Exit Strategy Planning

What is an Exit Strategy?

Exit Strategy means different things to different people. Its meaning for you is only limited by your desires and your imagination.

It may mean divestiture of ownership by sale, succession (family or management), ESOP or IPO.

Or, it may be an interim transition strategy to expand services or markets, relocate the company, reposition the company in its industry or in another industry, divestiture of non-core businesses, ensure career advancement (by management without ownership interest), etc.

Without a doubt, it is departure from your present state of affairs to something new and different. It is an evolutionary process in the lifecycle of your business and personal endeavors which will enrich the quality of your life and promote an uncompromised and financially secure future.

In many ways, the exit strategy process is similar to building your dream house. You have wonderful ideas of what you want it to look like and the amenities it will contain.

So, what’s the first step? Would you call the trades people together (the mason, carpenter, roofer, electrician, plumber, painter, landscaper, interior decorator, etc.) and say, “build my dream home?” Of course not. For those trades to be effective they require a “blueprint” which specifies, in detail, the part they will play in this process, what is required of them and the date(s) by which their “results” or “deliverables” must be provided.

Who provides this blueprint? An architect, of course—someone who has intimate knowledge of each trade and the regulatory and code requirements that must be met as part of the process. Without the architect, this process is overwhelming and most likely unachievable.