Business Exit Strategy: How I Sold 5 SaaS Companies

Why Most Exit Strategies Fail Before You Even List

Most entrepreneurs think about exits too late. They wake up one day wanting to sell, realize their books are a mess, their customer concentration is terrible, and their tech stack is held together with duct tape. Then they wonder why buyers aren't lining up.

I've been through this five times now with SaaS exits. The difference between a good exit and a great one isn't luck-it's preparation that starts years before you talk to a single buyer.

Here's what actually matters when building a business exit strategy that gets you maximum value.

What Is a Business Exit Strategy (And Why You Need One Now)

A business exit strategy is your roadmap for leaving your company while maximizing value and minimizing chaos. It's not just about selling-it's about building a business that's valuable enough to sell in the first place.

Most entrepreneurs think an exit strategy is something you create when you're ready to sell. That's backwards. Your exit strategy should inform every major decision you make from day one: who you hire, how you structure deals, what software you choose, how you organize your finances.

The businesses that sell for premium multiples weren't accidentally well-organized. The owners built them with exits in mind, even if the exit was years away. Every system, every process, every hire was made thinking "would a buyer value this?"

I didn't understand this with my first business. I built it around myself, made myself indispensable, and then couldn't figure out why buyers were skeptical. With each subsequent exit, I got better at building businesses that could run without me. That's the entire game.

The Three Exit Paths (And Which One You Should Build For)

There are three main ways to exit a business, and each requires completely different preparation:

Strategic acquisition: A larger company in your space buys you for your product, customer base, or team. These typically pay the highest multiples because they're buying future value and competitive advantage. If you're building toward this, focus on becoming either a threat or a perfect puzzle piece for bigger players in your market.

Financial buyer (private equity or investors): They're buying cash flow and growth potential. They care about clean financials, predictable revenue, and operational efficiency. Your job is to make the business as profitable and systematized as possible. If you can't step away for a month without revenue dropping, you're not ready for this path.

Competitor acquisition: Someone in your exact niche wants to eliminate competition or absorb your customer base. These deals move fast but often pay less because the buyer knows you have limited options. Best case scenario is creating a bidding war between multiple competitors.

I've done all three. The strategic acquisitions paid best, but they also took the longest to structure. Know which path you're on at least two years before you want to exit.

Additional Exit Options Most People Overlook

Beyond the three main paths, there are several other exit strategies worth considering depending on your situation:

Management buyout: Your existing team buys the business from you. This works well if you have strong managers who understand the business and can secure financing. The upside is they know exactly what they're buying. The downside is they probably can't pay as much as an outside buyer.

Employee stock ownership plan (ESOP): You sell the company to your employees over time through a trust structure. This has significant tax advantages and lets you maintain some control during the transition. It's complex to set up but can be perfect if you care about preserving company culture and taking care of your team.

Family succession: Passing the business to family members. Sounds simple but it's emotionally complicated and often destroys family relationships if not handled carefully. You need clear succession plans, defined roles, and usually outside advisors to mediate.

Initial public offering (IPO): Taking your company public is the dream exit for many founders, but it's only realistic if you're doing substantial revenue and growing fast. IPOs are expensive, time-consuming, and come with ongoing regulatory requirements. Unless you're building a unicorn, don't count on this path.

Acqui-hire: A larger company buys your business primarily for your team, not your product or revenue. Common in tech when you've built a talented team but the product isn't gaining traction. Multiples are usually low, but it's better than shutting down.

Liquidation: Selling off assets and closing the business. This is the last resort when you can't find a buyer for the operating business. You'll recover some value from equipment, inventory, intellectual property, and customer lists, but it's always the worst financial outcome.

Making Your Business Actually Sellable

Buyers don't want your business-they want a machine that prints money without you. Here's what that actually requires:

Document Everything

Standard operating procedures aren't sexy, but they're the difference between selling for 3x revenue versus 5x. Every process in your business should be documented well enough that someone else could run it. Sales process, fulfillment, customer onboarding, account management, tech stack management-all of it.

