#buildabusiness
via #exitstrategy
to #sellbusiness
Is that the same as Start with the End in Mind TODAY, regardless of how old your Business is? Pretty much!
If an Asset to sell is what you're going for, then building your Mother of a Business needs to be structured (or at least be structuring), using an EXIT strategy format to be ready when the time comes to SELL…
This evolution of your Mother of a Business is partly informed by the "renovation" process.
To get you started, ask yourself these questions:
(If you're looking for more detail behind each of these questions, scroll over any of the headings and click, and download a more in-depth analysis)
• Why did you set up your business?
• What purpose does it serve?
• Why do you now want to move on?
• Why should a buyer be interested in taking this off your hands?
• What is the "story" of your Business?
• What does it "sell"?
• What pain does it address?
• What "reported" financial records does it have?
(eg: Tax Returns and BAS)
Thinking of typical "departments" of a business: whose name features in the org chart boxes below? Maybe yours looks like this:
(Mentor = the entrepreneurial mother® of course! :)
If your name features in all the boxes, if your business solely revolves around you and you want to be able to sell it eventually, time to put different names in the org chart!
* When does your business sell its stuff?
* Is it seasonal? What does that mean?
* When else could it do so?
* Is there a "right" time to SELL your Business?
* Where does your business sell its stuff?
* Online? Offline?
What qualified statistics can your business provide about both?
* What strategies does your business have for both?
* Where else could it do so?
* How well does your Business sell its stuff?
* How easy is it for someone else to take it over?
* Have you been able to make a go of your Business?
* Is your Business making a profit?
Not happy with some of the answers?
Realise you and your Mother of a Business have got a way to go?
Yes, I agree, some of these are sound universal business practices that should be used at start-up and during growth, which would have your Mother of a Business in the best shape when the Urge to Purge takes hold.
However, even if you only start getting your ducks in a row NOW, it will work out swimmingly come EXIT time. Believe me!
Equally as important though, are you willing to devote the time to get your Business ready to pursue a Sale, to ideally receive that long awaited payback?
If the answer is yes, then by Starting with the End in Mind TODAY, regardless if how old it is, you might just find you have something to sell after all.
If your Mother of a Business is really well thought out, people won't be confused about the product and/or the service you're providing, so you'll get fewer queries come Sale time. Work with me to help you "renovate" and you will be set up as well as you can ever be.
If you do such a good job, you may actually be able to Sell it yourself, seriously. However, if you're not confident enough to do that, I'm happy to put on my Business Broker hat and help with that too.
If you can't see yourself wanting to get out just yet, don't let that narrow your view when building your Mother of a Business. May as well follow the same path, just in case. You just never know who might come knocking on your door!
For that very reason alone, you may be waking up to the fact that you have to really consider what you want to do. No point spending all that time and effort and money on something that cannot eventually be sold, as an Asset can.
Many who have not gone down this path, and have just closed and packed their Mother of a business away with the toys have done so because:
a) they didn't know how
b) they didn't know who to talk to
c) they had no one to turn to learn from
Imagine instead what you will do with the full weight of
myself, and if so desired the entrepreneurial mother®s Group, behind you... how exciting!