Business Exit Strategy

Business Exit Strategy 1

The Freedom Point

Whether you are thinking of selling in 3 years or in 30 years, understanding the 8 drivers that impact the value of your business is very powerful.  We call it the Freedom Point because knowing that you have the freedom to sell your business when you want for what you want is what most business owners are stiving for.  We help you establish the current value of your business and how to increase its value to fund your lifestyle after you sell.

Get Your Freedom Score

We can help you with that.  In as little as 15 minutes you will be able to assess the value of your business and what your opportunities are to improve the valuation.

Often, when we think about exiting a company, we conjure the image of a spectacular business sale where a strategic buyer swoops in, pays an enormous price, and the business owner rides off into the sunset. The reality is that there are several different ways to exit the day-to-day operations of your business, and the smartest founders align their exit type with their reason for leaving. 

The ultimate judge of your company’s value is the market itself. No matter how much you want for your company - or what you think you need - if the market says the business is not worth that, then you’re out of luck. In addition to getting a business valuation to understand what your company might be worth to a third party, there is another calculation you should make, which is to understand what your business is worth to you. When the market valuation and your personal valuation coincide, it may be time to consider an exit.

For most owners considering exiting their business, they imagine an all-cash offer and leaving their company shortly after depositing the cheque. However, most exits are more gradual and rely on the owner’s continued involvement after the sale. It’s important to get clear on the maximum amount of both time and money you’re willing to commit after a transaction. As a general rule, you stand to earn more money from the sale of your business the more willing you are to participate in a transition period and there are several roles you may be asked to play post exit: Shareholder, Lender, Consultant or Non Exec Director.

Business Exit Strategy 2

Value Your Business

We have partnered with the creators of the unique Value Builder System™, so we can help you easily evaluate your business. Some of the factors we will explore include: your likelihood to grow your business in the future, dependencies on customers, employees and suppliers, and how well your business is differentiated.

Taking the Value Builder Score will only take 15 minutes and once completed, you will immediately find out your score.

Get Your Score

Organisations We Work With

What Our Customers Say

Shane has been a wonderful support through changing times, helping me gain perspective, sharpen my business acumen, appreciate areas for growth and understand the strength and value of my organisation. He is a fabulous and wise sounding board and I recommend him 100%.

Katy Rink

My Shrewsbury Magazine

Shane is an experienced and highly perceptive Entrepreneur with creative flare and an intelligent, analytical approach. Shane was able to accurately prioritise actions that have driven positive change to my business and successfully pushed my product to market.

Elly Furber

Treasured Times

Shane provided a very informative session on Grants & Funding for Cultivate, a "pre-accelerator" programme aimed at young Agri-tech and Agri-food companies who want to grow and take the next steps. The programme was developed by Harper Adams University in partnership with Barclays Eagle Labs. Shane also offered mentorship to the Cultivate Programme businesses.

Emma Cantillion

Harper Adams University

I engaged Shane to help me to deliver a large public contract providing advice and support to businesses across the West Midlands who had been affected by BREXIT and changes to the EU relationship with Great Britain. He handled all of his assigned businesses with empathy, competence and understanding. A true professional.

Jason French

Business Doctors

Shane delivered an excellent workshop for MSDUKs members.  The content was clear, relevant and applicable to the current business context and left our members with practical actions to follow in order to sustain and grow their businesses in these challenging times.  In fact, we were so impressed with the workshop that we’ve invited Shane to run it again for members who were unable to attend previously.

Barbara Armstrong

MSDUK

We asked Shane if he would work with the AGRI Project on a joint virtual seminar / workshop that would give SMEs in the region an insight into consumer behaviour, understanding your customers needs and how innovation can be implemented. Shane was really easy to work with and we felt that by working together we could offer the businesses attending the event more value. Shane is credible, knowledgeable and very genuine, I would not hesitate to work with him again and would be more than happy to refer any of our companies over to him for additional support.

Rose Judeh-Elwell

Harper Adams University

I would recommend Shane Stark with the advice he has to give and the experience he has within the business world to anyone that needs to give their business a boost. 

Tori Davies

Saracen Solutions

Thank you Shane, you have given me food for thought and shed a light on the what is involved in selling a business. I had a gestalt moment, when the lightbulb came on and all of a sudden, I could see that there ware pathways forward. It was suddenly clear that if I decided I wanted to, I really could get the business ready to sell for retirement which would make sure that all this good work continues beyond my retirement.

Elizabeth Wilkinson

The Dyslexic Dyslexia Consultant

I attended Shane’s Regeneration Workshop in June 2020.  The content was excellent and well presented by Shane, who also facilitated good discussions amongst the attendees.  The time set aside to attend was well worth it, where it gave me an hour to think about my business and how we transition out of the pandemic downturn.  Would definitely recommend the course to other business owners.

Mark Savill

My Simple Mortgage Ltd

Shane’s Workshop came at a very useful time as the world was getting used to being locked down and especially helpful for those of us running businesses locked to our desks! He gave a comprehensive overview of the challenges we face as business owners needing to better understand the changing needs of our customers.  He emphasised that we need to define our business by the problems we’re solving.

Shane’s workshops are a very useful resource to work through and probe key areas of sales activity, marketing and profitability.

Julia M Hughes MA, CIPD

Working Solutions ( Mercia ) Ltd

I am currently working with Shane Stark and recommend you do the same. When you are running a business sometimes you can't see the woods for the trees. Shane's ability to cut through the noise helps you to see things from different angles and helps you to refocus on what's important.

Matt Yarranton 

Blisstech

The business support I have received from Shane Stark has been invaluable. I have been able to hone my service offering, set targets and through thought provoking coaching sessions make progress with business growth.

Sarah Hooper

Thrive HRUK

I thought it was just a coincidence that I started to get busier whilst working with Shane; then, I put two and two together. Without realising it, Shane's advice and ideas made me think differently. Things needn't be as complicated as I was making them.

Tony Clarkson

Severn Agency