I use Trainual to centralize all process documentation. During due diligence, buyers will want to see how the business actually operates. If you can't show them, they'll assume it's all in your head and discount accordingly.

Your documentation should cover daily operations, weekly routines, monthly financials, quarterly planning, and annual strategic reviews. Include screenshots, video walkthroughs, and checklists. Make it so detailed that a smart person with no industry experience could follow it.

Clean Up Your Revenue Model

Buyers hate uncertainty. The more predictable your revenue, the higher your multiple. Monthly recurring revenue beats project-based work. Annual contracts beat monthly. Multi-year contracts with auto-renewal beat everything.

If you're running an agency or service business, start transitioning clients to retainers at least 18 months before you want to sell. Get payment terms standardized. Eliminate one-off project work that makes revenue lumpy.

Customer concentration is a deal-killer. If one client represents more than 15% of your revenue, that's a red flag. If your top three clients are more than 40%, you're going to get hammered on valuation. The buyer will assume those relationships are tied to you personally and will churn post-acquisition.

Look at your customer acquisition cost versus lifetime value. Buyers want to see at least a 3:1 ratio. If you're spending $1000 to acquire a customer worth $2500, that's marginal. If you're spending $1000 to acquire a customer worth $5000, that's compelling.

Get Your Books Perfect

This should be obvious, but you'd be shocked how many entrepreneurs try to sell with QuickBooks that looks like a crime scene. Hire a real accountant at least a year before you sell. Get everything reconciled monthly. Separate business and personal expenses completely.

Buyers will do 60-90 days of financial due diligence. Every unexplained transaction becomes a negotiation point. Every missing receipt becomes a reason to reduce the offer. Don't give them ammunition.

Use accrual accounting, not cash accounting. Buyers want to see revenue matched to the period it was earned, not when cash hit your bank account. Get your financials audited if you're selling for more than $2M. It costs money but dramatically increases buyer confidence.

Reduce Owner Dependence

The biggest mistake I see is owners who are too involved in day-to-day operations. If you're still doing sales calls, managing customer escalations, or making product decisions, the business is you. When you leave, the value leaves with you.

Start delegating aggressively at least two years before you want to exit. Hire a general manager or COO who can run operations without you. Move yourself out of customer-facing roles. Stop being the only person who knows how critical systems work.

Test this by taking a month off. Don't check email, don't take calls, don't peek at metrics. See what breaks. Whatever breaks is what you need to fix before you can sell. I did this before my third exit and discovered our onboarding process completely depended on me jumping on calls. Fixed that immediately.

Understanding Business Valuation Multiples

Valuation is part art, part science, and part negotiation. But there are rules buyers follow.

For SaaS businesses, valuation is typically a multiple of annual recurring revenue. The multiple depends on growth rate, churn, margins, and market conditions. Fast-growing businesses with low churn get higher multiples. Slow-growing businesses with high churn get lower multiples.

For service businesses and agencies, valuation is usually based on EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization). Multiples range from 2-6x depending on how systemized the business is and how dependent it is on the owner.

For e-commerce businesses, valuation is typically 2-4x annual profit, though branded direct-to-consumer businesses with strong margins can command higher multiples.

The key drivers that increase your multiple: recurring revenue, low customer churn, high gross margins, strong intellectual property, diversified customer base, growth trajectory, and operational systems that don't depend on the owner.

The things that destroy your multiple: revenue concentration, owner dependence, high churn, thin margins, messy financials, pending lawsuits, outdated technology, and inconsistent revenue.

Building a Pipeline of Potential Buyers

The best exits happen when you have multiple buyers competing. That only happens if you've built relationships long before you're ready to sell.

Start networking with potential acquirers three years out. Go to industry conferences. Take calls with business development people from bigger companies in your space. When private equity firms or investment bankers reach out on LinkedIn, take the meeting even if you're not selling yet.

I keep a simple spreadsheet of potential buyers-who they are, what they're looking for, what synergies might exist. When I'm ready to have exit conversations, I don't start from scratch. I already know who's interested and why.

