Business exit plan preparation and adding value to your business, with Michelle Seiler Tucker Onward Nation

Business exit plan preparation and adding value to your business What You Will Learn: How Michelle’s ability to close deals led her to becoming regional vice president at Xerox after just six months at the company Why 70% of businesses which have been operating for 10 years or longer will go out of business because they haven’t adapted to how consumers buy products and services today How Michelle dipped her toe into working in franchise development while still working at Xerox, and how she sold 100 franchises in six months How Michelle transitioned her expertise from selling franchises to selling businesses and helping owners develop a business exit plan Why many established businesses aren’t salable because they are too dependent upon the business owner What common mistakes business owners make that can end up hurting their company’s value or salability down the road Why preparing your business for sale requires you to ensure that six P’s are in place: people, product, processes, proprietary, patrons and profits What important lessons can be learned from explosive brands like Amazon, McDonalds and Apple that can be applied to businesses of any industry and size What surprising systems, relationships and other assets add value to your company and make it more attractive to potential buyers Why profits are never the problem hurting your company’s value but are a symptom of the real problems Business exit plan preparation and adding value to your business Failure to prepare for your eventual exit from your company is a common mistake. This poor planning makes it much more difficult to sell your business when you’re ready to leave, and it has a negative impact on the value of your company when you do eventually sell. In this episode of Onward Nation, business buying, growing, fixing and selling authority Michelle Seiler Tucker shares tips, strategies and actionable steps to help you prepare a business exit plan that will add value to your company now and get it ready for sale in the future.
The importance of a solid business exit plan Here’s a surprising and troubling statistic for you: 70% of businesses that have been operating for 10 years or longer will go out of business, either because they haven’t taken steps to adapt to consumers’ modern shopping habits, or because they have failed to take the steps necessary to get the business ready for sale.
Most business owners plan on eventually exiting their business, either by transferring ownership to a family member or through selling the business at retirement. However, if you wait until you’re ready to leave the business to begin getting it ready for sale, you’re going to have a lot of uphill work to do. Instead, Michelle suggests you begin creating a business exit plan now, so that you’re able to “exit rich” when the time comes.
According to Michelle, there are “six P’s” that determine how valuable a business is to potential buyers:
People Products Processes Proprietary assets Patrons Profits Getting those six P’s in order is crucial for ensuring that your business is saleable. As Michelle explained, a dentist who owns a dental practice but is the only dentist in the practice is going to have a difficult time exiting and selling the business, because the dentist is the business. So, the dentist would need to add people, in this case other dentists, to the business to make it more attractive to buyers.
Look to big brands for inspiration Michelle says that companies like McDonalds and Amazon have a lot to teach owners of businesses of any size or industry about creating a successful business exit plan and how to add value to a business to make it more attractive at sale. For example, McDonald’s isn’t really a fast food chain; it’s a $30 billion real estate company. McDonald’s isn’t in the business of selling hamburgers. The company’s real business is owning real estate that it leases to franchisees.
Amazon started out