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Introducing The Business Exit Blueprint...
Let’s start with the bad news…
… entrepreneurship is a challenging and high-risk endeavour – but you know that.
You know the odds of early business death are high. Over 60% of UK businesses fail in the first five years, and similar failure rates are seen across the world’s developed countries.
You might know that most businesses stagnate. In the UK, 89.7% have less than £1m in annual sales, and 97.4% have less than £5m. And a mere 1.4% break the £10m barrier. (The US stats are almost identical.)
But did you know the odds of having a happy, wealthy, and regret-free exit are even worse?
Here’s why…
Between 70% and 80% of owners finish their entrepreneurial journey by liquidating their business, working until they die, or giving it away, as there’s nothing of value to sell.
Of those owners who list their businesses for sale, believing they have something of value, only 20% manage to sell.
Of those, most are deeply disappointed with their exit. Nearly 95% don't get the money they want, and 75% bitterly regret selling their business a year later (for some it’s the feeling of loss, for others it’s the pain of watching a new buyer destroy what they’ve built).
Add all that failure and misery up, and you get a mere 1 in 1,000 owners who enjoy a happy, wealthy, and regret-free exit.
I call them the Elite 0.1%.
Now, the good news…
… if you read, internalise, and apply what you discover in this book, you can join that elite group.
The book I walk you through the options for exiting your business, creating your business exit strategy and the best approach to exit planning, including the seven exit strategy options, and which one will give you your dream exit.
But the book is about more than just exiting planning, exit strategy, or exiting your business.
It’s a complete toolkit for building a valuable, sellable, and sought-after business. A business you can happily own forever, but easily sell tomorrow – the Ultimate Freedom.
Sounds wonderful, you say, but does it work?
Why Should You Trust What I Say?
Richard McMullan Founder of Aurelius Advisory & Author of The Business Exit Blueprint
I'm so confident the book delivers, that it comes with my my personal, unconditional, cast-iron, no-wiggle-room, works-or-it's-free, life-time guarantee.
And here's a little about me to help set the scene...
...in the last 8 years, I’ve helped more than 130 clients from 30 sectors increase the value and market appeal of their businesses. You can see what they say about working with me here: Client Testimonials.
Some have sold for life-changing amounts. Some have kept their businesses and added new ones to their portfolio. Some have simply created the space to enjoy life more.
All have significantly increased their company’s value.
One client exited after three years for a double-digit multiple plus a substantial share in the acquirer. Another client saw their company’s value grow from £5m to £44m inside three years (it’s now worth over £100m). Another has seen a 10-fold value increase in the last seven years.
Everything I share with my clients (and in this book) has been battle tested in my own businesses and my career as a CEO.
I’ve been in the trenches and walked in your shoes (during which I've made my fair share of mistakes and celebrated plenty of successes). My whole career has been about rolling up my sleeves and actually making businesses better.
Way back in the nineties, I was deep into the world of strategy consulting and got a real handle on figuring out what drives company value and making smart decisions to maximise it. I even studied stuff like corporate finance, acquisition strategy, and strategic decision-making at Ashridge Management College.
From there, I became Head of Marketing and Strategy for a £375m turnover, helping grow profits from £124 to £170m in two years.
In 2001, I scaled a two-store £1m business to £20m, growing at an incredible 52% per annum for the first five years, and surviving a 40% drop in sales during the Global Financial Crisis.
I left that business in 2015, to do this, which hopefully gives you a feeling I may know what I'm talking about.
Right, that’s enough about me. Let's get on to why you're here...
What's In The Book?
I start by sharing my Business Exit Blueprint Model and explain how everything in the book fits together.
The next section is the Exit Rubik’s Cube, where I dig into the conundrum facing every owner considering their exit – “What does a happy, wealthy, and regret-free exit mean for me?”
To simplify the conundrum, I break it into three chunks and talk you through the variables you must consider.
First, your life post-exit. What’s pushing you from your business, what’s pulling you from your business, and what role do you want to play after leaving? Spoiler alert – exiting doesn’t just mean leaving your business.
Second, your legacy. What do you want to happen to your business and your employees when you leave?
Third, your liquidity event. How much money do you need and by when?
Once you’ve solved your Exit Rubik’s Cube and know what you need for a happy, wealthy, and regret-free exit, the next question is, “Who’s going to give you that?”
