Don’t Let Your Exit Plan Become a Horror Story

4 days ago

3 min read

THE HOUSE OF UNFINISHED BUSINESS | PART 4 OF 4

Brianna Johnson | 3 min read

Every horror movie has a moment the audience sees coming. Someone hears a noise, says “I’ll check on it later,” and everyone watching knows how that turns out.

Exit planning has the same moment. Most owners don’t realize they’re in it until a buyer is already at the door.

This month, we’ve walked through the House of Unfinished Business one room at a time. On the night before Halloween, we’ve reached the last stop: the front door, where an owner finally walks out and hands over the keys.

How Exit Plans Turn Into Horror Stories

Waiting too long. Many owners start thinking about a sale only when something forces it: burnout, a health scare, a partner dispute, or an unexpected offer. By then there’s little time to fix what a buyer will find, and getting a business ready often takes years, not months.

Expecting a number the business can’t support. Owners often anchor on what they need for retirement, what a friend’s company sold for, or a rule of thumb they heard somewhere. Buyers price on earnings, risk, and how easily the business can carry on without its owner. When the gap between those numbers is wide, deals stall or fall apart.

Treating the exit as an event. A sale isn’t a single day. It’s the result of decisions made over years, and the owners with the best outcomes start making those decisions early.

Every Room Leads to the Front Door

Each stop on this month’s tour comes back to the exit.

The front office. The problems you’ve learned to live with, such as outdated processes and messy financials, look like risk to a buyer.

The closet. Missing contracts, handshake deals, and unresolved liabilities turn into surprises during due diligence, when a buyer reviews your company in detail before closing.

The empty chair. A business that stalls without you is worth less and gives you fewer options when it’s time to leave.

All three affect the same things: what a buyer will pay, how the deal is structured, and how much control you have over when and how you go. That is what an exit plan is really about.

Steps You Can Take Now

You don’t need a buyer lined up to start. Ask yourself:

✔️ Do I know what my business is worth today, and how that compares with what I need?

✔️ If a buyer called tomorrow, which room in my house would I least want them to see?

✔️ Have I decided what I want my life to look like after the sale?

Then pick one room and start there. Get a realistic valuation so you know where you stand. Choose one issue from this series to fix this quarter. Bring your CPA, attorney, and other advisors in early, while there’s still time to act on what they tell you.

Introducing Ready for Exit

Exit readiness shouldn’t be something owners start thinking about only when a buyer calls. That’s why the team here at Capstone M&A created Ready for Exit, a platform built to help business owners prepare for a successful exit, whether it’s two years away or ten.

It starts with our book, Ready for Exit, and there’s a lot more on the way. If this series raised questions about your own house, Ready for Exit is the place to keep going: https://www.readyforexit.com/