5 Tips on Exit Strategies


§ Plan your exit when you start the business. Will you sell your company, pass it on to children, or take it public?
§ Take time to understand how your chosen exit affects business planning. Will family members need to be trained to replace you, for example?
§ Consider the cost of each strategy—loss of the ability to keep financial information private if you sell or go public, for example.
§ Be aware that your investors will have their own exit strategies. Be prepared to discuss their desired timetable for exiting your business, how they see it happening and their expected return on investment.
§ Plan well ahead for a satisfying life when you leave your current business. Consider starting another business, teaching, volunteering—or becoming a philanthropist.



5 Tips on Preparing for Change


§ Examine your corporate culture to discover any impediments to change. Some traditions and practices may need to be revamped to meet new needs.
§ Keep talking about change so that employees think in terms of change and help make it happen.
§ Make expectations clear. Key employees should know that embracing change is part of their responsibility.
§ Monitor company procedures and systems to be sure they support change.
§ Plan far ahead for the biggest change of all: your retirement or exit from the company. Develop new leadership.




5 Tips to Help You Prepare for Growth Spurts


§ Get outside help. Growth is tricky and stressful, so smart business owners rely on outside assistance—such as consultants or SCORE volunteers—to get them through it.
§ Hire ahead of the need. If you’re growing fast, add a chief operating officer and/or chief financial officer—even if only on a part-time or consulting basis.
§ Change your own role. Stop "doing everything yourself." Delegate day-to-day operations to others and become the leader, the strategic thinker and the planner—in other words, the CEO.
§ Weed out customers that don’t contribute sufficiently to your bottom line. Let go of those who distract you from your goal—for example, because they are outside the area in which you want to work or take too much of your time.
§ Have reserve capital to weather growth’s inevitable bumps. Reserves don’t have to be all cash—they can be excellent receivables or something else that can be turned into cash quickly.