Getting Ready for Exit - Even If You’re Not Planning to Sell
As we head into the end of another financial year, often the busiest, messiest weeks for services businesses, it’s worth pausing to ask:
If you wanted to sell your business tomorrow, how ready would you be?
I’ve worked with plenty of founders and owners who only start thinking about exit when they’ve already decided it’s time to move on. By then, they want it done in months, but the truth is, the groundwork should have started years ago.
But here’s the part people often miss:
Building a business that’s ready for exit isn’t just about getting the best valuation - it’s about building a business that runs better today.
What ‘Exit Ready’ Really Means
Being ready to exit means having a business that can run, grow, and thrive without you at the centre of everything. That means:
Clear, focused service offerings
Reliable, predictable margins
Systems and processes that work without daily heroics
A team who know what ‘good’ looks like and can deliver it
Financials and client data that stand up to scrutiny
These aren’t just boxes to tick for a buyer. They’re the fundamentals that make your life easier as an owner and position your business for sustainable growth — whether you sell it or keep it forever.
Most Owners Get the Timing Wrong
It’s a common trap: thinking that selling the business is just a matter of finding a buyer and signing the paperwork.
In reality, the timeline usually looks more like this:
2–3 years of tightening up operations, improving client and revenue mix, and building out leadership capability.
6–12 months for the actual sale process - marketing the opportunity, due diligence, negotiations, and legal work.
1–3 years post-sale where you might stay on to ensure a smooth transition or hit performance milestones tied to earnouts.
So, if you want to exit in 18 months? You’re already behind.
Better Prepared Means Better Valued
Every week, I see investment packs for tech and services companies that should be worth more than they are. Smart founders, loyal clients, good revenue, but lack of structure, patchy reporting, confused financials, and ad hoc processes that don’t scale.
Buyers notice this. So do investors. And they price in the risk.
On the flip side, businesses that run cleanly, deliver consistently, and have reliable profit engines attract premium valuations, and more interest, because they’re low-risk and easy to grow.
Exit Ready = Fit to Scale
Even if you have no intention of selling soon, working towards being exit ready forces you to run a more mature, resilient business:
It stops growth from being dependent on you alone
It creates options: sell, raise capital, merge, or keep growing
It makes day-to-day operations simpler and more profitable
And when the time comes, whether in two years or ten - you won’t be scrambling.
Keep One Eye on the Now - and One on What’s Next
Right now, most services businesses are deep in delivery, invoicing, and pushing to close the year well. That’s as it should be. But alongside the day-to-day, it pays to lift your head and ask:
Are we set up to run profitably and smoothly - whether we sell, scale, or stay the course?
Getting ready for exit isn’t just smart for someday. It’s good business for today.
If you’re curious where your business stands, or how to get it fit for scale, that’s exactly what we help with at ALLANEX.