This is also where having a visible personal brand helps. My YouTube channel and content have led to multiple acquisition conversations over the years. Buyers find you instead of you having to pitch them. If you want help building that kind of presence, Galadon Gold covers the full playbook.

Join industry groups where corporate development people hang out. Many industries have M&A-focused newsletters, Slack communities, and LinkedIn groups where buyers actively look for acquisition targets. Be visible in those spaces.

The Role of Liquidity in Your Exit Decision

Liquidity is how quickly you can convert your business into cash. A business might be valuable on paper but worthless if you can't find anyone to buy it.

Some industries have deep buyer pools. SaaS businesses, agencies, e-commerce stores, and software companies all have active M&A markets with buyers constantly looking for deals. Other industries are illiquid-niche manufacturing, hyper-local services, or businesses that require rare expertise.

Before you build a business, research the exit market. Look at marketplaces like Flippa to see what's actually selling. Talk to business brokers in your industry. If you can't find examples of businesses like yours selling, that's a warning sign.

Liquidity also affects your negotiating leverage. If there are ten buyers who want your business, you can be selective and push for better terms. If there's one buyer, they know you have no alternatives. Build optionality by making your business attractive to multiple buyer types.

Timing Your Exit (The Market Window Nobody Talks About)

You can have the perfect business and still get terrible valuations if you sell at the wrong time. Multiples fluctuate dramatically based on market conditions, interest rates, and investor appetite.

SaaS multiples were 12-15x revenue in late 2021. By 2023, they'd dropped to 3-5x for most businesses. Same companies, completely different outcomes based purely on timing.

Watch the M&A market in your industry. When are deals getting announced? What multiples are public companies trading at? Are private equity firms raising new funds (which means they need to deploy capital)?

If the market is cold, it might be worth waiting six months or building more value into the business. If it's hot, move fast even if you weren't planning to sell yet. Windows close.

Interest rates matter more than most entrepreneurs realize. When rates are low, buyers can finance acquisitions cheaply, which means they pay higher multiples. When rates spike, financing gets expensive, and multiples compress. I sold one business six months before rates started climbing. Pure luck, but it added an extra million to the exit value.

Also watch what's happening with public company valuations in your space. Private company valuations tend to lag public markets by 6-12 months. If public SaaS companies are getting crushed, private SaaS valuations will follow. Use that information to time your exit.

Working With Brokers, Investment Bankers, and M&A Advisors

For smaller exits under $5M, business brokers are your best bet. They'll list your business, qualify buyers, and handle negotiations for a commission (usually 10-15% of the sale price). The good ones are worth every penny because they know how to position your business and negotiate terms.

For mid-market deals ($5M-$50M), you want an M&A advisor or small investment bank. They have deeper buyer networks, understand complex deal structures, and can run a competitive process that drives up your valuation. Their fees are usually 2-5% plus a retainer.

For large deals (over $50M), you need a major investment bank. They have relationships with private equity firms, strategic acquirers, and institutional buyers. Fees are lower percentage-wise but still substantial.

Interview at least three advisors before choosing one. Ask for recent deals they've closed in your industry and what multiples they achieved. Ask how they'll market your business and what their buyer network looks like. Most importantly, ask about deal terms they've negotiated-earnouts, escrows, and post-close obligations can kill a deal even if the headline number looks good.

Never pay substantial upfront fees. Good advisors work on success fees because they're confident they'll close deals. If someone wants $50k upfront, they're not confident in their ability to sell your business.

Preparing Your Data Room for Due Diligence

Due diligence is where deals fall apart. Buyers will investigate every claim you made, and if they find discrepancies, they'll either walk away or renegotiate aggressively.

Set up a virtual data room before you even start talking to buyers. Organize everything they'll want to see: financials, contracts, employee agreements, intellectual property documents, customer data, operational procedures, technology documentation, legal documents, and tax returns.

Your data room should include three years of financial statements, tax returns, and management accounts. Include customer retention data, sales pipeline reports, marketing metrics, and unit economics. Document all key contracts with customers, vendors, and employees.