So, we move on to discuss your Exit Options. Some of these will be ideal for you, and some will be non-starters, but at least you’ll have consciously chosen the best path, rather than following the herd.
In Exit Options, I discuss liquidation, transitioning the business to a family member, selling to individuals, and selling to corporate buyers. I cover the pros and cons and explain what each buyer is looking for, so you understand the challenges of selling to them.
By the end of this section, you’ll know which type of buyer is best placed to give you your ideal exit.
In the third section of the book, I discuss when’s the best time to sell your business (and it’s not necessarily at the market peak), describe the various ways of valuing your business, and discuss how they’re used by acquirers.
I also share a tool you can use to evaluate your business through the eyes of a financial buyer, allowing you to identify what’s required to get your business ready for sale (or perhaps you’ll discover your business is already ready for sale).
The next section, Exit Strategy, is a short chapter tying the previous three sections together, and helps you with Exit Planning. By the time you’ve finished this section, you’ll know what you need to happen for your ideal exit.
The final section of the book is “Building For Exit”. This makes up, by far, the bulk of the book.
I start with discussing why you should be building for exit (even if you never intend to exit).
From there, I move on to the three key components of a valuable, sellable, and sought-after business.
The first component is Solid Foundations. We discuss what makes your business high-risk for you and potential acquirers, and I share how to address those issues to make your business robust, resilient, and able to deal with whatever the market throws at it.
Shocker: being overly dependent on you is one of the biggest risks, so we discuss how to fix that.
I talk a lot about how to develop the leadership traits that build great teams (and avoid the leadership errors that destroy teams and ultimately businesses).
You’ll also discover a set of tools that allow you to get further away from the detail but feel more in control. They’ll provide you with incisive insights about how your business is performing and highlight problems and issues before they occur, so you can act to prevent them rather than fix them.
From there, we move on to discuss how to create Self-Driving Teams. Like a self-driving car, these are teams that take your business effortlessly, efficiently, and safely from A to B, with only a light touch from you.
I start by describing what engaged employees are and why you want them in your business (and I describe the disengaged, and why you want to exit them as soon as possible).
After that, you’ll discover how to build a conscious culture that attracts, retains, and engages your ideal staff and clients (and repels people you don’t want). You’ll learn how to create role success cards that keep people engaged, focused, and accountable, as well as how to recruit your perfect team.
In the last part of Self-Driving Teams, I unveil the Traction Flywheel – a confoundingly simple but powerful process for keeping the organisation aligned, and for getting you to your destination in the shortest time and with the least effort and distraction possible.
From there, we move on to how you grow a Tribe of Evangelical Ambassadors. These are clients who love what you do, do what you ask them to do, pay a premium, sing your praises, and refer others.
I begin by sharing how to identify and evaluate your Scalable Niche. This is the inch-wide, mile-deep group of customers you’re going to build your business model and strategy around. Fair warning – I’m going to ask you to make a choice in this chapter, one you may find very uncomfortable.
Next up is how to build a deep, wide, defendable, piranha-filled, competitive Monopoly Moat.
In this chapter, you’ll learn how to create a Trigger Statement that attracts clients like the Pied Piper, and you’ll learn how to apply the five elements of positioning so you can attract a better class of clients and charge premium prices.
Finally, we move on to Automatic Customers. Here, you’ll discover seven different recurring revenue models that reduce customer churn and improve lifetime value.
I start by unveiling my TEACH Sales model (covering how you trigger, engage, assess, convert, and harness prospects) and the ten principles (some say laws) associated with it.
To wrap up, I share what makes great sales leaders and how to build that capability in your business, as well as how to create a Sales Playbook that delivers excellent sales results and sales conversion rates.
So there you have it. Everything you'll learn in the book.
Simple, straightforward, practical and implementable advice. Do as I say, do the work and put the time in, and you'll have a valuable, sellable, and sought-after business so you can exit happy, wealthy, and regret-free, whenever you choose. Running your business will be less stressful, less hassle, less-time consuming, and much more enjoyable. By extension, your life and relationships outside work will improve commensurately.
But perhaps you're still not sure? Want to hear what others thought? Read on...
(Or if you just want to know what's included in the seven most incredible ever free bonuses, click here to jump to them)
Enough already...
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Pre-Publication Praise for The Business Exit Blueprint
"I have to say it has exceeded my expectations"
Half way through and I have to say it has exceeded my expectations.
