If you have no intention of selling your business at present, it is not critical to have a finite exit strategy. However, as with everything in life, it is worth knowing where you are going to. Having a roadmap is always useful. We can set ourselves as much as we like, but we will never, any of us, remain in business forever.
It is sensible therefore to have an idea, at least, how you might exit your business eventually, and prepare long in advance. It can take between 10 years and 15 years to build a succession path if you’re looking for internal people to take over from you. If you wait until you’re ready to sell or retire before you start planning, you can be sure that it is already too late, and the value you will achieve from your business will be considerably less than it might otherwise be.
If all this sounds somewhat gloomy, it isn’t. It is all about planning ahead, and if you’re not ready to retire yet, now is the time to be planning the future. If you are ready to retire, yet have not planned before, it may need a little harder work to get you where you want to go.
To find out more, call us on +44 (0)330 024 3200 and talk to one of our experts.