Most Owners Have a Plan. Very Few Have a System.

Most Business Owners Have a Vague Plan to Sell Someday.

Very Few Have a System.

Here Is the System.

Last week we talked about the Four Stages between where you are and a premium exit. This week I want to go one level deeper. Because knowing the stages exist is not the same as having a system to move through them.

Most business owners I talk to have thought about selling. They have a number in their head. They have a rough timeline. They have a sense that they should probably do something about it before it is too late.

What they do not have is a system.

And without a system, exit planning is just a good intention sitting on a shelf next to the strategic plan nobody updates and the succession document nobody has read.

Here is the system.

The Three Legs of the Stool

A successful exit requires three things to be true at the same time. Not two. Not one. All three.

The first leg is Business Readiness. Is your business transferable without you? Can it generate the same revenue, serve the same customers, and maintain the same relationships if you step away? A business that cannot answer yes to that question is not a business a buyer will pay a premium for. It is a job with a lease.

The second leg is Financial Readiness. Do you have enough money to fund your next chapter independent of the sale proceeds? Most owners have never run this analysis. They assume the exit will produce the number they need. Sometimes it does. Often it does not, especially when taxes, deal structure, and post-closing obligations are factored in. Financial readiness means knowing your number before you go to market, not after.

The third leg is Personal Readiness. Do you know what you are going to do next? This is the leg most owners ignore entirely. They are so focused on building the business and managing the transaction that they never stop to ask what they are walking toward. The research on this is consistent. Owners who have not answered that question tend to struggle in the transition, regardless of how good the deal was.

All three legs have to be in place. A stool with two legs does not stand.

The Baru Ascent

The framework that ties the Three Legs together is the Baru Ascent. It is the systematic approach I use to help owners build value intentionally over time rather than hoping for the best when a buyer finally shows up.

The Ascent is not a one-time event. It is a continuous cycle built around sprint actions.

Each sprint follows the same structure. First you assess where you stand across all three legs. Then you identify the highest-impact gap to address in the next 90 days. Then you execute a specific action plan to close that gap. Then you measure the results, re-score, and move to the next priority.

Sprint by sprint, over 12 to 36 months, the business becomes more transferable, the owner becomes more financially prepared, and the personal transition becomes more intentional.

The owners who go through this process do not just sell for more. They close faster, with fewer surprises, and with significantly less stress at the closing table.

Triggering Events

One more piece of the system that most owners underestimate.

A triggering event is any circumstance that accelerates the timeline for an ownership transition, whether you planned for it or not.

Some triggering events are personal. A health diagnosis. A divorce. A partner who wants out. A family situation that changes everything.

Some are financial. A tax law change. A market shift. A once-in-a-decade offer from a strategic buyer.

Some are business-related. A key employee departure. A major contract loss. A competitive threat that changes the calculus.

The owners who are prepared for triggering events have options. They can act or they can wait. They can accelerate or they can hold.

The owners who are not prepared have no choice. They react. And reactive exits almost always produce worse outcomes than planned ones.

The system exists precisely so that when a triggering event arrives, and one will, you are ready to respond on your terms rather than someone else's.

What to Do Next

If you have been reading this series and thinking that you should probably get started, this is where I am going to stop giving you content and start asking you a question.

What is your triggering event?

Not the hypothetical one. The real one. The thing that is sitting in the back of your mind that you have not fully acknowledged yet.

Reply to this article and tell me what it is. I read every response personally. And I promise the conversation will be worth having.