Get Exit Ready

Everything you need to know about getting exit ready to make your business worth more today.

The key to getting Exit Ready is clarity.

This means we must do what adds value and ignore anything that doesn’t.

The Get Exit Ready framework has everything you need and nothing you don’t. It’s simple, clear and easy to follow. Adding value from day 1.

If you are a business owner who is still involved in the day to day of your business you may be looking for an escape but can’t see how you can get there.

If you want:

Out of the day to day
Your staff to make decisions instead of coming to you all the time.
To fund your retirement from the sale of your business
To leave a legacy with a business that lasts longer than you.

Then you are in the right place.

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We build your roadmap to hand over control so We help you be an effective shareholder, not the owner of a job so you can enjoy less stress and a more secure financial future.

You’ll be de-risking your business from the start.

Getting Exit Ready is the first step to getting more out of your business with less stress, time and effort. You can more fully enjoy the next stage of your life with a more secure financial future, as well as start enjoying it more today. You’ll get a business that is easier to run without you – and worth more and easier to sell on better terms in the end.

Our Key Objective:

Make sure you can sell your business easily for more money and on better terms when you are ready to.

What’s stopping your business being exit ready?

Lack of preparation for an exit
No decision on which exit option is best for you and your business.
No knowledge of what’s involved in a business sale.
You are the key decision maker in the business.
Different shareholders want different things from the business.
Poor compliance history
No governance history
Don’t know where to get the right help (and worried about making a costly mistake)
Thinking “I’m never leaving my business”.
The business can’t run without you for more than a few days.
You feel trapped in the role of being the boss.
You’re worried the business will fail if you let go.
No one to hand over any control to
Believing “nothing will ever happen to me”

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What if something happened to you?

If something happened to you that meant you couldn’t work, would the business collapse in a few days? Weeks? Months?

Most owner led businesses end up insolvent within 12 months if the owner can’t work. Yet it’s difficult to let go of the day-to-day control, after all who else can do it as well as you?

What would it feel like to go on holiday and leave your phone behind and not look at emails while you are away? Just thinking about it might bring on a shiver. And, even better, when you get back not only is everything going well, but it’s also better than when you were there?

Getting out of the day to day is a challenge that many business owners never achieve.

They remain stuck in the business that’s worth LESS than it should be and impossible to sell. That means you’ll be working a lot longer than you planned until you eventually close the doors – with little or no money at the end. This happens to 80% of businesses.

Your business is worth less if you are the only decision maker and unable or unwilling to let go of control because it’s your business.

You’ve got employees, but they don’t step up? It’s most likely because you’re leaving them second guessing what you would do. In the past they’ve made a decision and you’ve challenged or questioned it. So instead of taking initiative, they push every decision back to you.

Ever hear yourself saying “My business is my baby”?

Your business is not your baby (your children were your babies!). It might feel like your baby because you’ve got a lot riding on it and there’s a very emotional connection. After all it’s your financial future and worth way too much to you to let go of the control. But the future value of your business is directly related to your ability to hand over control in a way that makes the business worth more.

Emotionally this is hard. You may even recognise that you are your own worst enemy – you want to let go but haven’t got the framework to give your staff so that everyone knows what decisions they can make.

We can help with this exact problem.

You’ve done the hardest part. You got started.

You set it up, took the risks, had the early-stage sleepless nights, worked all the hours, did everything because there was no one else. I’ve been there myself, many times. I know it’s hard to let go but I also know the benefits of taking those first steps towards handing things over to others – and making sure that you hand over to the right people.

I’ve spent the last 2 decades helping business owners just like you get more value from their business today and in the future by making it easier to sell on better terms (when you are ready). I know how you feel and I also know the steps to take to get where you want to be.

I’ve written books about it!

Helping clients like you has made me a multi-award winning and experienced business mentor specialising in Getting Exit Ready.

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Who We Help:

Business owners who plan to use the value of their business to fund whatever is next in life, ultimately retirement.

If you are still the primary decision maker in your business and can’t see the way to let go then you’ve got a problem with the value of your business.

It’s going to be worth less than it should be AND it’s going to be harder to sell when you are ready to leave.

I’m Christine Nicholson and. I’ve been helping business owners like you exit their business for decades. I’ve done it for myself so I know the pitfalls and how to avoid them.I’ve been in your shoes and worked out a way to make the sale process easier for you.

There’s a simple 3 step plan:

Get a valuation, non-financial assessment and benchmark report on your business.
Build a bespoke action plan that gets results quickly.
Finally increase the value of your business with implementable actions that have immediate impact.

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Every business owner leaves their business, and you never know when it might happen to you.

Over 50% of owners leave their business because of unplanned or unexpected events – death, disease, disability and divorce are the big 4.

Being exit ready means you get options and choice. Readiness protects your biggest financial asset and puts you in the driving seat should anything bad befall you. It also makes it easier and quicker to respond to unsolicited approaches – meaning you’ll get a better offer and more money.

