EXIT STRATEGIES

The average life of a Fortune 500 company is less than thirty years. For an enterprise to survive even half that long under the same leadership and ownership is a phenomenal achievement.

Consequently, how long an enterprise is expected to last and how you want to complete your time with it is a crucial, if rarely discussed, issue. The simple question of “What is your exit strategy?” exposes volumes about where a company is and where it is – or isn’t – heading. If a leader does not know where he or she is headed beyond their next commitment, then how is he or she to find their way to their own satisfying conclusion? It is amazing how prevalent this lack of direction is among leaders.

Developing an exit strategy requires a leader to imagine what business conditions might be in five, ten, fifteen years or even more. Strategizing in this way can raise your consciousness to a new level of outward observation, to a better and more intuitive understanding of the constantly evolving “big picture” and how it influences not only your business, but your life as well. Under these conditions, daily operations become the foundation for building towards a better-informed future and the satisfaction of long-term goals. When working with a group, such strategizing gives you the opportunity to build a collaborative team culture based on shared objectives.

To know your exit strategy – to know your happy ending – there are a lot of questions you must ask yourself. Are you building a business geared to survive and thrive in the years to come? Can your margins absorb future fluctuations in the cost of doing business? What is the environmental impact your company leaves behind? Are you insulated from disruptions in the flow of resources? How stable are your suppliers? What impact will changes in technology, climate change and globalization have on your enterprise? Do you know what your personal goals are? Do you know how to achieve them? Are you even asking yourself the right questions?

Believe it or not, you know the answers and we can help you find the right questions and the right way to ask them.