Building Your Exit Strategy

When most people start a business they are full of hopes and dreams of watching it grow. They may have taken the time to create a business plan devoid of all faults except one. Few people think far enough ahead to plan an exit strategy. That is the point I am at right now. It was never my intention to work in my business forever yet I, like so many others have failed to plan a proper exit strategy.

My choices are simple really, I can contact a business broker and place my business up for sale which isn't even an option in my eyes. It would be too much like having a child, teaching it to walk, talk, run, ride a bike, and then just when it learned how to coast down the big hill...giving it up for adoption.

My next choice and the most likely to occur is to hire someone to manage my business while I accept the fact that it has grown large enough to try on big boy pants. This is equivalent to hiring a baby sitter. Just as you wouldn't trust just anyone to watch your child, taking a step back and allowing someone else control over your business can be just as big a challenge.

Still, I know that the time has come. Faster than I had hoped, but it is here. In a way it is sad yet in another it is a tremendous feeling of pride in what I have built. Three years ago I had $500 and a dream, now that dream is a reality capable of financing future dreams and yes there are future dreams.

I have so many other projects I want to do that I know I will never get a chance to do them all, at least not in the way this business was built, with me at the helm and overseeing everything from start to finish. I started knowing absolutely nothing about building or running a business and yet I am still here and my business is still thriving. I took a lot of hits along the way, each teaching me something new and I will use this knowledge in future endeavors.

I am proof that you can do anything you set your mind to, the only limits are those you place upon yourself!