Securing the Future of Your Business, Its Legacy, and Your Personal Future

As an entrepreneur you started your business journey with dreams of growth, success, and making an impact. While much emphasis is placed on starting and building your business—such as drafting a business plan, securing funding, and attracting customers—the end of the journey warrants equal attention. This end often entails an exit strategy, succession, or transition plan. Developing these plans early is crucial for many reasons, and here we will explore the benefits of starting early.

The Concept of an Exit Strategy

Your exit strategy is a roadmap that outlines how a you intend to leave your company, one that maximizes the upside, minimizes downside while at the same time providing for your personal needs, wants, and wishes. It includes the method of exit, such as selling the business, merging with another company, passing ownership to a family member, or in some way transitioning the business to another party.

Read more on our website!

If you’re feeling some need to address the long-term success of your business coupled with your post-entrepreneurial life, don’t wait – starting doesn’t take more than a brief phone call…

David is an accomplished and experienced business professional who brings over 40 years of insight to the table. As a business coach, he specializes in helping business owners prioritize their needs. He can help you develop your exit or transition plan.

Business transition planning starts with a single, free conversation. Call 734-726-5208 today for a free coaching session or contact David. Your success is waiting!

It’s Never Too Early to Take These Steps in Developing Your Exit Strategy

No matter how far ahead it is, thinking about your exit plan early is important. If  you don’t know how you will exit your business and how your exit aligns with your life goals and future needs, you may be in for some uncomfortable challenges.

• Define your goals, your personal ones first and then your business goals for your exit. This includes financial goals, legacy considerations, and desired timeline.
• Understand business valuation, which may not give you a financial value for your business, but it can help you plan for the value you most desire.
• Explore your exit options so that you can test different exit strategies and choose the one that aligns best with your goals. Consider the pros and cons of each choice.
• Create a timeline for your exit early that includes key milestones and deadlines. This helps in maintaining focus and ensuring progress towards the exit.
• Improve your business operations, financials, and market position in alignment with your personal goals, while enhancing the value of your business.
• Engage with business and financial advisors, legal experts, and other professionals to guide you through the complex process of exit planning.

At some point you will take steps to communicate your plan and ensure transparency and clarity with stakeholders such as employees, clients, and family members. This builds trust, prepares them for the transition, and helps get everyone rowing in the same direction.

You may have exit questions that are impossible to answer today simply because your life journey and your business life journeys are evolving and incomplete. In the same way you develop a strategic plan that you execute, review and adjust, your exit strategy and plan may start small and be updated as you become more certain about what your end game should be.

Read more on our website!

If you’re feeling some need to address the long-term success of your business coupled with your post-entrepreneurial life, don’t wait – starting doesn’t take more than a brief phone call…

David is an accomplished and experienced business professional who brings over 40 years of insight to the table. As a business coach, he specializes in helping business owners prioritize their needs. He can help you develop your exit or transition plan.

Business transition planning starts with a single, free conversation. Call 734-726-5208 today for a free coaching session or contact David. Your success is waiting!

Ready to Retire? Read This First!

 

Have you thought of everything before retiring?

Are you and your staff prepared for a successful transition?

At a minimum, make sure you’re financially ready to leave. A thorough assessment of how your exit will affect your personal financial situation is critical. What will your primary source of income be? How about a secondary nest egg; for example, the equity you get out of the business? Will you be able to support the lifestyle you want?

There is much to consider before you’re truly ready to leave, including issues you may not have considered yet, like: 

• Are you prepared to accept that your sweat equity makes your business seem more valuable to you than it does to others?
• Are the buyer’s expectations aligned with yours?
• If you decide to stay on in a less involved role after selling, will you be able to give up control of your company? How will you feel watching others make decisions you would have made differently? 
• If you stay on in a part-time role, are you comfortable working a limited schedule? 
• Will you be happy walking away?

Tip: Take an extended vacation as a trial run before making any decisions. 

Read more on our website!

