Small Business Exit Planning: Exit on your terms, not theirs!

You will leave your business. The only question is whether you choose the timing—or the timing chooses you. That’s why smart small-business exit planning starts before you feel ready.

A founder I know got a solid offer. Real money, real buyer, clean term sheet. Two weeks later it crumbled when the buyer realised the founder was the business. No systems, messy numbers, staff who asked permission for everything. Ten years of sweat, then silence.

If that stings, good. Pain is a compass.

Why This Matters Now

Time does not negotiate. Markets cool. Key employees quit. A health scare pulls the rug. Suddenly your best option is a discount.

There’s a quieter risk, too. You keep telling yourself, one more year. You add another client, another product, another custom deal. Each new strand ties the business tighter to you. Buyers don’t pay a premium for owner dependence. They pay a premium for a machine that runs without the owner.

Exit planning is not an event; it’s a season. Plant now to harvest later. The work you do in the next six months can add serious zeros to your outcome.

Decide Your Finish Line

Clarity beats hope. You need a number, a date, and a reason.

• What is the minimum after-tax cash you want to walk away with?
• What is the latest date you’re willing to own this business?
• Why do you want out—freedom, focus, family, a new mountain?

Vague goals breed vague execution. Clear goals shape your plan.

This clarity changes decisions fast. You stop chasing clever detours and start building a straight road. You shift from growth at all costs to growth a buyer will trust. Less noise, more signal.

Ask yourself: if a buyer asked “Why now?” could you answer without blinking?

Clean Up the Machine

Buyers buy proof. Proof lives in clean books, clear trends, and repeatable operations.

Start with your numbers. Get the last three years reviewed by a pro. Strip out owner perks so the real profit shows. Track revenue by product, by channel, by customer segment. Tell a story, not just a spreadsheet. Up and to the right is nice; steady and predictable is better.

Tighten the model. Reduce one-off custom work in favour of repeatable packages. Move handshakes into simple contracts. Shorten the time from lead to cash. Buyers pay more for momentum they can measure.

Create a simple data room now, not later. It doesn’t need to be fancy. It needs to be complete.

• Financial statements, tax returns, bank statements, AR/AP aging
• Key contracts, leases, supplier terms, and insurance
• Customer list with revenue by account, concentration report, churn/retention
• Org chart, process docs, KPIs, and a basic 12–24 month forecast

If you’re nervous about showing your numbers tomorrow, fix that today.

Make Yourself Replaceable

The biggest discount in a deal is key-person risk. If you are the rainmaker, the product, and the traffic cop, the buyer will either walk or pay you over time. Neither is fun.

Document the vital few processes as if training a stranger: sales steps, onboarding, delivery, collections, hiring, weekly planning. Keep it simple. One page per process, one owner per process, one metric per process. Then actually use them.

Build a bench. Name your number two, give them authority, and let them make decisions that matter. If it breaks, you can coach—and your team gets stronger. When a buyer sees a capable team running the day, they relax. Relaxed buyers pay better.

Pull yourself out of the middle. Keep your fingerprints on vision and relationships, not on every task. Set two no-more rules for your time: meetings you won’t attend and approvals you won’t give.

Design the Deal, Pick Your Buyer

Not every buyer values the same thing. A competitor cares about your customers and your geographic location. A strategic buyer cares about your product, your team, and fit with their portfolio. A financial buyer cares about free cash flow and a path to scale. Shape your plan so one of these buyer types salivates.

Decide where you want to play. Do you want a clean break with a short transition? Do you want to stay on for a year to hit a bigger number? Do you care who owns the brand after you? There are no wrong answers—just misaligned ones.

Price gets the headlines; terms drive the outcome. All cash at close is rare. Expect a mix—some cash now, some when milestones are hit, maybe a small note. Reduce surprises by fixing the usual cuts early: customer concentration, weak contracts, unreliable inventory counts, sloppy working capital. Tighten them now and you keep the money later.

This is where preparation shines. When you prepare for a specific buyer with a clear aim, you stop hoping for mercy and start negotiating with leverage.

The Quiet Story That Sells

Data earns trust; story creates desire. You need both.

Write a one-page narrative: what you do, who you serve, why customers choose you, why they stay, and where the next owner can grow. Keep it simple—no fluff, just proof points. One strong customer quote beats ten vague claims.

Rehearse the hard questions. What happens if you take two months off? Where would you invest the next dollar? What’s the worst case and how would you handle it? Calm answers close deals.

Key Takeaway

You’re not selling your years of effort. You’re selling a transferable machine that makes money without you. Build that, and buyers line up. Fail to build it and you’ll beg for a discount.

Your Move

If a serious buyer called tomorrow:

• What two pieces of proof would you slide across the table to show the business runs without you?
• What will you change in the next 30 days to make that proof undeniable?

Choose the timing. Do the work. Harvest the reward.