#itsaboutstrategy
When you close one door 10,000 new ones open and present new possibilities. Knowing which one will serve you best is part of exit strategy planning. That said, it is not about planning your business or personal life to the nth degree. That is impractical. Even if it were practical it makes for a boring and predictable life anyway. It is largely about being ready to make better choices faster.
The four levels of exit
Both you and the business grow best when you build toward the exit. And exit is not one moment when the business changes hands: it is a sequence of four withdrawals, taken in order, each an elevation rather than a retreat. How far you climb before the last step sets what that step is worth, and where you are on the climb, in part, determines how we work with you.
You step out of the day-to-day work on the floor and lift your focus to the strategic. It is the first elevation: less doing, a wider view. Leading people and owning strategy is not for everyone, so be sure you want it before you make the move. There is nothing wrong with stepping sideways instead, to another part of the business or another business entirely, for a fresh challenge.
You hand over the running of the business. The leadership you have practised leaves behind a company and a team engaged and able enough to carry its growth forward without you at the helm. You are no longer the one who runs it; you have built the people who do. This is where the business begins to hold its value without you inside it.
You withdraw from day-to-day authority altogether. In a business of any substance this is a deliberate choice, not a drift: you keep your ownership and your seat, but the decisions and the governance run without you in the room. Each level so far has raised your vantage and loosened your grip; what remains is a business that runs, holds its value, and continues on its own.
You leave your ownership behind. Whether the business, or your part of it, is sold, or you simply move on, another milestone in the journey is reached. What you realise here is set by how far you climbed before it: withdraw operationally, in leadership and in oversight, and you sell an asset, one that runs and holds value without you. Skip the climb and you sell a job. There is no point, and even less equity, in leaving that to chance, or to whatever divine guidance you set your compass by.
Plan the journey
Wherever you and your business are on the path to exit, the work begins with a conversation.