I have heard that you should know when or how you are going to exit sometimes even before you start. So What is your exit strategy? This was not something that I was familiar with because for me I just did things until it did not work. Such as when I played football. I took it as far as I could and then stopped.
Some important reasons to know what it is early. I think one of the big ones would be if your idea does not go as planned. You will know the red flags to know when to call it quits. Another reason would be that you will have markers showing you what success looks like. Here is an article about creating an exit strategy from the US Chamber of Commerce Click Here.
Using Your Exit Strategy For A Road Map
If you plan on your exit is when you hit a goal. You will know what the path is to that goal. Maybe it is a million in sales and then you want to sell the company. Or maybe it would be to diversify what you are doing. Overall, you can use this to help you know where you are going. This would be a great step in the business planning section for launching your business. Now you might already be in business so you have missed that oh well today is the next best day.
This can also show you when you are getting off course. If you know when things get this bad I am going to quit then you can mark that course as well. This is more about planning for things to not go your way because they often don’t. If you think about what could happen and plan for it if it does then you will be quicker to take action.
My Story With This
I wish someone had told me that I should plan for an exit before I start something. I had opened a franchise and things did not go well and I was not prepared. I did not have a plan for what happened. I only knew what to do if things went correctly. With that being said I only was able to stay open for six months. I had moved my family to a new state and we knew no one. All around it was a lot of late nights thinking about what I should do. I should have planned for it so I could have acted faster.
I would love to hear about what your exit strategy is. Drop a comment below or head over to the Contact Us page.
Your friend,
Wesley