Organize files logically. Don't dump everything in one folder and expect buyers to sort through it. Create clear categories with well-labeled files. The easier you make due diligence, the faster the deal closes and the fewer chances for buyers to find reasons to renegotiate.

Anticipate what buyers will ask for. They'll want to see proof that your revenue is real, that customers are happy, that you own your intellectual property, and that there are no hidden liabilities. Have answers ready before they ask.

The Due Diligence Process (What They'll Actually Investigate)

Once you have a letter of intent, expect 60-90 days of due diligence. Buyers will investigate everything:

Financial due diligence: They'll verify every revenue and expense claim you made. They'll look for hidden liabilities, unusual transactions, and anything that suggests the financials are inflated or unsustainable. They'll analyze your cash flow, working capital requirements, and capital expenditures. They'll compare your management accounts to your tax returns to make sure you're not reporting two different sets of numbers.

Customer due diligence: They'll want to see retention rates, churn analysis, customer concentration, and customer satisfaction scores. Often they'll want to interview key customers to verify the relationships are real and transferable. They'll analyze why customers leave and whether churn is accelerating. If you have any customers threatening to leave or significantly behind on payments, they'll find out.

Technical due diligence: If you're a software business, they'll audit your code, infrastructure, security practices, and technical debt. They'll want to know if the product is scalable or if it'll require major rewrites. They'll check for security vulnerabilities, code quality issues, and whether you own all the code or licensed parts of it. They'll review your hosting costs and whether your infrastructure can handle growth.

Legal due diligence: They'll review all contracts, intellectual property ownership, employment agreements, vendor contracts, and anything that could create future liability. They'll check for pending lawsuits, regulatory compliance issues, and whether you actually own your trademarks and domain names. They'll review employee contracts to see if anyone has claims to equity or IP. They'll verify you have all necessary licenses and permits.

Operational due diligence: They'll want to understand how the business actually runs day-to-day. They'll review your systems, processes, and team structure. They'll identify single points of failure and dependencies on key people. They'll evaluate whether the business can operate without you.

The businesses that sail through due diligence are the ones that prepared. Have a data room ready with all this information organized before you even start conversations. It signals you're a serious seller and speeds up the process dramatically.

Negotiating the Letter of Intent

The letter of intent (LOI) outlines the basic terms of the deal before anyone commits serious time and money to due diligence. It's not legally binding for the deal itself, but it usually includes exclusivity provisions that prevent you from talking to other buyers for 60-90 days.

Key terms to negotiate in the LOI: purchase price and structure (cash versus earnout), payment terms, exclusivity period, due diligence timeline, conditions for closing, who pays for due diligence expenses, and what happens if the deal falls apart.

Don't get emotional about the headline price. A $5M offer with $4M at close is better than a $6M offer with $3M at close and $3M earnout. The LOI stage is where you negotiate the real economics.

Push back on long exclusivity periods. Sixty days is reasonable. Ninety days is acceptable if the buyer is serious. Anything longer means they're not committed or they're trying to take you off the market while they shop for better deals.

Get specific about due diligence scope and timeline. The buyer should commit to a decision by a specific date. Without a timeline, due diligence drags on forever and deals die.

Structuring the Deal (And Avoiding Earnouts If Possible)

The headline number is never what you actually get. Deal structure matters more than purchase price.

Cash at close is the only thing that's real. Everything else is a bet on the future. If a buyer offers $5M with $3M at close and $2M earnout, you're really getting a $3M offer plus a chance to make more if everything goes perfectly.

Earnouts sound reasonable but they're almost always a bad deal for the seller. You're staying involved in the business but with none of the control. The buyer can make decisions that tank the earnout metrics and there's nothing you can do about it.

I've accepted earnouts twice. Both times I regretted it. If you must take an earnout, make the metrics crystal clear, make them things you can actually control, and get everything in writing with dispute resolution terms.

Seller financing is another red flag. If the buyer needs you to finance part of the purchase, they probably can't actually afford your business. You're taking on default risk for no upside. Only accept seller financing if the buyer is putting substantial cash down and you believe in their ability to run the business.

