Every small business is salable if the entrepreneur plans for an exit. And, before you tell me you have no plan of ever selling your business, let me remind you that is not the only way entrepreneur's exit their businesses. Women entrepreneurs and men entrepreneurs can become disabled and even die while on the job. Have I got your attention NOW? 
So, this blog is for you, women entrepreneurs, stop hiding from the truth and get down to doing the hard work it requires and be strategic about how you start, grow and operate your business. You will not live forever, but hopefully your business will. You can't be a proactive businesswoman and believe like Scarlett O'Hara ("After all ...tomorrow is another day") because too often tomorrow never comes.
Businesses, large and small, are actually living, breathing, entities that require nurturing 24 hours a day. Just because you, the entrepreneur, must sleep 6, 8 or 10 hours per day, your business doesn't need to sleep. Every business must be continually responding to a need in the marketplace, and, as we all know too well, the marketplace is constantly changing.
So, let's get down to business. There are a variety of ways to exit your business. As I have already mentioned, and is probably not sitting too well with you, you can exit your business by dying too soon and without a plan. DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU! Not planning robs you of the investment you have made: time, effort (blood, sweat and tears), and money. Regardless of whose money you used when starting your business, there needs to be a payback plan in place.
Therefore, the first tip for planning an exit is to have a personal succession plan. In other words, who in your organization or in your family can replace you? Do they know what you do every day to make the business work? Probably not! Now is the time to choose that person and make sure if you get hit by a bus they are ready to hit the ground running.
The second tip is to develop what I call a "How To" manual. A successful business has a daily, weekly and/or monthly plan. How your company does what it does must be written down so someone walking in can decipher the formula. Everyone knows that Coke has a formula and I'm sure APPLE has a formula - what's yours? Put it in writing and make sure it is comprehensible. You never know when it (the manual) will be needed to take over the business.
The third tip is to know your assets. What in your company is valuable? Is it the secret sauce, the formula, the patents, the intellectual property, the real estate, the people, the software, the program, the equipment, the inventory, etc.? What is it? Know it and you will always be prepared for an exit.
The fourth tip is to know what you want for an exit. Do you want to stay with the business if you sell it? Do you want to transfer the business to employees and work mto help in the transition? Allow yourself to imagine how the change could take place. Allow yourself the freedom to move to your next chapter.
The fifth tip, which often is the most difficult for women entrepreneurs especially, is to plan for your next chapter. Does exiting the business mean retirement? Does selling the business mean buying or starting another business? Is your ego completely wrapped up in your business? (This is often a difficult thought for both male and female entrepreneurs.)
"To thine own self be true," said Polonius in Shakespeare's Hamlet. This is critical for entrepreneurs if they want to be successful in exiting their business.
Please don't allow others to sway you in thinking about what is best for you and best for your business. But, most important, give your business a chance to grow beyond what you can or want to do.
Planning for an exit is the most important task you will do as an entrepreneur and/or small business owner. It will change your life forever and put you in a category only a few business people ever can claim title to. But it all starts with a plan.