To be honest at first I did find the style and the format of some of the early chapters had that classic “self help book” feel that it might be all promise and little content, but having got into the chapters on the “toolkit”, it is a really thorough dissection of all the key elements that go towards building a successful and fundamentally sound business.
I look forward to reading the rest over the coming days before putting together a more in-depth review, though I will struggle to make it as entertaining and insightful as the book itself!!
~ Graham Beckett, Owner, Fairhaven H&V Services
"Look... Richard has been, and still is, the mastermind behind countless happy exits keeping generations of families fat, happy, and warm. Read this book, and you'll see why"
An uncomfortable truth for all business owners is building with an exit in mind is best - even if you never intend to exit.
And whether you like it or not, you will exit your business at some point, through death, passing it to a family member, or a traditional sale. Most business owners (including myself) want to focus on today, as an exit is tomorrow's problem, but Richard's hard-hitting book punches you straight between the eyes, and then offers you the remedy we all require.
So, if you want to leave something better than a so-so business with mediocre results and endless headaches, then you have to build your business with an inevitable exit in mind.
Furthermore, if you want to own a business TODAY, without the headaches, stress, and so-so results, then take the plunge into Richards worry-free strategies so you can arm yourselves with the tools to have a business worth owning today, but could easily (and happily) exit tomorrow.
Fair warning: if you're one to imagine your business will sell itself on the basis of your skill and expertise, you are for the most part sadly mistaken. There are tons of inferior businesses out there who have experienced exits far more lucrative than they deserved, simply because they did the work from the beginning.
If you could give your business to anyone tomorrow, and it would carry-on as if nothing happened - retaining the same year-on-year growth, staff wouldn't revolt, and you'd feel no doubt about another person at the helm - then do nothing. But if you're not, then read this book and take action.
Look... Richard has been, and still is, the mastermind behind countless happy exits keeping generations of families fat, happy, and warm. Read this book, and you'll see why.
~ Connor Benham, Co-Founder & MD, Well-Fed Business
"The Business Exit Blueprint Is Excellent"
The Business Exit Blueprint is excellent, it flows really well, is very easy to read and I found it cut through a lot of the jargon you often see around these things to provide a plain English, layman's terms understanding of the whole process and the various options and routes available.
I can draw loads of similarities from experiences I've had both as a business owner and running businesses for people, especially around the often challenging legacy position that founders often find themselves in when passing it on to the next generation.
The 1966 Porsche is a story that resonates from a previous business, having witnessed the guilt that the next generation experienced not wanting to appear ungrateful but ultimately having their own concerns if that route was the one they really wanted to take.
~ Graham Beal, Owner, BEE Interiors, BEE Fire Protection Services
"Richard has written a much needed masterpiece"
I run my own business but additionally have a close relative reaching retirement (I'm apparently helping him exit) and neither of us has actually thought about how we will exit.
I thought we had, but it’s very obvious we absolutely haven’t. In your book, you have demystified what just seemed a complicated web of business jargon and also highlighted in a straightforward way avenues to exit I never knew existed.
What is very clear is that I will optimise the value of my exit with professional guidance. Not only that, but I will avoid (to a point) the stress and anxiety that is slowly building as I (currently) blindly plod towards my end goal.
It’s akin to needing a lawyer to give legal advice. Knowledge is power. Richard has written a much needed masterpiece.
~ Alan Gardner, Owner, Darkskope & Global Gateway Group
"A Must Read For Every Business Owners"
This book over-delivers and is easily one of the two best books I've read this year.
As a business owner, this book probed and prodded me to rethink how I build and run my business with a longer-term view.
It's full of actionable insights. Not your usual dreary, wishy-washy, claptrap, self-help book.
Richard's direct, easy-to-read style is engaging and his knowledge and vast experience is apparent.
A must-read for every business owner.
~ Toby Swallow, Owner, Toby Swallow Coaching Group
"I'm glad this book exists"
I’m glad this book exists.
I found it surprising, informative, enjoyable and for me a bit frustrating from the perspective of applying the concepts to my business and realising how far I still have to go if I want to step back in 6 years.
I’ve nothing but admiration for anyone who can dig something like this out of their brain. Seriously impressive.
