Welcome to the podcast that's dedicated to helping business owners prepare for exit so you can maximise value and exit like a boss.   I'm Darryl Bates-Brownsword and I want to introduce you to the Exit Insights podcast presented by Succession Plus. The aim of the podcast is to share the message that if you want to get the most from your life's work, maximise the valuation and exit on YOUR terms, then you will need to prepare your business so that it's ready for exit, you are exit ready and the business is attractive to be acquired.   Did you know that 55% of exits are unplanned and are due to death, divorce, or disability, and for those business owners that do get to take their business to market only 20% of them end up agreeing on a deal? there are also too many deals that are never completed because the owners left before the earn-out agreement was completed. It doesn't have to be this way! You'll be interested if you are a business owner and you've been running your business for a few years now and you are at the early stages of thinking about what's next for you. You're going to be in the 1 to 30 million revenue bracket and you're likely to be based in the UK, USA, Australia, or New Zealand. You may be feeling stressed or frustrated with running the business or you may be running out of energy or simply looking to change direction. It doesn't matter why you are looking to exit or sell; this podcast will help you to identify best practices and what you have to do to orchestrate an exit on YOUR terms.   We are addressing the burning issues and topics that business owners want to know about when they start to think about selling their business. Guests include experts from all areas related to the succession planning and exit planning process - from employee ownership, personal financial planning, tax, legal and through to estate planning. We're also talking to people who have already sold their businesses and tapping into what the experience was like and what they learned along the way. We ask them what they know now that they wished they knew before they started the process. We discuss the 21 Steps used by Succession Plus and developed by Craig West to help you structure your business so that you're one of the 20% of business owners who will be able to complete a successful exit. The topics will include things like:   When should I start planning? What is an exit strategy and exit planning How will I exit my business? Can I sell my business - is my business sellable - who will buy my business? How will the business be valued? What's my business worth? How can I improve the business valuation - value potential? What can I do to make it more attractive to be acquired and speed up the process? How do I prepare my business and make sure that it's exit-ready? How long will it take to prepare the business for sale? Will I have to work an earn-out period? M&A and acquisitions Owner dependence Systemising, systems and systematizing Growth and scaling Brand value and IP - (Intellectual property) including intangible assets How do I increase the multiple I want to sell my business Can I sell my business to my employees MBO Will I get all my money upfront? What are the risks for me when I sell my business? What will happen to the employees? What will happen to the brand? What about my legacy? How will I know that my business is exitable? When should I start exit planning? Who should I tell that I'm thinking about selling my business?   If this sounds like the questions that you want answered, then I hope you enjoy listening and learning how to exit like a boss.   If you like what you've heard so far, please subscribe so that you will be notified of each new episode.