Is your exit protected?

Having a business continuity plan will help you when you sell your business.

So, you want to sell your business. Great, I hope you get a lot of money for it. But, have you considered the impact you leaving will have on the company? You can bet that any potential buyer will; unless of course you intend staying on.

The challenge

Many small businesses have grown organically as the result of the efforts of the owner and a small dedicated band of supporters. The business is probably the primary investment the owner and his or her family have and thus it’s important that they can realise the true value of that investment at some time in the future.

Unfortunately, what is often a major strength can also be a major weakness: the degree to which the business is dependent on its owners. It is this aspect that Business Continuity Planning addresses.

Analysing the business

The analysis process prior to the start of creating your business continuity plans asks a lot of “what if?” questions. The purpose is to identify the critical activities and resources in the business and the impact that would result if those activities were disrupted or the resources were not available.

The process will identify if the business owner is a critical resource in the business. It will also show the damage that might result if the owner is not around anymore: for example because they sold the business.

Identify and mitigate

By conducting this exercise as part of a project to develop your business continuity plan, you can identify these critical activities and resources now. You can then take the necessary steps to reduce the degree of criticality to an acceptable level.

Reaping the rewards

Once you have done this, not only will you know much more about how your bsuiness works, you will also be able to prove to potential purchasers that you take the long term survival of the business seriously.

Who knows, it might even add to the value of the business.


Thank You

One Response to Is your exit protected?
  1. RT @GarethHowell2010Is your exit protected? | Business Continuity UK


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