Before the New Year Rush: Give Yourself the Gift of an Exit Plan
- Katie Busch
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
The calendar has a way of sneaking up on us, doesn’t it?
One minute you swear there’s plenty of runway left in the year…and the next you’re juggling year-end financials, staffing gaps, customer demands, and the internal debate over whether that one cousin really needs another gift. (They don’t. But somehow, they’ll still get one.)
And then, once the final orders ship and the leftovers settle in, something shifts. Reflection mode flips on.
Did I spend my time where it truly mattered this year?
Am I still too essential to my business to step back for even a week—let alone a future transition?
Am I any closer to the personal and financial freedom I’ve been working toward?
If those questions hit home, you’re not alone. Year-end does that for business owners. It slows just long enough for you to look up and ask the bigger, more important questions about your future and the future of the business you’ve spent a lifetime building.
That’s why now, before the New Year rush sweeps you back into the whirlwind, is the perfect moment to talk about exit planning.
Exit Planning Isn’t About Leaving. It’s About Leading Your Future.
Exit planning doesn’t mean you’re done.
It means you want choices.
It means you care about protecting the value you’ve built.
It means you’re ready to shift from reacting to your business to directing your destiny.
Most owners excel at growth, innovation, relationships. But fewer prepare the business to be transferable, whether that’s to family, key employees, or a third-party buyer. And here’s the truth no one likes to say out loud:
Businesses that don’t prepare rarely sell on the owner’s terms.
They sell in a hurry.
They sell at a discount.
Or they don’t sell at all.
Often, the “exit plan” isn’t a plan; it’s a crisis response. Exit planning is the opposite of that.
Exit planning is you saying: “I intend to stay in the driver’s seat. I choose the timing. I choose the path. I choose the outcome.”
Conversations That Don’t Leave the Boardroom
At Journey Consulting, we sit with business owners in these pivotal conversations every day, and it’s an honor we don’t take lightly.
Exit planning is emotional.
It touches your identity, your family, your finances, and your legacy.
Most owners don’t have many people they can talk to openly about it.
So we start with real questions, not spreadsheets:
What do you want your next chapter to look like?
What will it take financially to support the life you imagine?
What does your business need to thrive without you at the center?
You don’t need perfect answers.
You just need to start.
Start Much Earlier Than You Think
A strong exit plan usually begins 2–5 years before the transition. That isn’t meant to alarm you; it’s simply reality.
Building sustainable, transferable value takes time.
Time to strengthen financials.
Time to reduce owner dependency.
Time to develop leaders who can run the business well.
Time to prepare you personally for what comes after.
And none of that can begin without one critical baseline:
👉 What is your business worth today?
A Business Estimate of Value answers two foundational questions:
If you sold today, what is the realistic value?
Would that value fund the life you want next?
From there, we build a holistic exit plan that integrates:
Personal readiness – clarity on your purpose and your life after the business
Business readiness – teams, systems, and processes that make your business transferable
Financial readiness – alignment between your ideal sale value and your personal financial goals
This isn’t theoretical. We’ve watched it play out over and over again.
What Becomes Possible When You Start Early
Owners who plan ahead aren’t just more prepared, they’re more empowered.
We’ve seen:
Valuation increases of 50–100%+ in just a few years
Leaders rise because the owner finally has a reason (and a plan) to delegate
Businesses become smoother, more profitable, and far more resilient
Owners experience a noticeable reduction in stress and decision fatigue
Planning doesn’t remove all the work, but it eliminates the uncertainty. It gives you back control. It lets you design your future instead of drifting into it.
A Simple End-of-Year Invitation
If you’re in reflection mode right now, standing at the intersection of another year ending and your next chapter beginning, don’t let this clarity fade when January hits.
You don’t need a full plan today.
You don’t need to commit to a timeline.
You just need one step.
It’s the foundation of every successful exit plan.
It’s the key that unlocks your options.
It’s the data that replaces fear with confidence.
Let’s talk about where you are, what you want, and what’s possible in the next few years. You’ll walk away with clarity, not another vague New Year’s resolution.
Take the first step before the year ends.
It’s the single most powerful gift you can give yourself, and your future.
Katie Busch, Value Advisor, draws on deep experience in executive leadership, operations, and human resources. With firsthand insight into fast-paced growth across multiple industries, she helps business owners identify opportunities that strengthen value, improve profitability, and free up time for what matters most.
Journey Consulting is focused on providing business owners and their businesses with strategic planning, exit planning, financial expertise, and organizational improvement. We use a holistic approach within all of our services by aligning leadership with business strategy and outcomes.
Schedule your complimentary consultation to begin your Value Journey today!