As the owner preparing for an exit in two years, I find myself completely consumed by transactional details and advisor meetings, leaving zero time for strategic oversight. How do I protect my schedule to maintain the business performance that the buyer is actually valuing?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Preparing for an exit is an incredibly demanding process that can easily suck you into a vortex of legal, financial, and administrative tasks. If you let these tasks consume your calendar, the daily performance of the business will suffer, leading to a drop in EBITDA and a direct hit to your valuation. To protect your business and your sanity during this two year runway, you must intentionally build white space into your schedule. Treat open, unscheduled time as a vital business asset rather than a luxury. Practice a strategic pause throughout the week to step back, evaluate operational performance, and ensure your team is hitting their targets. Allocate dedicated thinking sessions each week to process the exit complexities. Use this thinking time to formulate high value questions about delegation. For example, ask yourself how you can empower your Integrator to handle all internal operational decisions so you can focus on the transaction. Your leadership team must run the business while you manage the exit. Rely heavily on your weekly Scorecard to monitor the health of the company without getting bogged down in daily execution. By protecting your time and maintaining your strategic focus, you ensure the business remains strong and attractive to buyers.