It might seem counter-intuitive, but when creating a start-up it is important to ask – what is my exit strategy? Why? Because without an exit strategy it is easy to never build value into your business venture. Many people running small businesses complain that they wake up in the morning realizing that they are working for a tyrant – themselves.
Having an exit strategy allows the small business owner to always be aware of the value of his or her business. It turns the business into an asset – making it possible to sell the business in the future. This is especially true for Encore Entrepreneurs – who will want to sell their business when they finally are ready for the fourth stage of life – probably in their eighties as they finally “kick back” and relax and reprocess their long and fulfilling life as they prepare for their final transition. Without this exit strategy planned into their business planning from the start – a late life business owner could really feel trapped in their business and regret their decision to start it as they toil day after day.
At onCOREventures in our Authentic Launch Process we validate business approaches at the first step of planning them. We work with our cleints to build in the exit from the beginning. To do this, our Validation phase starts with Backroom Management Services “8 P’s” process in which we look at Purpose, Product, Price, Place, Promotion, Production, People and Profit. We then look at the underlying product assumptions and they are expanded into a fully operating company model including the definition of an exit plan for the business – how is value built with this venture launch?
We build this model from the assumptions on how the business will operate BEFORE we create all of the detailed business plans, launch plans and product creation steps. Having this baseline look at how the business will function in terms that new business owners can understand allows us to alway come back to this baseline as we learn more and more about the business as we continue with the validation phase of our program.
However you decide to launch your afternoon of life business – make sure you know how you are getting out of it. For a complimentary call to review your business ideas please contact me.