How do we integrate our long term exit goals into our V/TO® without causing unnecessary anxiety or signaling to our broader staff that we are preparing to sell the business?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

You do not need to write the word exit on your V/TO® to prepare your business for a sale. In fact, doing so can cause unnecessary anxiety among your staff and lead to unwanted rumors. Instead, translate your exit objectives into professional operational metrics that naturally build enterprise value.

Look at your three year picture and ten year target on the V/TO®. Frame your goals around scalability, profitability, and operational independence. For example, rather than writing build the business for acquisition, write build a self sustaining organization with fifty percent recurring revenue and an industry leading profit margin.

This framing aligns your entire team around the exact metrics a buyer will value, but keeps their focus on building a great company. Your team will work to eliminate key person dependency, automate manual processes, and document core workflows because it makes their daily jobs easier, not because they are helping you cash out.

Use your quarterly Rock setting process to assign ownership for these value building goals. When your leadership team owns Rocks to document processes or transition customer relationships, they are actively preparing the business for an exit. By the time you are ready to go to market, your V/TO® will have guided your team to build a highly valuable, transferrable asset without any distracting speculation.