More than 80% of business never sell or fall at the final hurdle in the sale process because of lack of preparation. That leaves £’000’s of value going up in smoke instead of into your pocket. It means you run the risk of working longer than you planned to get less than you should out of your business.

Exit Ready businesses are easier to sell on better terms. You’ll find your business easier to operate, with great retention of key talent and easier to attract new people. Exit Ready mean having more options and being able to respond quickly to incoming offers. It means you get more value and an easier, less stressful exit journey on better terms for you and your staff.

The Problem

Most business owners only sell one business – their own – and they don’t have a full picture of the process that is ahead of them or how to prepare properly. The sale process is emotional, stressful and demanding, especially if you don’t know what the process involves or what it takes to successfully sell a business. Being prepared means you can sell your business for more money and on better terms, when you are ready to.

Not knowing the journey leads to:

Owners don’t understand exactly what they need to do.
Owners can’t take the actions that increase the saleability of their business.
Owners end up with less money and worse terms than they should for all the work they’ve put into their business.

Not only this but:

Most business sales fail because of lack of preparation.
Business Owners end up either closing their business or working long after their planned retirement.
Huge amounts of value are lost in the wider economy and local communities, which is a tragedy.

The Solution

The Get Exit Ready Framework uses 4 simple steps to help you get more money and better terms for your business. Once you start working through the framework, you’ll be protecting your biggest financial asset and adding value to your business, starting today.

The Plan

Here’s how the process works:

Get a valuation, non-financial assessment and benchmark report on your business.
Build a bespoke action plan that gets results quickly.
Finally increase the value of your business with implementable actions that have immediate impact.

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Here’s what you get:

This program is designed for owners and founders who work in their businesses and expect to fund their retirement from the proceeds of sale at some point in the future.

Benefits of Exit Planning

For owners:

Protect your biggest financial asset (and your future financial security)
Create an effective exit readiness plan.
Get out of the day to day.
Reduce stress and increase certainty for you and your employees.
Align your entire team around a common mission.

For the business:

Increase capital value.
Make it easier to operate.
Make is easier to sell.
Increase saleability and likelihood of a successful sale.
Get buy-in from the entire team.

It will also help you:

Have a less stressful sale process.
Reduce the impact on the business when the sale process happens.
Decrease workplace turnover.
Inspire employees to work with a sense of meaning.
Increase team unity.

Get Exit Ready will help you increase the value of your business, make it easier to sell and protect your biggest asset in the meantime. The more prepared you are, the more resilient your business is.

Here’s to getting more money for your business, on better terms for you and giving you the choice as to when it happens.

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How does the plan work?

It all starts with discovering where you are right now with a 3-part report on your valuation, your operating performance and a benchmark against competitors.

This gives you a bespoke action place to work on those elements that give the most return of the least effort (no point in working on the great stuff, that comes later).

Finally, we get working on the actions so that you make progress and don’t run out of steam halfway through (or worse still never get started).

You’ll stop drowning in the day to day and get working on the important factors that make your business worth more.

This is the essence of the Get Exit Ready Plan

Bespoke 3-part “Where you are now” report
A bespoke action plans.
Implementation to get you moving forward and making progress.

What’s the investment?

Christine is dedicated to helping business owners, like you, who are serious about building value in their businesses to protect their financial future. Because she’s serious, she only works with people she’s confident she can help add value to their business.

The Get Exit Ready Programme has 2 parts:

Part 1 – the 3-part report and action plan
Part 2 – taking action and implementation support on a monthly 1:1 basis (includes all you need to make a difference)

See package details below.

How to get started?

Book a call for a no obligation 15-minute chat about you, your business and your exit plans.

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Want more information before you book a call?

Take the Get Exit Ready Quiz – it only takes 3 minutes and gives you a short report on you and your business.
Get the book SELL IT! to see the exit journey and what you need to think about
Book that calls – it’s no obligation and no hard sell, it’s just a conversation that could save you thousands and a lot of time and stress in the future.

What’s At Risk?

80% of businesses never get sold leaving the owners working longer than they planned to simply close the doors on years of effort and sacrifice trying to create something valuable.

The biggest reason sales fail is lack of preparation – the buyer finds it too difficult to identify the potential risks and walks away (or drops the price so much the seller walks away).

100% of business owners leave their business and sadly over 1⁄2 will be unable to continue in their business when something unexpected happens (death, disease, disability, divorce being the big 4 unplanned events).

If you’re not prepared for a sale your business is worth less (or even worthless). You’ll leave money on the table or have a business that is unsaleable.

Don’t work hard to have an unsalable business which you have to close down.

What’s the Prize?

There’s nothing sweeter than the champagne you’ll be drinking when you get the right deal for the sale of your business. When you’ve signed the last bit of paperwork the relief will be immeasurable.

The sale process is like a marathon. There’s plenty of ups and downs, it’s tiring, it tests your mental resilience and it’s really hard to do alone if you aren’t prepared. My clients know in advance what is going to happen ad are ready for everything that’s going to come at them – making success much more likely. You’ll get a business that’s easier to sell on better terms at a time you chose and, in the meantime, you’ll find it easier and more enjoyable to operate.