Give yourself time to plan

It may take some time to work out the best business transition plan for you and your company. Start early so you have time to figure out exactly what you want to achieve. Take time to personalize your plan to suit your future needs. This is your life, after all!

Start with a phone call 

David is an accomplished and experienced business professional who brings over 40 years of insight to the table. As a business coach, he specializes in helping business owners prioritize their needs. He can help you prepare to transition into this next phase of your life, whether you’re moving on to another business or planning to enjoy a leisurely retirement. 

It all starts with a single, free conversation. Call 734-726-5208 today for a free coaching session or contact David through the website. Your life is waiting!

The Off Ramp for Your Business: Succession Planning

If your strategic plan is the GPS to your business, a business transition plan is the off ramp. The strategic plan got you here; but where you go from here is up to you. 

Your transition out of your business can be as short or long as you decide, but it will be a smoother if you set a timeline and have a destination in sight. Even better, plan who will be taking over, what their responsibilities will be, and when the transition will occur. If you have employees, their financial security may depend on keeping the business running as usual during the transition. 

What’s your destination?

And finally, what about you? You can’t just blindly leap into the future. You’ve taken care of or planned for everyone else — don’t forget to plan your own next steps. 

Leaving your company may feel more difficult than you anticipate. Make your plans early to ease your own transition when the end is in sight. Think about the kind of exit you want to make. Which way will you go? What will you choose to do?

You put a lot of yourself into building your company. Plan your transition to the next phase of your life with equal care and thought.

Read more on our website!

Give yourself time to plan

It may take some time to work out the best business transition plan for you and your company. Start early so you have time to figure out exactly what you want to achieve. Take time to personalize your plan to suit your future needs. This is your life, after all!

Start with a phone call

David is an accomplished and experienced business professional who brings over 40 years of insight to the table. As a business coach, he specializes in helping business owners prioritize their needs. He can help you prepare to transition into this next phase of your life, whether you’re moving on to another business or planning to enjoy a leisurely retirement.

It all starts with a single, free conversation. Call 734-726-5208 today for a free coaching session or contact David through the website. Your life is waiting!

How Do You Include the Unknown in Your Strategic Plan?

While you can’t plan for every surprise, different situations carry different risks for different businesses:

• What if someone else has to carry on for you du e to a personal emergency?
• If your family situation changes, does your business involvement need to change too?
• What if your landlord decides to change the purpose of the property and ends your lease?
• What about an economic downturn?
• How will your business respond to a natural disaster like a building fire or tornado?

Your plans might differ based on whether the event is internal or external, involves a change in management, or immediately affects the safety or economic stability of your employees. You might focus on safety, restoring critical resources or operations, or the chain of command for recovery operations.

Being prepared is critical to your success

Knowing what to do during an emergency, and who will do it, can help minimize the impact on your business and employees. David can guide you through the process of completing a business impact analysis and developing a continuity plan to manage disruptions to your business. The hope is that you’ll never have to use it, but wouldn’t you rather be prepared?

Read the full article on our website to learn more!

Start Business Transition Planning: It’s as Easy as a Phone Call!

David is an accomplished and experienced business professional who brings over 40 years of insight to the table. As a business coach, he specializes in helping business owners prioritize their business needs, identify areas of improvement to support those needs, and lead their business to its greatest potential. He can help you plan for the future of your company with business transition planning in Ann Arbor and the surrounding area.

It all starts with a single, free conversation. Call 734-726-5208 today for a free coaching session or contact David. In today’s world, you need to be ready for anything.

Why Planning for Unexpected Outcomes is Critical

Your strategic plan maps your path to success, guiding you and your employees toward growth. It outlines your commitment to success and acts as a GPS.

What if you meet an unexpected challenge or emergency and need to take a detour? Make sure you have a plan for that, too! Planning for your success demonstrates your commitment to achieving your best, while planning for the unthinkable demonstrates your commitment to a different, but no less important, outcome.

