Preparing for a euphoric future exit event requires a plan
AES Nation (AES Nation) recently released their survey results of private business owners and “only 12% were highly satisfied with the outcome and less than 50% were satisfied at all”.
This survey result and that of many others recently, including one conducted by BizBuySell (BizBuySell), all are reaching this same conclusion. The vast majority of private business owners are either not getting their businesses sold at all despite their wanting to or they are selling but not happy with the outcome.
At Yosemite Associates we see a common reason for this as we talk with many private owners and are now engaged in helping many of them. It is because private business owners know their company and their products or services but what they don’t know is how to ensure they are preparing it successfully for a future euphoric exit. And it’s human nature to avoid the hard things and allow ourselves to get distracted to return to our comfort zone of what we know. This comfort zone is answering emails, phone calls, attending tactical meetings, and this list goes on and on. These things are in our comfort zone as we know how to approach each. But what most private business owners don’t know is how to approach preparing their business years in advance to achieve a successful exit event.
You don’t want to leave what could be the biggest event of your professional career to hope or chance. This is what the 88% club has done and this is not a club you want to join. You want to join the elite group of the 12% and these are the owners, when spoken with, that had a plan. Their plan helped bridge where their company was when they started their exit preparation activity and how they would navigate it to commanding a premium valuation from an acquirer at a future period. If you’re unsure how to tackle effective exit preparations, reach out for assistance today. Use time as a friend because preparations, to be done right, can take years, not months. Give us a call or talk to your company lawyer or CPA and get their advice. But to do nothing is not a plan and should not be the option you adopt.
