I’ve recently read The Smart Business Exit by Geoff Green and decided to share my experience as someone who is building a 7-figure business to sell.
The Smart Business Exit Geoff Green
Looking to get rewarded for your hard work? You’ve got to exit.
That’s the premise of this book. Most businesses in Australia don’t make good money until they sell.
And yet most former business owners don’t actually get the price they expect. Much less actually.
All those years of challenging times, from managing payroll and growth to pleasing customers and chasing up invoices. You should be getting paid for that stress.
That starts with a solid plan. I had a reasonably firm plan to start and scale and business, but until I read this book, I didn’t have a plan to exit.
The beginning
This manual (and indeed it is a manual) starts with why you need a business plan.
Now, I didn’t need convincing. This is why I purchased this book because I wanted the plan itself. Essentially “how do I get the best multiple for my business?” is the question I had on my mind.
I wanted to skip this beginning but didn’t and I’m glad I didn’t because learned a ton about building a secure business. One that can still profit successfully in the face of adversity.
The very first words of this book demonstrate that Goeff is the real deal: Business Exists Are Hard. As someone who is coached by a 5x business exit owner, I’m hearing this first hand.
Through building systems and processes early on with a strong and during purpose, we can build a sustainable business that attracts a higher multiple.
Running the business
Geoff talks about two main concepts: Creating value and realizing value.
When creating value, that’s where you’re effectively still in the growth stage.
You need to build longterm plans and a solid team, paired with the overarching vision for the company’s future. Building to sell is often slid under the carpet while you’re in this stage.
Here is where Geoff recommends that you get into the shoes of a business owner:
- Does this business give the new owner genuine freedom?
- Can they grow past the current forecast of annual revenue?
- Where does the business see itself in 3, 5 and even 10 years?
- What systems and processes are in place to scale organically?
Essentially, you should be building the roadmap every month. When questions arise in the team; build a process around it.
Exiting with ease
We’re reminded again in the final section of the book on just how hard it is to exit gracefully. It’s almost never smooth sailing.
Most importantly: How do deal with life after exiting. Especially important since most business books I’ve read focus on the start and growth stages of a business.
While it might seem like the perfect exit plan is here, it isn’t. Most-so Geoff provides insights to the reader on their most common rebuttals.
Things like: “What do I do after I exit?” and “Won’t this be too expensive”?
Fair points and The Smart Business Exit really covers those on great detail.
While the content in this section wasn’t as in-depth as what I was hoping, it still provided a guideline and probed the reader into action. It does this generically while still appealing to all industries.
The very last point is acting with focus and urgency. It’s amazing what an individual can do without distractions. Literally – moving 12 steps in 1 direction is better than in 1 step in 12 directions.
My recommendation
Building businesses are hard. We all know that.
As Geoff notes, exiting them is often just as hard.
The Smart Business Exit isn’t a motivational story tale.
It’s a roadmap to be taken seriously for those seeking to eventually exit.
I’ve done my best not to spoil the content of this book with my summary.
My greatest wish is that you purchase this book and learn what you can. Most importantly: Implement. This isn’t certainly a binge-read.
I’d recommend this book to:
- The burnt-out business owner who’s ready to pass on the reigns
- Young entrepreneurs who are building a business to exit from Day 1
- Those who don’t want to exit but desire to build dependable systems
Geoff Green’s business experience very much shines through with The Smart Business Exit. The reviews are strong and so are the lessons.
