What is the No.1 Value Driver when you think about selling your business?

John Ratliff, an Exit Strategy expert says: “The number one thing when you think about positioning your company for exit is looking at it externally like an investor's going to  look at it. 
 
So, where are the risks? Where are the opportunities? 
 
You as the entrepreneur can be the biggest risk. If you're not redundant in the business, if the business needs you every single day, no matter what, that's really risky for a buyer. 
 
So we teach entrepreneurs how to build a system and a process that creates results that aren't totally dependent on them, how to build a great senior team, how to build an execution protocol and how to build the right strategy, and how to think about cash and people and that makes you the entrepreneur redundant. 

So if you're never going to  sell your business, it's still great to be redundant because you get your freedom and your time and everything back. But more importantly, if you are ready to sell your business, the number one value driver, the entrepreneur’s redundant. If a business is predictable and produces results, time after time after time, that's less risky for someone to invest their capital, and then one that's all over the map and completely disorganised and we don't know if we're going to win today or lose or what's going on. 
 
So be predictable, be systematic, as an entrepreneur be completely redundant in the business, and that will drive your value more than anything else”.

Have you started planning your exit yet? Can you be redundant in your business?

Take our Value Driver assessment to see how ready your business is to achieve a significant exit.

Thank you to John Ratliff the CEO of Align 5 for sharing these powerful insights and Karol Popa, Certified Scaling Up Coach