To grow a business from sapling to mighty oak you need to keep your eye on the prize and know where you are going; basically you need to have a clearly defined and meticulously planned end goal to be shooting for or you´ll more than likely squander your opportunity to grow a business to the heights both you and it are capable of.

When we launch headlong into our ventures all bright eyed and bushy tailed, we often find that the day-to-day job of making money through tackling each task as it throws itself at us takes up somewhere in the region of 150% of our time and effort – so how could we possible consider how to grow a business in any other way?

I´m here to tell you that if you decide to grow a business in such a reactive fashion the effort you put into it is likely to yield a reasonable turnover; but you´ll always be playing catch up and without direction your venture will simply bob around on the sea of uncertainty forever. However, if you wish to grow a business to be all that it can be one day, you need to be considering the end game right from the launch date of your company, if not before.

What do you hope to achieve with your business and when do you want to get it there? How will you position yourself to realise these goals and who can help you? All these are important questions we hope to help you answer with this article.

Aspirations and end goals

If you´ve got into business simply to be your own boss or to “follow a dream” then you´re probably not going to be that interested in maximising your company´s capital growth. But if your goal is to grow a business that you can make as high a return on as possible you need to look towards your exit strategy and start moulding your business to these ends today.

What is an exit strategy?

An exit strategy helps you to plan, well in advance, what you need to do to grow a business in such a way as to maximise its potential and prepare for your departure from it, hopefully to massive financial reward. You´ll need to shape your business into an irresistible opportunity by fully understanding the motivations of those who might wish to buy it, nurturing those around you who will take over in your absence, to prove that the continued success of your business is not reliant on you being there, and you´ll need to know when the best time to leave will be through your understanding of your market and a variety of indicators that will suggest a peak in its value and saleability.

All of this is not only important for you to maximise the value of your business when sold, but also to ensure a smooth transition when you make your move, the continued success of your venture under new management, and the timing and circumstances of your leaving are completely under your control.

Many business owners may wish to stay part of that success story even after a sale because to grow a business from scratch can create such strong emotional ties. Therefore, if you will be retaining shares or a managerial position within the business, that´s all the more reason to thoroughly plan your exit strategy to ensure that you have the flexibility to adapt your involvement as you wish without any detrimental effect on your company.

Know your buyer

When your exit strategy involves the sale of your business it´s important to understand why those who might make you a very wealthy person would be interested in your little venture. We believe their motivations can be summarised into four categories:

What to do now?

To secure your financial future, grow a business moulded to your exit strategy aspirations. Firstly, decide whether a sale, flotation or management buy-out might be the best route to take, then develop your organisation to fit the expectations of your potential buyers. By knowing your market and those who might be interested in it and focusing on your end goal you´ll guarantee yourself and your company a far better future.