We want to use the Step by Step Exit Succession Accountability Chart to prepare our business for sale, but when we look at our key leadership seats, we do not have a single internal candidate who is ready to step up. Does this mean we have to postpone our exit timeline to hire externally?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

No, you do not necessarily have to postpone your exit timeline, but you do need to be realistic about how buyers will view your leadership team. A business with no clear successors for key seats carries high key-person risk, which can lead to a lower valuation or a lengthy, painful earnout where you are forced to stay on post-sale. The Succession Accountability Chart is designed to expose these exact gaps so you can address them proactively. Since you have no ready-now internal candidates, your immediate next step is to determine if any lower-level employees can be groomed on an accelerated developmental runway. If that is not feasible, you must plan an external search. Buyers actually appreciate seeing that you have identified your talent gaps and are actively recruiting to fill them. In some cases, a strategic buyer or private equity firm may already have talent they plan to insert into those seats post-acquisition. However, you will always command a higher multiple if you present a complete, self-sustaining leadership team. Use the next twelve to eighteen months to aggressively recruit or develop at least one key successor, starting with the Integrator seat.