Stock or equity in the acquiring company can work if they're publicly traded or there's a clear liquidity path. If they're private with no exit timeline, you're just trading one illiquid asset for another. I took stock once in an acquiring company that I thought would IPO within two years. Six years later, still private, stock is worthless.

Escrow or holdback provisions are common. The buyer holds back 10-20% of the purchase price for 12-18 months to cover any issues that come up post-close. This is reasonable, but negotiate the terms carefully. What specifically can they claim against the escrow? How do disputes get resolved? What happens to the money if there are no claims?

Tax Implications of Different Exit Structures

Taxes will eat a huge chunk of your exit unless you structure the deal intelligently. I'm not a tax advisor, but here's what I've learned through five exits:

Asset sales versus stock sales have completely different tax implications. In an asset sale, the buyer purchases specific assets and you pay ordinary income tax on some portions (like inventory and accounts receivable) and capital gains on others (like goodwill). In a stock sale, you're selling equity and typically pay long-term capital gains on the entire amount if you've held the stock for over a year.

Buyers usually prefer asset sales because they get a step-up in basis and better depreciation. Sellers prefer stock sales because the tax treatment is more favorable. This is a major negotiation point.

If you're selling a C-corporation, you might face double taxation-once at the corporate level and again when you distribute proceeds to yourself. S-corporations and LLCs avoid this problem through pass-through taxation. If you have a C-corp and are planning to exit, talk to a tax advisor about converting to an S-corp at least five years before you sell.

Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) can let you exclude up to $10M in gains if you meet specific criteria. Your business needs to be a C-corp, you need to have held the stock for at least five years, and the business needs to be an active trade. This is incredibly valuable but requires planning years in advance.

Installment sales can spread your tax liability over multiple years if the buyer is paying over time. But this only makes sense if you actually want to defer the income, and it requires you to trust the buyer to keep paying.

Work with a tax advisor who specializes in M&A at least a year before you sell. They can restructure your business, time the sale, and negotiate deal terms that minimize your tax hit. I saved well over six figures on my third exit by restructuring how the deal was taxed.

What To Do With The Money After You Sell

This isn't technically part of your exit strategy, but it's where most entrepreneurs screw up. You've spent years building value, you finally get a check, and then you do something stupid with it.

Don't immediately start another business just because you're bored. Don't invest in ten different startups because other founders pitch you. Don't buy a bunch of real estate you don't understand because someone said it's a good inflation hedge.

Take at least six months off. Let your brain reset. I took three months after my third exit and regretted not taking longer. You've been in execution mode for years. You need time to figure out what you actually want to do next.

When you do start deploying capital, be conservative. The psychological pressure to "do something" with the money is intense. Resist it. Better to have money sitting in boring index funds than blown on bad investments because you were impatient.

Diversify aggressively. After you sell your business, most of your net worth is cash. Don't put it all in one asset class. Spread it across stocks, bonds, real estate, and alternative investments. You've already taken huge concentration risk building your business. Now is the time to derisk.

Hire a financial advisor who works on a fee-only basis, not commission. Commission-based advisors will push you toward products that pay them well, not products that are best for you. Pay for advice, don't take free advice from people who profit from your decisions.

Building Exit-Ready From Day One

The best exit strategies start on day one. I run ScraperCity with exit in mind even though I'm not planning to sell anytime soon. Clean books, documented processes, low customer concentration, predictable revenue model, minimal dependence on me personally.

That doesn't mean building a business you hate just because it's sellable. It means building a real business that creates value independent of you. Which, coincidentally, is also what makes a business enjoyable to run.

If you're earlier in your business journey and want to build it the right way from the start, grab my 7-Figure Agency Blueprint. It covers the revenue model and client acquisition strategies that lead to the most valuable exits.

Every decision you make should pass the exit test: would a buyer value this? Hiring someone to take work off your plate-good for exits. Taking on a huge client that represents 30% of revenue-bad for exits. Documenting your sales process-good for exits. Being the only person who can close deals-bad for exits.

