There are many reasons to start a business, ranging from launching a new product, defining a new market segment or fulfilling a passion to address a market gap. Regardless what your reason is for creating a business, if you need outside funding, then you need an exit strategy. Why? Because an investor needs to know how they will get their money back in the end. After all, they are investing in your business with an expectation of making money.
As I speak with clients, this is sometimes a difficult concept to understand. I hear questions such as “I don’t want to sell my business?” or “How do I know what its value is in the future?” These are reasonable questions that need to be addressed as part of writing a business plan.
Valuing Your Business
With regards to the “mechanics” of business valuations, there are a few different approaches. In the end, however, value is most closely tied to the revenue your business generates, either in the current year, or what “proforma” revenue is expected to be next year. Having said this definition, it is still part “voodoo” and part science. A recent article on Bloomberg pointed out that MLB teams are now theoretically 35 percent more valuable than just a few months ago – ten teams are now valued over $1 billion! See article here.
If you are a buyer, you will likely push for current year’s revenue, and vice versa if you are the owner. In some industries, gross revenue is a suitable measure; in others net revenue is an industry standard. Personally, I think that gross revenue is a better guide to evaluating income opportunity. Net income reflects both the market potential PLUS how well you can keep a lid on costs. Expense management is more closely tied to how you, the operator, manage your business. Either way, a number can typically be negotiated as a reasonable baseline for valuation.
Industry Potential
The next factor to consider relates to what industry you operate, to then incorporate an expectation of future growth. The rationale is simple: If your industry is expected to grow rapidly, then there is a higher expectation of value, which translates into a higher income “multiplier.” As a buyer, I will pay a higher price if I think my investment will grow more in the future.
Having worked in the software and high tech industries over the past two decades, I have seen some of the highest income multipliers in the business – as high as 10X! Other industries don’t have such lofty expectations, so may only have an income multiplier of 1X. What this means is that a buyer will only pay 1X income as a purchase price.
Exit Options
Now you have evaluated a valuation strategy, the last step is to identify how you will sell your business. Here are five options to consider, each of which can provide your investor with in an exit strategy:
- Another new investor can replace your current investor’s position
- An outright sale of the business can occur to a new entity, such as another owner or business
- The current management team or owner can do what is called a “Management Buy Out” or MBO or “Leveraged Buy Out” (LBO), which means that new debt is issued for the current team to buy the business themselves
- An Initial Public Offering (IPO) can be performed, leading to public ownership of your business through shares on a stock exchange. Note that this exit strategy typically requires a minimum level of income in the $100 million range or more, so this exit strategy may not be right for everyone
- A trade could be arranged whereby you now own a different asset in exchange for relinquishing control of your business
An exit strategy is a necessary component to a business plan’s financial model, as it demonstrates that an investor’s money will not simply “disappear” once you collect the check. An exit strategy is part of an investor’s lifecycle. Without this expectation, it is unlikely that any new businesses would be funded, creating enormous problems for those entrepreneurs seeking to challenge the status quo or those inventors that have the next greatest thing that we don’t yet know we can’t live without!
Gordon Benzie is a marketing communications professional and business plan adviser that specializes in preparing and executing upon business plans and marketing strategies.