, usually over 3 to 5 years, to prepare a business for a sale with a view to achieving a higher price and/or smoother process. We call the elements of an Exit Plan 'Action Areas'. The Video on this page provides a brief Overview of some of these.
Although some Action Areas are likely to take a number of years to come to fruition others can be carried out over a number of weeks or months which can go alongside the sales process. A common theme of all the Action Areas is to reduce the risk profile of the purchase from a buyer's perspective – the lower the risk, the higher the price a buyer should be prepared to pay.
In our experience, owners who wish to embark on Exit Planning over years are relatively rare. Usually, by the time a business owner contacts us about selling their business, he/she wants to complete the sale as quickly as possible and, given that a sale process will typically take 9-12 months and then a handover might take a further 3-6 months, he/she is keener on starting the process rather than preparing the business for sale. However, we always encourage owners to carry through the shorter-term Action Areas even if it is only to have a tidy up!
If you would like to talk to us about Exit Planning on a confidential and no obligation basis please Contact Us or call on 02476 100476.