It’s a big step to decide that you will hire an exit strategist. When you decide you want an exit strategist on your team, you want to hire someone who will help maximize the value of your business and prepare your business for sale or succession. Here are ten fundamentals to qualifying your ideal exit strategist.
- Hire someone who has done what you set out to do (e.g., launch a new product line, bring in $10M new revenue, streamline production to eliminate all late and lost jobs) to maximize the value of your business.
- Work with an advisor who has built businesses, has taken leadership, ownership, and accountability to get things done; hired the team and has risked everything themselves.
- Work with an advisor who teaches you more than one way to get things done, so you can customize the learning to you, your team and your company.
- Work with a mentor who will sit with you to collaborate, rather than a consultant who keeps himself or herself apart. You need someone so engaged in your company and committed to your goals they are always thinking of better solutions for you.
- Work with an authority, someone who gives you ideas one-on-one to run your business more effectively. Work with an authority who also offers training programs you can provide to your entire team to increase company valuation.
- Work with an advisor who is a peer, who teaches you at your level. You want a mentor who understands your size business, your industry, your challenges, who recognizes and values your objectives.
- Decide if you want an expert in marketing/sales/service/HR/finances to solve a specific problem in one area; or if you want a mentor who will help you oversee the entire operation to institute and/or refine business fundamentals.
- Decide if you want to give away your core value to an outsider to get a task done; or if you want guidance and direction from a virtual partner who will help you integrate systems and strategies to take your whole company to the next level so you can achieve the financial success you know is possible.
- Decide if you want to hire a trainer to get you started in a specific skill set; or if you want to hire a mentor who will stick with you to achieve very specific results, in this case an exit on your terms, on your timeline.
- Do you need information that a one-time consultant will produce? Or do you need the ongoing insight, experience and expertise of an exit authority to turn information into knowledge you can integrate into your business, adding value every day?
Your exit advisor is central to your successful sale, scale or succession plan.These fundamental qualifications are essential.