Selling

Your Exit Should Begin Years Before Your Exit

Three questions worth answering long before you are ready to sell

4 min read · Thu, Jul 9, 2026

For most owners, selling the company will be among the largest financial transactions of their lifetime. Yet preparation usually starts after the decision to exit has been made — which is precisely when the options have narrowed.

Three questions

  1. What is my business worth today? A confidential, complimentary valuation answers this and costs nothing but a conversation.
  2. What could it be worth in three to five years? Different question, different answer, and the gap between them is usually large.
  3. What should I be doing between now and then? This is the one that pays.

Why three to five years

Because the changes that move value are not cosmetic. Reducing owner dependence, building a management layer, diversifying customers, documenting process, improving reporting, building recurring revenue — each takes time to implement and then time to show up in the numbers a buyer will underwrite. Two clean years of improved performance are worth more than a good story about last quarter.

Start with a conversation

You spent years, possibly decades, building the company. Give yourself the time to prepare for how you will eventually leave it.

Where most conversations start

A complimentary, confidential valuation — the number itself, and the specific factors driving or limiting it.