I want to exit my business in five years. What should I actually be doing right now to make sure the company is highly sellable when the time comes?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Focus on building a business that runs without you. Buyers pay for self-sustaining operations. A five-year runway is the ideal timeline to clean up your operations and institutionalize your leadership team. Begin by auditing your Accountability Chart. Every seat must be filled by someone who is GWC™ (Gets it, Wants it, Capacity to do it), and your own name must be off the day-to-day seats. Use your EOS® tools to drive this. Next, look at your Strategic Real Options. A buyer will evaluate the flow cost of maintaining your current product development versus upgrading its quality. Start upgrading your internal systems now so the buyer is not looking at a massive, hidden, lump-sum cost to modernize your tech stack or processes after the sale. Implement a reliable meeting cadence, specifically the Level 10 Meeting™, so your leadership team is already running the weekly operational cycle autonomously. When you start five years out, you have the white space to make strategic pivots without desperation. This is the difference between a fire sale and premium valuation.