~ Albert Hamilton, Owner, CARD Group Research
"Implement Just Some of the Key Steps in This Book, and You'll Be On the Right Track to a Lucrative Exit"
The Business Exit Blueprint begins with a grim statistic - that in reality, only 1 in 1,000 business owners enjoy a happy, wealthy exit or sale of their business.
If you're a business owner who is planning to sell at some stage, then Richard does an excellent job of clarifying his process and steps in structuring your business to maximise the equity value and overall worth.
As Richard has built up a track record of helping over 100 clients over the years, he covers all the key components: your exit options, valuing your business, building for an exit, having a self-driving team, and much more.
If you want to avoid that grim statistic, just implement some of the key steps in this book, and you'll be on the right track to a lucrative exit.
~ Des Vadgama, Owner, Sell 2X to 5X More
"This is an excellent tool for business owners"
This is an excellent tool for business owners to model their behavior and organization for creating a saleable business whether their goal is to sell or simply to enjoy the freedom of being able to sell.
Congratulations on creating such a valuable addition to the world we inhabit. Well done!
~ Chuck Andrews, Vistage Chair, Value Builder Advisor
So, that's what the early readers say about the book, scroll down now to discover the seven most incredible ever free bonuses that come with your book purchase...
Enough already...
Give me "The Business Exit Blueprint"and the Most Incredible Ever Free Gifts
Your Free Bonuses
Get The Business Exit Blueprint for just £20 and get the Most Incredible Gifts Ever free, gratis, with my compliments...
I wrote "The Business Exit Blueprint" for my kids, so they have the manual for growing and selling their own businesses one day. As none of them own a business yet, by necessity, I've had to ensure it's applicable for every owner and every business.
I promise if you read the book and plug everything you learn into your business, you'll have a much more efficient, effective and enjoyable business.
And yes, it is self-serving - I want you to read the book, fall in love with my approach, and apply to become my client. That's why the book contains the full picture of how to grow a sustainable, scalable, and sought-after business AND exit happy, wealthy and regret-free. Anything less would be a great way to shoot myself in the foot!
That said, to help kickstart your work on growing the value of your business, I've included The Most Incredible Gift Ever.
I won't be so crass to give you a faux price on these bonuses, but be aware that a corporate finance house will charge you over £3k for a quick and dirty valuation without discussing or explaining how to improve your value driver scores (and that's just Gift #1!)
Here's what's included now (and I'll be adding more free goodies as time goes on) ...
GIFT #1 - Business Valuation & Value Driver Report
"Discover how much your business is worth now, and what it could be worth by improving your value driver score to 80+"
We know, from analysing over 80k business sales, the average business scores 59 out of a maximum 100 on the 8 drivers of business valuation and receives an average offer of c3.55 times their net profit. Those businesses scoring 80+ out of 100 receive an offer of 6 times their net profit.
Whether you want to sell your business now or decades into the future, your 30 page report covering your Valuation and Value Driver Scores will allow you to:
- See how close you are to achieving your Freedom Point and being able to exit wealthy
- Diagnose what's holding you back from creating a company than can thrive without you
- See how an acquirer will evaluate your business, so you can focus today on what's going to important for a successful exit
- Identify hidden factors that are quietly dragging down the value of your business so you can eliminate them before they become a problem
- Pinpoint the parts of your business with the most value to an acquirer so you can prioritise your investment to generate a higher exit price
GIFT #2 - Cashflow Management Tool
"Discover the fifteen easy-to-implement steps that will free up cash now and improve your future cashflow (without changing your pricing)"
Discover the fifteen easy-to-implement steps that will free up cash now and improve your future cashflow (without changing your pricing)
Most companies go bust because they have cashflow problems.
Some are unprofitable, some outcompeted, and some not able to get the right people.
But the vast majority fail because they weren’t all over their cash management.
Yup, I know, when you see it written down it seems bloody obvious.
Unless you’re a prospective unicorn with venture capitalists bringing you wheelbarrows full of cash to fuel your bid for world domination, you need to closely manage your cashflow.
As a fellow business owner who’s been through tight-cashflow sh*t more than a few times, I know the challenges of managing cashflow. Follow the actions in this article and you’ll get control of your cash quickly giving you better peace of mind and more cash headroom to grow your business more quickly (and in a way that’s fair and ethical so you protect your good name).
Even if you’re not struggling, the principles still apply. After all, they’re a key part of generating free-cashflow, and a critical element for increasing the value of your business.