Common Exit Mistakes I've Made (So You Don't Have To)

I've screwed up enough exits to know what not to do:

Negotiating without a lawyer: I tried to save money on my first exit by negotiating directly with the buyer. Cost me at least $200K in value I left on the table. Always use a lawyer who specializes in M&A. Always.

Getting emotionally attached to the deal: Once you have a letter of intent, it's easy to mentally spend the money. Then due diligence uncovers issues and the buyer renegotiates. If you're emotionally committed to selling, you'll accept worse terms. Always be willing to walk away.

Telling your team too early: I announced an acquisition to my team before it closed. The deal fell through. Half the team left anyway because they assumed the business was dying. Only tell employees when the deal is 100% done and the money is in the bank.

Ignoring culture fit: I sold a business to a buyer who had completely different values. They gutted the team and product within six months. I got my money, but it felt terrible. If you care about what happens to your business after you're gone, culture fit matters.

Not having a backup plan: What happens if the deal falls apart at the last minute? You've mentally checked out, your team knows you were trying to sell, and now you have to keep running the business. Have a plan B for continuing to operate if the exit doesn't happen.

Accepting vague earnout terms: I agreed to an earnout tied to "revenue growth" without defining how revenue would be calculated. The buyer changed the revenue recognition policy post-close, which tanked my earnout. If you accept an earnout, get forensically specific about how metrics will be measured.

Not planning for taxes: On my second exit, I got hit with a massive tax bill I wasn't expecting because I didn't structure the deal efficiently. Lost over $150k that better planning would have saved. Talk to a tax advisor before you start negotiations, not after.

When You Should Actually Sell

The right time to sell is personal, but here are the situations where it usually makes sense:

You're burned out and can't recover. If you've been grinding for years and the thought of another day makes you miserable, it might be time. Don't wait until you've destroyed your health and relationships.

You've hit a growth ceiling you can't break through. Maybe your business needs capital, expertise, or distribution you don't have. Selling to someone who can take it further is better than watching it stagnate.

The market is offering stupid money. Sometimes buyers are willing to pay multiples that don't make sense. If someone offers you generational wealth for your business, take it. You can always start another one.

You want to do something completely different. If you've built real skills and have capital from an exit, you can be incredibly selective about what you do next. That's freedom worth taking.

A competitor is threatening your market position. If someone bigger is about to crush you, selling to them or another buyer might be smarter than fighting a losing battle.

Your personal circumstances change. Health issues, family obligations, or life changes can make running a business impossible. Better to exit on your terms than be forced out later.

The wrong time to sell is when you're just chasing a number. If you love the business, it's profitable, and you'd be happy running it for another five years, selling because you think you "should" is a mistake.

Exit Planning for Different Business Types

SaaS businesses should focus on recurring revenue metrics. Monthly recurring revenue, annual recurring revenue, churn rate, customer lifetime value, and customer acquisition cost are what buyers care about. Document your tech stack, codebase, and infrastructure. Get your data security and compliance in order. Buyers will do intensive technical due diligence.

Agencies and service businesses need to reduce client concentration and systematize delivery. Get clients on retainers, document all processes, and build a team that can deliver without you. Buyers are skeptical of agencies because so much value is tied to relationships and expertise that walk out the door. Prove your business isn't you.

E-commerce businesses should focus on margins, repeat purchase rates, and brand equity. Buyers want to see strong unit economics, diverse traffic sources, and products that aren't just arbitraging cheap manufacturing. If your entire business model is buying from Alibaba and selling on Amazon, you'll get low multiples. If you've built a brand with loyal customers and good margins, you'll do much better.

Local service businesses need clean financials and evidence of consistent demand. Buyers worry about competition and whether customers are loyal to the business or to you personally. Document your marketing systems, show consistent lead flow, and demonstrate that customers come back.

Post-Exit Transition and Handover

Most deals require you to stay involved for 30-90 days post-close to transition the business. Negotiate these terms carefully. How much time are you committing? What specifically will you do? How will you be compensated for this time?

Create a detailed transition plan before the deal closes. Identify critical relationships, processes, and knowledge that need to be transferred. Schedule handover meetings with key customers, employees, and vendors. Introduce the new owner and make it clear you support the transition.

