When should you start business exit planning? Earlier than you think
The short answer
Two to three years before you want to sell, and before the first buyer calls.
Most owners do it the other way round. They wait for an offer, then scramble to work out what the business is worth, who should advise them, and what they actually need from the deal.
A 2025 study of 750 US business owners put numbers on the problem. Nearly two-thirds expect to sell within five years. Most have never had the business valued. We call it the exit intention-preparation gap, and we see the same pattern in founder-led businesses across the Midlands.
This post covers what the gap looks like, what it costs you, and how to close it with the right exit advisory team around you.
The key points
- 64% of owners expect to sell within five years, but 61% have never had a certified valuation.
- 55% would accept an unsolicited offer without an independent valuation. The buyer's number becomes the price.
- Exit planning does not commit you to selling. It means you are ready whenever the right moment, or the right offer, arrives.
- One adviser is not enough. Growth, money and law need planning together.
- The best first step takes under 8 minutes: the free Exit Readiness Assessment.
What is the exit intention-preparation gap?
It is the distance between planning to sell your business and being ready to sell it.
The research was run by The Center for Generational Kinetics with Cornerstone Business Services. It surveyed owners aged 45 to 75, each running a company with at least US$5 million in revenue. Here is what they said.
Owners intend to sell
But they are not preparing
And they know what is at stake
It is US data, but nothing about it is uniquely American. A founder in Nottingham or Birmingham faces the same tug-of-war: "I'll sell one day" against "I'll just keep going". That tug-of-war is exactly what delays the work that protects value.
Why do owners put off exit planning?
Three reasons come up again and again.
01
It feels like committing to sell
It isn't. Planning means you are ready whenever the right moment arrives, and many owners plan for years before deciding whether to go ahead. Our plain-English exit planning guide walks through what the work actually involves.
02
The business is part of who you are
In the study, 65% of owners said their identity is deeply tied to the business. 35% could not imagine themselves separate from owning it. That is not weakness, it is human. But it is also why you need a process, not just a hope.
03
You have never done this before
Most founders will only ever sell one business. There is no playbook on the shelf and no obvious first step, so the work waits until something forces it.
What does waiting actually cost?
The buyer's number becomes your valuation
In the study, 61% of owners had been approached by a buyer in the previous 12 months. More than half, 55%, said they would accept an unsolicited offer without an independent valuation if it looked reasonable.
Put that next to the 61% who have never been valued. For many owners, the first serious price they see is written by the person whose job is to buy at the lowest figure they can.
Example: same business, two different exits
Picture a Midlands manufacturer turning over £12 million, with £2.4 million EBITDA.
The figures are for illustration only, not a valuation.
Waits for the call
Owner A
Takes a call from a trade buyer. The offer looks fair. There is no independent valuation, the owner still signs off every major quote, and one customer makes up a third of revenue.
All of it comes out in due diligence. The price gets chipped down, and there is no time left to fix anything.
Started three years earlier
Owner B
Found out where value was leaking, built a management team that runs the business day to day, cleaned up the reporting and spread the customer base.
When the same buyer calls, Owner B can say no, name a number, or invite other bidders.
If preparation moves the valuation multiple by just one turn, say from 5x to 6x EBITDA, that is £2.4 million on the headline price. Multiples vary widely by sector and by deal. The direction is the point: leverage comes from being ready before the conversation starts.
The problems surface when it is too late to fix them calmly
The things that worry buyers most are owner dependency, financial reporting and client concentration. John Warrillow built a whole book, Built to Sell, on the first of those: a business that runs without its owner is worth more than one that cannot.
If those issues appear for the first time in due diligence, you are negotiating with less time, less leverage and less choice. Found early, they are simply a to-do list. Our post on maximising the valuation of your business covers the value owners often overlook.
Find out where you stand in under 8 minutes
The free Exit Readiness Assessment scores your business across the ten areas buyers scrutinise hardest.
Why do you need an exit advisory team, not just one adviser?
Because an exit is three problems at once: growth, money and law.
Owners already sense this. In the same study, 72% said they expect their financial adviser to recommend a team of specialists to maximise value and minimise tax.
The real risk is not a shortage of advisers. It is three good advisers who have never spoken to each other. One structures the deal one way, another drafts for something different, and nobody has asked what you actually need from the sale.
A joined-up exit advisory team covers all three:
Growth and value
Neale Lewis
Scaling Up coach
Building a business a buyer will pay more for.
Money
Adam Rhodes
Qualified financial adviser and stockbroker
Tax-efficient profit extraction, your wealth after the sale, and your "Magic Number": what you actually need from a deal, worked out before negotiations start.
Law
Debra Martin
Corporate solicitor, over 30 years on the legal side of business sales
The sale itself, whether that is a trade sale, a management buyout or an Employee Ownership Trust.
All three work on your exit together, from the start. Meet the team, or read our guide on how to create your deal team.
It matters because the route you choose changes how much of the price you keep. A higher multiple does not always mean a better outcome once the deal structure and tax are counted. Compare the routes in our exit strategy options guide.
When should you start? A simple timeline
As early as you like
Prepare
Find out where you stand today. Take the Exit Readiness Assessment, get clear on your Magic Number, and decide what a good outcome looks like for you.
Two to three years before you exit
Maximise Value
Close the gaps a buyer will find anyway, before they find them. Reduce owner dependency, tighten the financial reporting and spread client concentration.
Before you go to market
Exit on Your Terms
Choose the route that fits, then plan the money and the legal side around it, together. Decide early. Deciding late narrows your options.
If you are even thinking about an exit in the next 12 to 36 months, now is the time to get your team in place.
Three things you can do this month
- Take the Exit Readiness Assessment. It is free, takes under 8 minutes, and gives you an instant breakdown of where exit value is leaking.
- Work out your Magic Number. What do you actually need from a sale to fund the life you want next? Know it before anyone makes you an offer.
- Get growth, money and law in the same room. If your advisers have never spoken to each other, fix that first.
Common questions
When should I start exit planning?
The work pays off most when it starts two to three years before an exit. It is never too early to find out where the gaps are.
Do I need to have decided to sell before I start?
No. Planning does not commit you to selling. It means you are ready whenever the right moment, or the right offer, arrives.
What is an exit advisory team?
A group of specialists covering growth, money and law who plan your exit together, rather than separate advisers working in isolation.
What should I do if a buyer approaches me before I am ready?
Do not treat the first offer as a valuation. Get an independent view of what the business is worth, and take advice before you respond.
Who is Exit Advisory Team for?
Founders, CEOs and owners running a business with £5M to £100M in revenue who are thinking about an exit in the next few years, not tomorrow. See who we help for the full picture.
Free, under 8 minutes
Find out where you stand
No pressure. Just clarity on exactly where you stand. The Exit Readiness Assessment shows you where exit value is leaking across the ten areas buyers scrutinise hardest, with a realistic timeline to becoming buyer-ready.
Source: study of 750 US business owners by The Center for Generational Kinetics with Cornerstone Business Services, as reported in The CEO Magazine, May 2026.