Preparing for the worst while expecting the best:

• Demonstrates respect for your employees and/or investors
• Minimizes loss
• Prevents panic and decision making based on emotions

Change is predictable — plan for it

Change itself is predictable but of course the details are not. There’s no crystal ball showing the future of your business, only an understanding that there are many forces outside your control. While it’s not possible for your strategic plan to cover every possible emergency, a good contingency plan will help you navigate unexpected and unwelcome changes in your business environment.

How do you plan for contingencies you can’t predict? Read the full article on our website to find out!

Start Business Transition Planning: It’s as Easy as a Phone Call!

David is an accomplished and experienced business professional who brings over 40 years of insight to the table. As a business coach, he specializes in helping business owners prioritize their business needs, identify areas of improvement to support those needs, and lead their business to its greatest potential. He can help you plan for the future of your company with business transition planning in Ann Arbor and the surrounding area.

It all starts with a single, free conversation. Call 734-726-5208 today for a free coaching session or contact  David. In today’s world, you need to be ready for anything.

An Exit Plan is Critical

Do you have a succession plan in place for your business?

Have you been putting off planning for later in life, instead focusing on the here and now?

"A 2022 MassMutual study indicates that only 8 percent of business owners have a completed the process of developing written succession plan. Equally troubling is the fact that about one in four successors, those that the owner has targeted to take over his or her company, do not know that they are in the succession plan."

Many business owners don’t think about an exit strategy until they feel ready to move on. At that point, they may have already missed opportunities to get more value out of their company.

It’s critical to plan for both expected and unexpected exits:

Expected – goals with retirement or selling in mind

A planned exit can be a long-term process or a quick deal. Maybe you’ll plan to sell in ten years, or outline the steps needed if you receive an offer before then. Either way, the closer you get to the end, the harder it can be to see the best way out. Failing to plan may mean you have less control over the outcome and achieve less than optimal results.

Unexpected – we can’t schedule the unexpected, but we can prepare for it

Few business owners would have predicted a pandemic in 2020. But savvy business owners may have planned for contingencies such as supply line interruptions or workforce shortages. Pandemics, natural disasters, rent or location events, or the unexpected loss of life – these are things we don’t want to think about. But if you don’t think about them, and the unthinkable happens, how will your business hold up?

Read more succession planning tips on our website!

Not sure where to start with business transition planning?

David is an accomplished and experienced business professional who brings over 40 years of insight to the table. As a business coach, he specializes in helping business owners prioritize their business needs, identify areas of improvement to support those needs, and lead their business to its greatest potential. He can help you plan for the future of your company.

It all starts with a single, free conversation. For help with business transition planning in Ann Arbor, Call 734-726-5208 today for a free coaching session or contact David through the website. In today’s world, you need to be ready for anything.

How do You Benefit from a Carefully Planned Exit Strategy?

Have you spent time on the most critical part of business development? Writing a strategic plan means committing your business values, mission, goals, plans, and vision to paper – documenting your guiding principles.

Planning minimizes the element of surprise:

• Planned exits have better results than unexpected exits
• You’re better able to meet unexpected problems head-on (health or family, for example), without added stress
• You’ll have steps in place in case of unexpected offers
• You’ll be able to liquidate faster, if needed
• You’ll be ready for retirement, personal time off, or if you’re simply ready to move on

Including an exit strategy when you write your strategic plan ensures you’ve taken the right steps toward success, less left to chance, and are prepared to make informed, rational decisions. You won’t be rushed and won’t be as likely to make decisions based on emotions, or under stress. 

Read more about business transition planning on our website.

Not sure where to start with business transition planning?

David is an accomplished and experienced business professional who brings over 40 years of insight to the table. As a business coach, he specializes in helping business owners prioritize their business needs, identify areas of improvement to support those needs, and lead their business to its greatest potential. He can help you plan for the future of your company.

It all starts with a single, free conversation. For help with business transition planning in Ann Arbor, Call 734-726-5208 today for a free coaching session or contact David through the website. In today’s world, you need to be ready for anything.