Exit strategies.
Two words that say so little yet mean so much.
If you’re like most entrepreneurs, you dream of the day you sell your company and ride off into the sunset.
You imagine yourself happy, rich and retired. Pressures are gone. Your time is your own. First class travels, expensive toys, and beautiful things await you.
Right?
Not so quick, my rockstar entrepreneur.
If you don’t have the right exit strategies, your dream will stay a dream.
When it comes to retiring rich and happy, exit strategies are everything and the only thing.
So why are you working so hard with beliefs about exit strategies that will have you lose, every time?
Take it from me, I should know.
I was the kid who started his company right out of school with no money, experience, or team.
Despite the odds, I had a 9-figure exit. But it almost didn’t happen.
The first offer to buy my company was from a buyer who was a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
The offer was great for the buyer and terrible for me. The buyer didn’t know it, but he gave me a gift that changed my destiny.
What was this gift?
The buyer taught me everything not to do for exit strategies. After saying ‘no’ to the buyer, I became infatuated with the mergers and acquisitions.
My beliefs about exit strategies were wrong. All wrong.
I realized this after I created my playbook of exit strategies that led to the 9-figure exit.
Turns out I wasn’t alone. Most entrepreneurs held the same wrong beliefs about exit strategies that I did.
What are the five exit strategies you need to retire immediately?
Keep reading to find out.
Exit Strategies You Need To Retire Immediately: You Don’t Need A Management Team
You can do anything, but not everything – David Allen
When it comes to exit strategies, lose the belief that you don’t need a management team.
You’re smart, talented, driven, and can do it all.
I get it.
But your future buyer won’t.
This is one of the key mistakes your future buyer hopes you’ll make.
Why?
The more reliant your company is on you, the less value your company has.
Think about it.
When you ride off into the sunset after your sale, who’ll run your company?
Exactly.
Believing you don’t need a management team is one of those exist strategies to retire. Now.
If you’re serious about retiring rich and happy after your sale, assemble your exit team today.
Whatever time and money you spend assembling your exit team is a drop in a bucket.
With the right team in place, your company is healthier and more profitable. Best of all, you get your life back.
When it comes to exit strategies, the smart money is on retiring the belief that you don’t need a management team.
Exit Strategies You Need To Retire Immediately: Selling Is Quick And Painless
Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet – Jean-Jacques Rousseau
The right exit strategies are everything and the only thing.
Believing that selling your company is quick and painless is wrong. All wrong.
As you’ve like heard before, and I’ll remind you once again, all good things take time.
Scratch that.
All great things take time.
Adopt as one of your exit strategies the knowledge that selling your company takes time.
A lot of time.
Learn more about preparing to sell your company here.
How long?
A simple question without a simple answer.
The more prepared you are, the more value you’ll get for your company.
To do it right, you’ll need anywhere from twelve to thirty months.
Is preparing your company for sale painful and expensive.
Yes.
But it’s worth every minute and penny when you do it right and get top dollar.
Know this and know this well.
One of the five exit strategies to retire is the belief that selling your company is quick and painless.
Exit Strategies You Need To Retire Immediately: You Can Sell Your Company On Your Own
There is nothing worse than aggressive stupidity – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Exit strategies you need to retire immediately include the belief that you call sell your company on your own.
The thinking behind this belief is either stupidity or arrogance.
Neither is good.
I am often told by entrepreneurs of the amount of money saved by not using investment bankers.
My rockstar entrepreneur, know this and know this well.
Any money saved from not using investment bankers to sell your company is a rounding error.
Your future buyer is smart, sophisticated, and experienced.
Buyers buy companies. All day every day.
You, my dear reader, are great at building companies.
The first offer to buy my company came from a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The buyer insisted that no outside parties get in the way.
I didn’t know what I didn’t know.
The offer to buy my company was 7-figures.
What I did know was that I could do better.
With investment bankers involved, my next offer from a different buyer, was 9-figures.
There are stupid things you can and will do.
Don’t let selling your company on your own be one of them.
Dominate and win when you know how to choose an investment banker.
Another one of the exit strategies you need to retire is believing you can sell your company on your own.
Exit Strategies You Need To Retire Immediately: You Can Time Your Exit
If a window of opportunity appears, don’t pull down the shade – Tom Peters
Exit strategies you need to retire includes the belief that you can time the sale of your company.
Some exit strategies are brilliant and some exit strategies are wrong. All wrong.
This exit strategy is anything but brilliant.
Nobody can time the market.
The worst thing you can do is lose an opportunity to sell your company because you’re not prepared.
And if the opportunity doesn’t come knocking, you make your opportunity.
How?
You, your company, and your team are ready and prepared. All day every day.
A quick story.
I was fortunate to work with the ‘royalty’ of mergers and acquisitions for the sale of my EdTech.
From the investment bankers to the buyers, everyone was smart, experienced, and successful.
Despite this, the sale of my company almost didn’t happen.
Why?
Two weeks AFTER the sale of my EdTech, the mortgage crisis reared its ugly head.
Had the crisis happened two weeks earlier, the sale would have fallen through.
What’s my point?
The sale of my EdTech had the best and brightest minds in mergers and acquisitions.
Nobody saw the mortgage crisis coming.
Your takeaway is that you can’t time the market.
Learn more about the best time to sell your company here.
Exit strategies you need to retire includes the belief that you can time the sale of your company.
Exit Strategies You Need To Retire Immediately: You’ll Only Be Happy When You Retire Rich
One of the keys to happiness is a bad memory – Rita Mae Brown
When it comes to exit strategies, one of the more popular ones is that you’ll only be happy when you retire rich.
Quick, who’s your favorite billionaire?
Chances are your favorite billionaire continues to work.
Why?
Your favorite billionaire knows that all the money in the world does not make you happy.
Does money help?
Yes.
Money can make things easier and better, but only if you’re already happy.
If you want to be rich and happy, master these nine life lessons.
Your favorite billionaire knows a secret.
Want to know the secret?
True happiness is from the journey, and not the destination.
My rockstar entrepreneur, enjoy the journey.
Often, you’re not ready for the success that awaits you.
[tweet_box design=”default” url=”http://jef.tips/j13fes16″ float=”none”]When you enjoy the journey, you unlock your destiny and sweet success.[/tweet_box]
It’s only through your so-called failures and challenging times that you prepare yourself.
Yes, there are times where the journey is painful and best and heartbreaking at worst.
When it comes to exit strategies to retire, stop believing that you’ll only be happy when you’re rich.
Instead, know that your happiness depends on you being in the moment and enjoying the journey.
And you can take that to the bank.
Conclusion
Exit strategies hold the keys to your kingdom when it’s time to sell your company.
You need to decide which exit strategies you follow and which exit strategies you don’t.
Easier said than done.
You have one chance to get it right and you better not blow it.
Which exit strategies should you use?
Great question.
An even better question is which exit strategies you should ignore.
When it comes to success, knowing what not to do is more important than knowing what to do.
It took many failures for me to figure out which exit strategies I needed to forget about.
The great news is that my you’re already ahead of the game from my heavy lifting.
I’ve shared my in-the-trenches experience of exit strategies to avoid like the plague.
While you’re at it, find out the three remarkably simple things you must learn as a seller.
So what are you waiting for my rockstar entrepreneur?
You can do this, I know you can.
Everything that you need to be successful you already have within you, right now.
Here’s to you and your success!
Your BIGGEST Raving Fan,
Jeffrey Feldberg