Be professional during the handover even if you're exhausted. How you conduct yourself in those 90 days affects whether you get your escrow back, whether the buyer will give you a good reference, and whether you'll have legal problems later.

Set boundaries on your involvement. Some buyers will try to keep pulling you back in for months or years after the transition period ends. Make it clear when your involvement ends and stick to it.

Resources For Exit Planning

If you're serious about building toward an exit, here are the resources that actually help:

Read "Built to Sell" by John Warrillow. It's a quick read that covers the fundamentals of making a business sellable. Most of what I've written here is validated in that book.

Follow the M&A market in your industry. Subscribe to newsletters like Axios Pro Rata or your industry-specific deal publications. Know what multiples are being paid and who's buying.

Build relationships with investment bankers and business brokers even if you're not selling yet. They'll tell you exactly what buyers in your space are looking for and what your business might be worth. Most will give you a free informal valuation just to build a relationship.

If you're running a services business or agency and want to structure client relationships in a way that maximizes exit value, check out my Discovery Call Framework. It helps you position premium offerings that lead to longer-term contracts and better retention-both critical for valuation.

Join entrepreneur communities where people discuss exits. There are private forums and mastermind groups where people share real deal terms, introduce buyers, and help each other navigate exits. The information you get from people who've been through it is worth more than any book.

Work with specialized advisors. Don't use your general business lawyer for an M&A deal. Don't use your regular accountant for exit tax planning. Find specialists who do this every day. They're expensive but they'll make you way more than they cost.

Building Buyer Relationships Without Broadcasting You're Selling

You want buyers to know about your business long before you're ready to sell, but you don't want to signal desperation or create uncertainty with your team and customers.

The solution is building visibility and relationships without explicitly saying you're selling. Speak at industry conferences. Write content. Be active in industry communities. Take meetings with corporate development people when they reach out.

When larger companies approach you for partnerships, take the meetings. Even if the partnership doesn't make sense, you're building a relationship with a potential acquirer. They're learning about your business, you're learning what they value, and when you're ready to have exit conversations, you already have a warm relationship.

Publish case studies and success stories. Buyers want to see proof that your business model works and that customers get value. The more visible your success, the more inbound interest you'll get from potential acquirers.

If you're building a SaaS product, having a strong user base signals value. For our lead database, I focus on building features users actually need and creating case studies showing results. That kind of visibility attracts buyers without me having to pitch them.

The Emotional Side of Exits Nobody Talks About

Selling a business is emotionally complicated in ways nobody prepares you for. You've spent years building something, it's part of your identity, and suddenly it's gone.

I've felt relief, regret, excitement, and grief-sometimes all in the same week. After my second exit, I went through a weird depression for about three months. I'd achieved what I'd been working toward for years, and then I had no idea what to do with myself.

Expect an emotional hangover. You'll watch the new owner make decisions you disagree with. You'll see them change things you built. If you're staying involved during a transition, it's painful to have opinions but no control.

Your identity will shift. If you've been "the founder of X company" for five years, who are you now? It takes time to figure out what's next and to separate your self-worth from the business you built.

Plan for this. Line up your next project, even if it's just taking time off to travel or spend time with family. Don't sell and then have nothing to do. The void is harder than you think.

Talk to other people who've exited. They'll tell you the emotional stuff is normal and temporary. It helps to know you're not the only one who feels weird about it.

Your Exit Strategy Starts Today

The entrepreneurs who get the best exits aren't lucky. They're prepared. They built their businesses with exits in mind from day one, they timed the market correctly, and they didn't make emotional decisions during negotiations.

Start building your exit strategy now, even if you're not planning to sell for years. Clean up your financials. Document your processes. Reduce customer concentration. Build systems that don't depend on you. Make yourself replaceable.

Every business decision should consider exit value. That doesn't mean optimizing for a sale at the expense of building a real business. It means building a business that creates genuine value, serves customers well, and can operate without you. That's what buyers pay for, and that's also what makes running a business sustainable and enjoyable.

Start now. Future you will be grateful.