(This article is an excerpt from the tools I teach in the Elite 0.3% Programme).
GIFT #3 - Freedom Point Gap Calculator
"Calculate how much more profit you need to generate to hit your Freedom Point valuation"
Unfortunately, this is not as easy or straight-forward as you might think - there are a lot of moving parts to consider, such as tax, fees, balance sheet adjustments, earnings muliples, adjustments etc.
This easy-to-use calculator, with it's accompanying workbook, will guide you through the maze, step-by-step, to estimate:
- Your Freedom Point - the amount of money you need to give you financial freedom post-exit
- Your Target Entreprise Value range - the sale price range you need (on a zero cash / zero debt basis) to hit your Freedom Point
- Your Target Profit range - the amount of EBITDA (earnings before interest tax and depreciation) your business needs to be generating to hit your target entreprise value
- Your Adjusted EBITDA - the tool used by potential acquirers to work out the underlying profits of your business without you
- Your Freedom Point Gap - the profit increase required to hit your target valuation and freedom point (including your target compound annual growth rate)
GIFT #4 - FREE access to the Exit Blueprint Community
"FREE lifetime subscription to The Exit Blueprint Community "
You'll get to bounce ideas and discuss problems and challenges with me, the team, and like-minded business owners.
Access all your free bonuses and other things I may throw in from time-to-time, like trainings, event recordings, blogs an'all.
And no, it's not like a Facebook group- it's a proper membership site.
GIFT #5 - The Five Pitfalls
"Discover the Five Pitfalls that keep owners mired in their business (and how to avoid them)"
This 45 minute live recording (given to 100+ delegates) drawing on the Value Growth Flywheel princplease will teach you:
- Why sales eventually plateau and how to prevent that from happening
- Why the wrong type of growth kills your profits and eats your time and energy
- How to do less and make more money
- How to free your time to work on the highest value-add activities
- How to delegate so you get the results you want
- How to get the right people in the right seats doing the right things
- How to get your team to hold themselves to account
- What motivates employees to go the extra mile and why your leadership style could be throttling it
- Why your mindset could be sabotaging your success
GIFT #6 - Gaining the Ultimate Freedom
"Discover the Ultimate Freedom - growing a company that can thrive without you"
During this 45 minute live recording (given to 150+ delegates) drawing on the Value Growth Flywheel princples, I'll show you:
- How to recognise when you've fallen into The Owner's Trap and how to pull yourself out
- The three attributes of a scalable business model
- How to unlock your business’s growth potential
- A revenue stream that can triple the value of your business
- The six forms of sustainable recurring revenue
- Two essential elements of your marketing plan you need in order to avoid commoditisation and costly price wars
- One question to ask your customers which predicts the likelihood they will buy again and refer you to others.
GIFT #7 - TBEB Book Owner Emails
"Free subscription to The Business Exit Blueprint Book Club Emails, and get special insights and offers delivered to your inbox"
Want my weekly incisive, insightful, and occasionally irreverent emails?
They're the perfect complement to the Value Growth Flywheel book and I frequently dig deep into the soft underbelly of the main principles I cover in the book.
You'll also get early warning of podcasts and recordings all about growing a sustainable, scalable, and sought-after business, as well as the learnings from successful exits (and failed exits).
Yes, I'll possibly try to sell you more stuff at some point, but you knew that anyway. One thing I promise though, it will never be mandatory, crass, tasteless or offensive.
Btw: this is not a free email list (if you want that, join the Value Growth Club email list). The only way to get these emails is if you own a copy of The Business Exit Blueprint book.
AND REMEMBER, YOU HAVE ...
... my personal, unconditional, cast-iron, no-wiggle-room,
works-or-it's-free, life-time guarantee
If at any time between now and the day you die you believe for any reason (or no reason at all) what I’m sharing with you in "The Business Exit Blueprint" isn't worth at least a thousand times what you paid to get it in your hands…
Just let me know and I’ll ensure you get a full and courteous refund of DOUBLE your money back (and you can keep the Incredible Free Gifts and everything else you may have downloaded with my compliments).
Can’t say fairer than that, can I?
“No Richard, you can’t” is the only sane answer to that question.
So ... what are you waiting for?
Get "The Business Exit Blueprint"and the Most Incredible Ever Free Gifts now
