Exiter Professional

The Wall Street Journal for Entrepreneurs mentions Five Steps for Creating a Business Exit Strategy. Marshall Loeb’s article details the wisdom of John Brown, founder of Business Enterprise Institute, who encourages small business owners to follow these five steps to a business exit strategy: formulate your objectives, put an advisory team in place, hire a business appraiser, focus on increasing cash flow, and assign a transition manager.

For creating a successful business exit strategy, I’d add a Sixth Step to the plan: Add a professional writer and PR consultant to your firm in order to guide you through these additional essential steps to a successful exit strategy.

1. Brand your firm if you haven’t already done so.

2. Revamp your website. Your website is the keystone of your firm and your business face to the world. Websites must contain fresh and timely content and must be updated frequently with content relevant to those searching for it. Not to do so, means that your website may not be found or will lose relevant ranking with search engines.

3. Take the time to create and share a history of your firm. Whether you choose to do a lighthearted or serious approach to the history, you need to create a timeline and historical data marking your appearance on the map, founders, growth and results. You’ll share your reason for being and what you bring to the table for your customers, community and for the future.

4. Celebrate milestone events–founding, anniversaries, project triumph. Share your events with your customers, employees, community and the world.

5. Create case studies and success stories. Show what you have meant in innovation and equity to your customers and associates.

6. Keep hiring top staff. Welcome new talent and provide a venue to tout their success.

7. Create and post press releases documenting company news, milestones, accomplishments and top talent. This is your opportunity to attract and retain top talent by promoting their career highlights, and create, demonstrate and grow equity with the talent bank you will be leaving with the company upon your exit.

8. Be visible in the community. Join with others and celebrate your local participation.

9. Attend industry events (ramp up not down, your attendance)–these people may be the new buyer of your firm. If possible, become a speaker and presenter at these professional showcases. Join roundtable discussions, host gatherings and sponsor events.

10. Adopt and support a charity or philanthropic cause. This demonstrates your financial success and your emotional depth as you recognize your duty to give to others.

11. Evaluate pre-sale mergers and all sound business practices that maximize talent inventories, projects and revenues. Of course, you will inform and have the full agreement with the merger candidate of a later sale before you merge.

12. Take care of morale–make sure that your employees and partners will speak well of the firm and have ample cause to do so.

13. Monitor what is being said about your firm on the internet and elsewhere. Protect your investment and your life’s work by paying attention to the buzz about your company and its products and people.

The Wall Street Journal article notes that for a successful exit strategy you cannot accomplish all that you need to do in a short period of time. The planning and stages will take from five to seven years. Adding a professional writer and PR consultant to the advisory and implementation team will ensure that the process of an exit strategy flows smoothly.

About the Author:

Want more great business advice? For more on creating a successful business exit strategy and to see the work of a professional writer and strategic PR consultant, visit: http://www.freewebs.com/mckernsdevelopment/

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Creating a Successful Business Exit Strategy–adding the Sixth Step

Copyright (c) 2008 Simplified Spaces

You're running late (again) and panic, you're trying to get your kids and yourself same through the door from school and work. Everyone is running like crazy trying to find what they need to leave the house with … backpack, cell phone, notebook Address, cap, gym shoes …

Sound familiar? This was the scene at our house a few years ago too. What we needed in our house, and now as a professional organizer, I think most of my clients need and is an "exit strategy" and a "drop zone". This is an area where they live items they need to leave the house with you and drop items where appropriate 'when I get home. The articles need a home consistent in this area are:
o A checklist for leaving the house
or list of errands
or keys, Mobile and PDA
or Purse
or Backpack
lunch box or
Coats, boots, hats, gloves, etc.
or briefcase, laptop
merchandise returns or fall charity-offs, run Office shipments
O Umbrella
dog leash or
Sports equipment / musical instruments
towels or clean the dirty feet and legs
or trash to launch spam on entering the house

To establish your own exit strategy and the relegation zone, do A list of all the elements that are regularly in the house and all the elements that usually need to leave the house with you each day.

Then determine the best location (home) of these elements to live, close the door to his family usually goes in and out of the house. In the homes of many customers, " I organized baskets for holding cell phones, PDAs, keys. In addition, the hooks as the home of backpacks, umbrellas, dog Leach, keys. What has become popular in many homes is a locker system in which each family member has its own "cubicle" or "safe" to hold their own necessary belongings. Where space and budget permit, I have often brought a contractor to build a wardrobe closet cubicle system for my clients. A tool useful for storing hats, gloves, scarves of all family members is to add a vertical holder on the door of shoes (usually used to keep the shoes). Thus items can be easily seen through the clear pockets. With all the electronics we carry every day is also important to have a compatible home electronics with flash, as Mobile and PDAs. Currently there docking stations available for purchase that allow you to carry all your gear at a station.

After you have identified and strategize what needs to be located at the exit / relegation zone and where the home is the best for these items, is critical that you communicate your new system to all members of the family. When everyone knows that there is a plan, and where the house is for your belongings, an honor that will be more likely the system. When there is no coherence to the household belongings, the disorder arises. Make a checklist for leaving the house and keep the door to go out from home. This becomes your daily list and a reminder to not have to rely on memory when you're in a hurry.

The key to the creation and maintenance of these areas is to know what you need to store, make space, coherent establish homes for the items, and communicate the scheme to all family members. Soon the stress and chaos of the start of morning and afternoon drop is a thing of the past.

About the Author:

Janet Nusbaum (AKA the Organizing Genie) is an Organizing Consultant, Senior Move Manager, owner of Simplified Spaces, Speaker & Author of ‘Mom, Can I Help Around the House?’ A Simple Step-by step System for Teaching your Children Life-long Skills for Pitching in & Picking up, who helps individuals, families and businesses organize life and navigate transitions. Visit http://www.KidsandChores.net to receive a FREE preview chapter of her new book & family chore system.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Calm Morning Chaos – Create an Exit Strategy and a Drop Zone