If you don’t have an exit strategy, you should. Whether your business is a year old or 20 years old, you should have a well thought through exit plan.
Why?
Because you and me and everyone reading this are aging and at some point, you will likely (and hopefully) decide that you want to reduce your work hours and reap the benefits of what you’ve built. I know that’s my goal!
Selling your business should not be frowned upon by anyone. Whether your company is a service company or selling tangible products, it’s a business and it’s in your best interest to think about what your long-term goals are personally and professionally and plan to ensure you can achieve those goals.
I’ve been facilitating M&A deals in ABA for several years and unfortunately, too many owners are not proactively thinking about the future, their future. They come to me tired and ready to sell, or excited and ready to sell and for some, I must be the bearer of bad news.
Most often when I’m playing the role of the grim reaper, it’s due to their financials being messy. Don’t rely on the bank account to be your indicator of how financially healthy your company is because that’s a moment in time and tomorrow, after payroll is run, that balance may look very different.
Both your day-to-day sustainability as well as your likelihood of achieving a sale that meets your expectations are intertwined strongly with your financials so, being on top of them is a very important key to your success.
A couple tips:
Align yourself from day one (or now) with a GREAT accountant. One that reconciles your books monthly and ideally meets with you once a month to review the data and ensures you understand where the company sits financially both accrual and cash basis. Don’t have one? Contact us for a referral. We only refer the best.
Know the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that are key to ABA businesses. What you measure is what you get and if you measure nothing…well, you know the answer.
Schedule a consultation. I am not one who hard sells but if you read this and anything gave you pause, schedule a consult with me. The age old “penny wise, pound foolish” really applies here. Take the time to plan for your future and your legacy.
