Exit Planning for Business Owners: Sell certainty, not yourself.

Trevor Stevenson-Platt

02 Nov 2025 — 4 min read

You don’t sell a business, you sell certainty.

The more certain a buyer is they’ll make money without you, the higher the price and the smoother the exit.

That’s the brutal, liberating truth at the heart of a great exit.

Here’s what most founders miss: exit planning isn’t a last‑minute paint job. It’s the shift from “I run this” to “this runs without me.” If a buyer called tomorrow, would you be proud of the package you’d hand over?

Why this matters now

Time punishes founder‑dependent businesses.
Fatigue creeps in. Growth flattens. People wait for your decisions. Markets move on.
Every month you delay, small risks harden into red flags.

What’s at stake:

Price: buyers pay a premium for clean, transferable operations and predictable cash flow.
Terms: the less risk they see, the less they’ll hold back in earn‑outs, escrows, or clawbacks.
Options: if you’re ready, you choose your buyer and timing—instead of taking whatever shows up.

This isn’t academic. It’s how you turn your life’s work into freedom instead of regret. Let’s make your business something a stranger can confidently own.

Make your business a product, not a personality

A buyer wants to see the machine hum without you. If your name is the oil, you’re selling a job, not a company.

Make yourself optional. Document the 20% of processes that drive 80% of value: how you sell, fulfill, support, and collect.
Give your team clear scorecards. Define “what good looks like” so performance doesn’t depend on your daily supervision.
Reduce dependency hot spots. Do a 3‑2‑1 scan: top three customers, top two suppliers, top one key employee. If any single point of failure breaks the story, fix it now, before diligence turns it into a discount.
Rework your offer for predictability. Recurring revenue isn’t everything, but predictability is. Turn projects into programs, add maintenance contracts or subscriptions. Even small shifts, prepaid retainers, multi‑year agreements, auto‑renewals, change how a buyer values you.

Small test: could you take a four‑week vacation without a single “Got a minute?” call? If not, you’ve got your roadmap.

Clean numbers beat big stories

Buyers don’t pay for potential; they pay for proof. That proof lives in your financials.

Button up your books. Use accrual accounting. Have 24–36 months of clean monthly financials. Make sure tax returns tie out. Kill the mystery accounts. If you can’t explain a line item in one sentence, fix it until you can.
Know your true earnings. Normalise for owner perks, one‑time costs, and unusual income—with receipts. Don’t game the numbers; tell the truth clearly.
Obsess over what buyers obsess over:
- Real, repeatable profit (SDE/EBITDA, not just revenue).
- Customer mix and concentration risk.
- Cash conversion: how quickly cash turns back into cash.

Want to go a level up? Get a simple, independent quality‑of‑earnings report. It’s the house inspection—fix the roof before buyers bring a ladder.

Clean beats clever. Simple beats “we’re different.” When your numbers read like a children’s book, adults write big checks.

Choose your exit path like you’d choose a co‑founder

There isn’t one “right” buyer, there’s a right buyer for your goals.

Strategic buyer: may pay more if you fill a gap in their map.
Investor/financial sponsor: buys most now, helps you grow, and sells again together.
Management or employee buyout: preserves culture and continuity.

Each path trades off price, speed, control, and the future of your people. Get honest about what matters: the last dollar, the cleanest exit, the happiest team—or a thoughtful blend.

Timing matters. Selling at peak chaos is tempting, but buyers love slope as much as height. Three to six clean quarters of upward trend win term sheets. If things are bumpy, stabilize first, then sell from strength.

Protect your story. Don’t casually “shop it around.” Run a tight, professional process with a curated buyer list, a crisp narrative, and controlled access to your data. Quiet competition lifts price and friendly terms.

Run the last mile like a pro

This is where deals are won or lost. The LOI feels like a victory lap, then diligence begins, and everything you’ve ever touched gets inspected. They aren’t trying to trap you; they’re trying to sleep at night after wiring millions.

Build a tidy data room. Contracts, org chart, financials, customer metrics, policies, IP. Label it like a toolbox. If someone asks twice, that’s your cue to make it obvious.
Disclose early, not late. Small surprises become big concessions at the eleventh hour. If there’s a wart, name it, frame it, and show the fix. Candor builds trust, and trust improves terms.
Assemble a small, sharp team. An M&A attorney who closes deals. A tax pro who helps you keep what you sell. An exit planner who runs a competitive process and quarterbacks the chaos. They don’t cost you money; they buy you price, speed, and sleep.
Plan taxes before you sign. Structure can move your after‑tax outcome by six or seven figures. Also plan your life after the wire hits, purpose doesn’t arrive in a closing packet.

Key takeaway

You’re not selling your past; you’re packaging a future a stranger can trust. When your business looks inevitable without you, simple numbers, steady systems, and a clear path to profit, the deal writes itself.