Experiences from an Entrepreneur

“Why should I plan for something I will never do?”

This is the question that I got from one of my clients after I asked him what his Exit Strategy was.

“I don’t plan on ever selling my business. This is what I enjoy doing and I’m going to hand it over to my kids when I’m ready to retire.”

That, my friend, is exiting your business. Whether you hand it off to your kids, sell it to the highest bidder or work in it until the day you die, (which essentially means you are handing it off to your kids) you are EXITING and you must prepare for that transition.

Here are some key items that need to be handled if you want to hand your business off to your kids.

• Make sure the business runs with predicable systems and doesn’t rely on only what’s in your head to function.

• Make sure your customers have a relationship with your business and not just you. This doesn’t mean they can’t have a relationship with you, after all, you are the business in their eyes. Your customers need to know that the business is providing the service and if ownership changes, the service won’t be compromised. Make the transition.

These are just two of the many things that you need to have in place before you exit your business. If you want to know the rest of the “to-do’s”, ask yourself this question.

If I were to be taken out of commission tomorrow, what needs to be implemented today so the business doesn’t skip a beat? If you can answer this question, create a list of action items, and check them off, your business will be in good shape for your exit…even if it is just handing it off to your kids.